Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is approaching two years in the job and is now attempting to prove to Ineos that he should stay at Old Trafford.
United raided Ajax to land Ten Hag back in 2022, appointing him as the long-term successor to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following the somewhat perplexing Ralf Rangnick era.
Ten Hag had dominated Dutch football and whilst his start at United was patchy, he did secure a top-four finish and seemed to have United on the right track.
This season has been a huge disappointment though with performance levels falling way below what United need in order to really challenge for the title again.
That leaves Ten Hag under pressure and with Ineos analysing every aspect of the club, Ten Hag cannot feel safe in his job after a disappointing season.
There have been far too many games in which United have been second best but have got by on moments of quality; Sunday against Liverpool was a prime example.
Ineos need to have a plan in place for a successor if they are to axe Ten Hag, but one rumoured manager target could be heading elsewhere…
Manchester United-linked manager linked with Juventus
Reports in March suggested that United had shown an interest in Bologna boss Thiago Motta.
Some will remember Motta from his playing days with the likes of Barcelona, Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain.
The 41-year-old has turned his hand to management and after a spell with PSG’s Under-19’s, he has coached Genoa, Spezia and now Bologna.
Motta has lost just 15 of his 68 games in charge of Bologna and now has his side sitting in fourth place in Serie A – which would be Champions League qualification.
Motta is understandably attracting interest and whilst United may be keen, the Italian could be heading elsewhere.
Calciomercato report that Juventus have been in talks with Motta’s representatives for weeks now and have even found an ‘agreement in principle’ for him to replace Massimiliano Allegri this summer.
This may well be the case with Allegri having a somewhat underwhelming season.
However, Bologna are right behind Juventus in the Serie A table and the cynics among us may feel that Juve are putting these stories into the press to try and destabilise Bologna.
United’s possible hope of landing Motta may not be over just yet but Motta to Juventus is gathering steam over in Italy.
Thiago Motta’s 2-7-2 approach explained
One thing you will hear a lot about Motta is that he plays a 2-7-2 formation, which sounds bonkers.
That immediately sparks visions of two defenders behind a seven-man midfield, which just isn’t the case.
Instead, Motta reads the game horizontally rather than vertically.
Most people would see his formation as a 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 or 4-5-1 but he counts it as two wide players on either flank and then seven players – from goalkeeper to striker – focused centrally.
The goalkeeper is very prominent in build-up play and Bologna are adventurous in their approach with a defender moving into midfield to offer routes out from the back.
Motta’s innovation as a coach is making him a hot commodity, but whether we see him as a key United target any time soon remains to be seen as Ten Hag attempts to prove himself to Ineos.