Erik ten Hag doesn't have "personality" to be Man Utd boss claims Stan Collymore

Erik ten Hag is an underwhelming choice for Manchester United and not the right man for the job.

That's the verdict of Mirror Sport columnist Stan Collymore, the former Liverpool and England striker, who is convinced Mauricio Pochettino would have been the better pick for the job. Collymore said: "Ten Hag is of the Ajax school and I'm just not convinced that, from a tactical perspective, the Dutch giants' style will be enough for the Old Trafford faithful.

"Ajax is a factory and the philosophy of playing the ball religiously on the deck and through the lines will be imbued in him. It'll be bit like Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, because Johan Cruyff went to Barcelona and infused them with the Ajax DNA, which Guardiola picked up on and gave an Iberian twist, and that's what he ultimately brought to City.

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"But you have to be aware of team's pasts, which is where Liverpool were clever with Jurgen Klopp, because their play under the German is a beefed-up, on-steroids version of pass and move. Liverpool teams have always had great individual players as well, just as they have now — think Fernando Torres, Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, Michael Owen… — so it fits hand in glove with the way they wanted to project themselves into the 21st century.

"At United, they still like youth and width, attack, attack, attack, and I just wonder whether Ten Hag will give them that. Pochettino would have been my choice because United should always be going for the best in class. I'm not saying Poch is the best in class of all managers, but he's the best option for United right now and I was a little concerned to hear United have baulked at the £17.5million it would have taken to get him from Paris Saint-Germain.

"I like what he did with youngsters at Southampton and Tottenham, which he'd have done again at Old Trafford. And, frankly, I'm not sure Ten Hag has the personality to carry a club the size of United, which Pochettino does have. He comes with his own backroom team, Jesus Perez and Co, and they'd give him the support he needs.

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"Of course, lots of barbs are thrown at Pochettino because he didn't win anything at Spurs and hasn't won anything of note at PSG. But you go to PSG for some dough hoping you'll get to the latter stages of the Champions League while knowing the odds of getting to the latter stages of the Champions League, never mind winning it when you're playing cannon fodder every week, are low.

"You are playing sub-standard teams in the league most weeks, then to take the step up to play the best is too big. So Poch has been unfairly judged, as Thomas Tuchel was, because look what he has done at Chelsea. What Pochettino achieved at his Spurs peak should be counted — it was high octane, high pressing, easy on the eye, with youth, and he changed the culture of the club. It's why Poch could have carried United on his shoulders better than Ten Hag."