A former Liverpool midfielder has suggested that Manchester United would have been better off appointing Gareth Southgate over Erik ten Hag.
The Three Lions boss has guided the national team to a World Cup semi-final and a European Championship final in his first two major tournaments. And now, England are one of the favourites to lift the World Cup in Qatar later this year.
He’s managed to instil an aura of togetherness back into the squad and has not been afraid to offer youngsters a chance. Southgate has also shown his no-nonsense side, dropping both Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood when they broke Covid-19 rules during their trip to Iceland in late 2020.
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On the flip side, he has remained loyal to players even when they have gone through stages of bad form, Harry Maguire and Harry Kane being examples. On Saturday, though, he saw his England side get their Nations League campaign off to a poor start with defeat to Hungary.
But that hasn’t swayed Danny Murphy’s opinion that Southgate was a better candidate for the United job than Ten Hag. When asked who he would have chosen to be United manager, Murphy told talkSPORT: “Gareth and Steve [Holland].”
“I think they’ve come a long way the pair of them. The partnership, what they’ve achieved at England, the way he’s managed players, big players. He’s evolved into a very intelligent football manager and with Steve by his side, I think they’d do a great job at a big club.”
Murphy explained that United need that camaraderie seen within the England squad going forward and questioned whether Ten Hag has the ability to take on the mantle of handling the pressure of the club. “What United need now isn’t all about on the pitch,” he added.
“They’ll be judged on that but initially United need someone to bring together this squad and try to create a unity, an atmosphere, an energy that England have.
“I think what Ten Hag has done, of course, is incredible, winning the league three or four times with Ajax, done alright with Utrecht - but he’s not managed big players at a big club so we don’t know how he’s going to handle that pressure.
“Every part of his life is going to be magnified whether he goes to the wrong shop at the wrong time, drives the wrong car, everything he does is going to be magnified.”
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