Simone Inzaghi a ‘serious contender’ for Manchester United job but Ineos must be wary of one concern

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Manchester United face a pivotal week as Erik ten Hag seeks to quieten some of the speculation surrounding his future at the club.

There is never a dull moment around Manchester United and the scrutiny surrounding Erik ten Hag has certainly ramped up over the last week.

Drawing 1-1 with FC Twente represented a truly underwhelming start to the Europa League campaign and Ten Hag needed a response against Tottenham Hotspur.

Instead, United turned in one of the worst performances of the Ten Hag era and collapsed to a 3-0 defeat against Spurs.

That leaves Ten Hag facing questions about his future once again, just months after Ineos decided to keep him charge.

The Dutchman needs results against Porto and Aston Villa this week or he will face a very nervy international break.

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Manchester United linked with Simone Inzaghi move

The national media are already pushing potential replacements for Ten Hag, seemingly believing that the United boss is on borrowed time.

Gareth Southgate has been linked again, which is no huge surprise given his connections to Dan Ashworth.

United may look a little further afield for Ten Hag’s eventual successor; it may be this month, next month, next year, but United need to have potential replacements in mind just in case.

The Daily Star now claim that Inter Milan boss Simone Inzaghi is a ‘serious contender’ to become Ten Hag’s successor.

It’s stated that Sir Jim Ratcliffe will consider Ten Hag’s future in the international break and Inzaghi is understood to have impressed.

United were linked with Inzaghi back in February, so it’s little surprise to see the Italian linked once again.

Inzaghi managed in the Champions League on Tuesday night, overseeing Inter’s 4-0 home win over Crvena zvezda.

Whether Inzaghi would give up his role at Inter to take a gamble on rejuvenating United remains to be seen, but he has certainly impressed at the San Siro.

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Inzaghi impressive but tactical overhaul is a concern

Inzaghi joined Inter from Lazio in 2021, replacing Antonio Conte after he won the Serie A title.

The former striker now boasts at 65% win rate at Inter, losing just 27 of his 166 games in charge.

Inzaghi won the title with Inter last season and Thierry Henry has raved about his work at the San Siro.

This is all very appealing but Inzaghi presents a potential problem – his preferred system.

Inzaghi has used a 3-5-2 for most of his time as Inter boss and went with a similar approach at Lazio.

This appears to be Inzaghi’s ideal way to play and United fans may be scarred from Louis van Gaal’s attempts to play that way.

Going for a complete tactical overhaul in the middle of the season would be a bold move from United and one Ineos may be wary of making.

If this was in the summer, then Inzaghi would be a top contender, but this just feels too big of a change to make mid-season.