Less than six months after being given an extension, Erik ten Hag is already facing renewed job scrutiny at Manchester United.
With just three wins in 11 games across all competitions, the Erik ten Hag project at Old Trafford is fighting for its life, with rumours around potential Ten Hag replacements continuing to swirl.
Thomas Tuchel has been mooted for the Man Utd job, while there were reports recently of Sebastian Hoeness rejecting United’s advances.
This comes after Fabrizio Romano ruled out Simone Inzaghi, while Ruud Van Nistelrooy continues to show he wants the Man Utd hot seat.
Amidst all that noise on potential replacements, one name keeps flying under the radar who should be in consideration purely on the basis of his miracles in Germany.
That man is Frank Schmidt.
Who is Frank Schmidt?
Jurgen Klopp made a name for himself after his miracles with Mainz and then toppling the Bayern Munich giant in the Bundesliga.
Take those achievements, dial them up to a hundred, and that’s the zone where Frank Schmidt’s achievements at Heidenheim lie.
In 2007, Schmidt took over at FC Heidenheim, then in the fifth tier of German football. 17 years later, he is the longest-serving manager in German football history and his team are an established Bundesliga outfit.
Four promotions on a shoestring budget, exceeding expectations every year, and building an unbreakable bond between the club and the supporters is just the tip of what he had achieved at Heidenheim.
Since promotion to the Bundesliga, he has continued to soar past expectations, qualifying for the UEFA European Conference League by finishing eighth last season.
This season, after six games, they sit ninth in the table again and continue to claim big-name scalps in the league. Bundesliga called him the “long-time boss, legend, and miracle worker”, which is high praise indeed.
If United are looking for a charismatic manager to reestablish the connection between the team and the fans, there aren’t many out there who have done it better than Schmidt.
Why Frank Schmidt ticks all the boxes
If the main worry about Tuchel is that he is a short-term hire who eventually burns out, Schmidt is the antithesis of that nature and has a body of work to prove it.
The current setup at Manchester United with the new executive team has been brought to ensure that the manager has ample support but the show can go on regardless of who is in the dugout.
Still, it can’t be argued that short-term managers are somehow better than those who can stay successful for long.
If anything, having a long-term manager with a structure above him is the ideal mix that clubs spend years to master. Manchester City have that, Liverpool have shown they have that as they have continued chugging along after Klopp’s departure, and United are trying to build that.
Schmidt ticks all the boxes. He has a history of overachieving on the pitch, the ability to bring the team closer to the fans, a willingness to work in a structure, and a record that shows he can be in it for the long haul.
Benni McCarthy said there’s only one manager better than Ten Hag for Man Utd, but chasing big names shouldn’t be the way forward.
He’s not a big name but that’s a route United have been through and it doesn’t guarantee success. It’s time to make a sensible appointment instead of a starry one.
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