Manchester United reportedly add Ralph Hasenhuttl to manager shortlist

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Manchester United have added Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl to the managerial shortlist, the Mirror report.

Erik Ten Hag and Mauricio Pochettino are the two favourites, but United are also exploring other options, with CEO Richard Arnold pledging a ‘thorough’ search.

Hasenhuttl previously worked under Ralf Rangnick at RB Leipzig and has been at Southampton for the past three years.

A good manager, is he United calibre?

There is a lot of respect for the job Hasenhuttl has done at Southampton on a limited budget with a fairly middling squad of players.

His Southampton teams are nearly always very hard to play against, and they have played United tough this season, with both games ending in 1-1 draws.

Hasenhuttl’s preferred style is, not coincidentally, similar to Rangnick. He likes a high tempo and pressing style, and likes to play either a 4-2-2-2 or 4-3-3 formation.

This season Southampton sit a very creditable ninth in the Premier League, despite a poor defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend.

Hasenhuttl fits into a category a bit like Brighton’s Graham Potter, where they are quite clearly very good managers who might actually do a good job at United.

But they lack a couple of factors. Hasenhuttl is not seen as a big name or proven winner, nor does he have enough experience on the European stage.

The Austrian needs to take another job, a bigger one, to really prove himself as a future United manager. The same can be applied to Potter.

For where United are right now in 2022, Ten Hag and Pochettino are far more attractive names, managers who are more used to dealing with higher calibre players, and managing in the Champions League.

The Manchester United job may be the most demanding position in football right now, an almost impossible task due to the weight of expectation and past success. That is why the decision over the next manager in the door is crucial.

United do need a back-up plan in case Ten Hag or Pochettino can’t be hired, and in this situation, Hasenhuttl becomes a more interesting name.