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What started as a positive day for Manchester United fans in regard to the England national team suddenly turned decidedly sour.
Fans rejoiced when it was announced that Kobbie Mainoo’s incredible efforts this season were to be awarded with a first appearance in the senior England squad.
However, the day darkened for most United fans when news broke that INEOS were looking at Gareth Southgate at replacing under-fire Erik ten Hag at the end of the season. In fact, The Peoples Person even relayed the disturbing news yesterday that the England manager was the petro-chemicals company’s number one choice to take over the Old Trafford hotseat.
The former Middlesbrough manager has a close connection with many new faces at Old Trafford. Potentially new sporting director, Dan Ashworth, described Southgate as the “outstanding candidate” to become England manager back in 2016.
Moreover, for several years Ashworth, new board member, Sir Dave Brailsford and Southgate have been part of a knowledge platform named Leaders P8, which aims to share ideas around developing and sustaining successful sporting environments.
The links between key figures now at United and the England coach are undeniable. There is no guarantee that INEOS will choose the former defender or that he would accept, but what must be understood, is that he will be under serious consideration.
Therefore, despite the unpopular nature of the question, it must be asked. Is Southgate a good fit to be Manchester United boss?
In a superficial way, the England boss has a strong record.
The 53 year old has worked his way up from under-21 boss to senior team manager and he has taken England to the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2018 and the final of Euro 2020, where they were a penalty shootout away from being crowned champions of Europe.
The English have regularly made light work of their qualification groups and lost to finalists France in the Qatar World Cup in 2022. They are considered favourites or at worst, joint-favourites for the Euros this summer.
Moreover, the manager clearly has a great working relationship with powers to be at the club and could lead to a harmonious working structure. INEOS have spoken before about how the system is more important than one specific manager and the better question is how well the manager fits into the overarching structure than who the coach is.
United have seen big name managers like Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho fail before.
Southgate has proven he has the ability to not rock the boat and contribute to a relatively successful organisation in the England setup. However, why if all of this is true, is he so unpopular amongst his own fans?
As mentioned previously, Southgate’s record as England manager looks impressive but if you dig beneath the surface, massive questions begin to arise.
It is not his fault but England have objectively been dealt incredibly kind draws. A route of Colombia, Sweden and Croatia to a World Cup final, which they failed to reach and a run of Germany, Ukraine and Denmark to the final of the Euros is a gift.
With no disrespect intended to these nations, only Germany would be expected to cause trouble to a side of England’s calibre, and they faced a German side that were in complete disarray in 2021.
When facing Croatia in the semi-final in 2018, a hardly all-time great Italian squad in the final (who failed to qualify for the World Cup the following year) and France in Qatar, Southgate failed.
Poor tactical choices and overly defensive football with the embarrassment of riches the Three Lions possess is criminal. An arsenal of Harry Kane, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Jack Grealish, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Gordon and Ivan Toney is genuinely terrifying for an opposition to face. However, English fans know deep down that when it comes to a crunch knockout match, the “try not to lose” mentality will come out of its shell once more.
This type of football is unlikely to sit well with the Old Trafford crowd or indeed, the hundreds of millions of United fans spread across the globe.
Southgate’s team and squad selections and in particular, his sometimes bewildering loyalty to certain older, steady players at the expense of exciting players at the top of their form is another area of immense frustration for many fans and something that does not fit well with United’s DNA.
In addition to these problems, the manager has not coached a club team since 2009. His only experience has been a three year stint at Middlesbrough, where he started off well but was at the helm when they were relegated.
That can happen at a team like Boro, but the footballing landscape has changed dramatically since 2009 at club level. Even if it hadn’t, judging solely on club experience, would any United fan think three years of managing at the Riverside stadium warranted being the next man to take on the huge role at Old Trafford?
In Southgate’s defence, it is a solid point to say that the England job is one of the most high pressure positions in the world of football and it is probably one of the very few alongside the Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich roles that can be compared to the pressure cooker atmosphere of being the person in charge at United.
He has certainly had to deal with a lot of criticism from fans and has kept a professional attitude. That deserves credit. However, a good relationship with the bosses and handling criticism is not enough to be the next manager of United.
INEOS have made a really strong impression so far amongst United fans. Supporter groups were left impressed by a meeting they had with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford.
Fans have been impressed by the targeting of candidates who have been very successful in football like Omar Berrada at Manchester City, Dan Ashworth at the FA and then Brighton and Jason Wilcox at City again.
Moreover, talks of building a Wembley of the North has breathed life and excitement into the future of Old Trafford, which the Glazers had systematically crushed for almost two decades.
However, what INEOS must not do is kill this positive momentum stone dead. Erik ten Hag is losing popularity within the supporters, even after the heroics on St Patrick’s Day against Liverpool. However, if the choice to replace him is the much-maligned England coach, many supporters would hand the Dutchman a ten year contract on the spot as a retort.
If the new powers to be think Southgate is the answer to United’s problem, the confidence and trust fans have placed in the new owners will melt away as quickly as it was given in the first place.