Mauricio Pochettino's 'mistake' that saw Erik ten Hag get Man Utd job over him

The hierarchy may wonder why the previous bosses rejected in 2022 after hearing swoon over his side's clean sheets.

Ten Hag, 54, entered the international break with two wins, two draws, three defeats, and only five goals scored. The former Ajax boss tried to deflect attention from his side's odious goal return onto the in the division so far.

Few were convinced by his argument, and the uncertainty around his position continues to build. After United endured in all competitions, the new infrastructure at Old Trafford may examine the reasoning behind the previous bigwigs' decision to choose Ten Hag over the former boss.

The Argentine manager appeared to be the favourite to replace and had been linked with the club since his days as manager. Yet, Pochettino was in charge of Paris Saint-Germain at the time and with memories of answering questions on United at Spurs perhaps still on his mind, Pochettino aimed to extinguish any queries of him joining the club by insisting his future was with This proved to be too unpalatable for the Red Devils.

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According to the Pochettino was the club's first choice to take over in 2022. They claim United was more than ready to try to thrash out a deal with to bring Pochettino to the red side of Manchester.

With PSG reluctant to part with him, United would have likely needed Pochettino to cause a furore and potentially force his way out of the club to carve out a route to United. Yet, Pochettino did not agitate or cause a storm, leaving PSG with no reason to succumb to United's wishes.

United would turn their attention to Ten Hag and sign him on an initial three-year deal. Pochettino is now no longer an option as he was recently appointed as manager of the United States men's national team, with the 2026 World Cup across the pond barely two years away.

Two years after the Dutchman put pen to paper on his deal, United have fluctuated under Ten Hag's stewardship. While he boasts an and League Cup winners' medal, he has only finished in the top four once.

With the club currently languishing in 14th, finishing in the places appears to be as fanciful as it is unlikely. His side held Aston Villa to a 0-0 draw at Villa Park in their last Premier League match before the break.

While the result in itself is not a bad one, given the predicaments of both clubs, United fans were left yawning throughout the contest. Yet, Ten Hag was in a rather upbeat mood after the game.

When asked about the speculation around his position, he said: "[It is] external noise. Internal, we are disappointed. We know we have to do better. Especially, we need to score more, in this moment, after this block of games [that is] where we are really short.

"All the other areas, we are doing really well, four clean sheets. That tells you something about our defending over the season. Defensive transitions we are doing really well. Our build-up play is good, we are calm, composed, creating chances apart from today. Today we should have created more. That area in the box, we have to be more ruthless, more clinical, more killing."

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