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OPINIONManchester United have five candidates to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is under huge pressure at Man Utd but there is no obvious candidate to replace him at Old Trafford.



















The November international break has always been a time when Premier League clubs consider a change in the dugout and within 24 hours of Manchester United latest Old Trafford humiliation, two more bosses had been sacked.

Daniel Farke was dismissed by Norwich just hours after guiding them to their first win of the season, while Dean Smith was relieved of his duties at Aston Villa after a run of five straight defeats.

Villa haven't won since a 1-0 success at Old Trafford but the man in charge at United remains in a job for now. Three managers have been fired in the Premier League since United's 5-0 defeat to Liverpool just over two weeks ago, but Ole has survived.

As things stand Solskjaer will be in charge when United return to action at Watford on November 20. One of the arguments against replacing the 48-year-old is a lack of an obvious target to come in, but the Manchester Evening News has taken a look at five potential candidates to replace Solskjaer.

Brendan Rodgers

Rodgers is the bookmakers' favourite at the moment after a good two-and-a-half years at the King Power Stadium. The former Liverpool boss has refused to be drawn on the speculation linking him with the job and to complicate matters he has admirers at the Etihad Stadium, which would make him a strong candidate to replace Pep Guardiola when the Catalan departs.


Erik ten Hag

The current Ajax boss has plenty of support amongst the United fanbase and he's pressed his claims well in Europe this season. Ajax top their Champions League group and have beaten Borussia Dortmund 7-1 across two games, as well as winning 5-1 at Sporting Lisbon.

The 51-year-old lacks experience at a bigger club but after taking Ajax to within a whisker of the Champions League final in 2019 he's built another stylish side in Amsterdam.

United's biggest challenge in appointing Ten Hag would be tempting away from Ajax during the season. It's likely they will have to wait until the end of the season before appointing the Dutchman.

Zinedine Zidane

Zidane is the second favourite with most bookmakers but his name hasn't been seriously mentioned in discussion around possible replacements and he's never really expressed an interest in working in the Premier League.

Mauricio Pochettino

The Argentine looked the likely candidate to replace Jose Mourinho when he was sacked in December 2018, but United's run of form convinced them to give Solskjaer the job permanently.

With the benefit of hindsight, United should probably have appointed Pochettino when he became available after leaving Tottenham in November 2019. Instead, he spent 15 months out of work while United backed Solskjaer before taking the Paris Saint-Germain job.

Ralf Rangnick

If United decide they need a short-term appointment that Rangnick, 63, could fit the bill. The German has been mentioned as a caretaker candidate previously and the allure of working for the club could be attractive, despite Rangnick's desire to build long-term projects.

He is currently the head of sports development at Lokomotiv Moscow, but Rangnick reportedly met with United officials two years ago and his name was mentioned in dispatches as a potential technical director or football director.



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