"Most of the players would not know him" - Louis Saha explains why Erik ten Hag shouldn't be given Manchester United job

Former Manchester United player Louis Saha is the latest football personality to weigh in on Ralf Rangnick's succession, as reported by the Express.

Rangnick's contract as head coach expires in the summer. The German is famously Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel's mentor and is also credited with the radical evolution of gegenpressing. It was no surprise then that his appointment was met with much jubilation by large sections of the Manchester United faithful.

However, after starting off on a good run to put Manchester United back in the conversation for Champions League qualification, the team have struggled in recent weeks. The poor run of form has led to calls from the fanbase to replace the 63-year-old.

Among the leading candidates to replace the German is Ajax Amsterdam coach Erik ten Hag. According to Saha, Ten Hag could be set to face the same problem. Speaking to Metro, Saha explained why Ten Hag could struggle as Manchester United manager. He told the publication:

"He has quality for sure. The Dutch people are very knowledgeable about football. But I'm sorry, it is a different animal. Ajax is a trampoline for big clubs. They are respected in world football, but they are not in that league. This is not Milan or Real Madrid."

"I am sure that most of the players would not know him [Ten Hag]. Managing this club [United] is a different thing. We have seen some big names come in and they didn't make it. Jose Mourinho is one of the biggest in world football, he brought results in terms of winning trophies, but we claim it was an unsuccessful spell."

The Red Devils were eliminated by Middlesbrough in the FA Cup fourth round, drew to Watford and were soundly beaten 4-1 by Manchester City within the span of a month. There have been murmurs that Rangnick's lack of reputation has caused friction between him and some big-name players in the dressing room.

A look at Erik ten Hag, the Dutchman rumored to replace Rangnick as Manchester United coach

Rangnick has won just eight of his 18 games as Man U coach

Ten Hag played as a central defender for FC Twente, De Graafschap, RKC Waalwijk and FC Utrecht. His managerial career began when he was appointed head coach of Go Ahead Eagle by Marc Overmars, who was a shareholder at the club.

Though he stayed for just a single season, the rookie manager led the Deventer club to a fifth-place finish in the Eerste Division and subsequently won them promotion to the Eredivisie via the play-offs.

Ten Hag also coached Bayern Munich II between 2013 and 2015 when Pep Guardiola was head coach of the main team. He later returned to the Netherlands after being offered a managerial role at FC Utrecht in the summer of 2015.

In the 2016-17 season, ten Hag helped FC Utrecht finish fourth in the Eredivisie, booking a place in the Europa League qualifiers.

Ten Hag was appointed head coach of AFC Ajax in 2017 in the month of December. In 2019, he led the Amsterdam-based team to the semi-finals of the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League for the first time since 1997.

The 52-year-old has also won the Eredivisie and KNVB Cup double with Ajax in the 2018-2019 and 2020-2021 seasons.