Van Nistelrooy ‘will be offered interim job as Man Utd manager’ if Ten Hag is sacked but ex-striker ‘has reservations’

THIS is a mid-table squad at an underachieving club, with a lot of unwanted players on big money.

And Ratcliffe is an instinctive cost-cutter who may not pay top dollar to the next manager.

If this club wasn’t called ‘Manchester United’, it wouldn’t be an especially desirable job.

The good news for United is that their new sporting director, Dan Ashworth, is a very decent judge of a manager.

He has been instrumental in three previous managerial appointments — Gareth Southgate for England, Graham Potter for Brighton and Eddie Howe for Newcastle.

None were wildly popular at the time, all were conspicuous successes.

Interestingly, Ashworth’s No 1 choice for the Newcastle job was Unai Emery, who turned him down to stay at Villarreal but has since proved that judgment right by excelling at Aston Villa.

Emery may well deliver the coup de grace to Ten Hag on Sunday — especially with Bruno Fernandes suspended and Kobbie Mainoo an injury doubt.

And the Spaniard would be an excellent fit for United — yet there is next to no chance that he would abandon Villa’s Champions League campaign to take the Old Trafford job, not least because he isn’t a stark raving madman.

Howe would be another good candidate to succeed Ten Hag but, although he has become frustrated on Tyneside, the Saudis would surely not allow Ratcliffe to poach Howe, as they reluctantly did with Ashworth.

Potter is available but his Chelsea experience and lack of charisma would make him a tough sell.

Which brings us to Southgate, who remains close with Ashworth and is an excellent man-manager who was seriously considered by United last spring.

Yet, despite having led England to two of their three major finals, Southgate’s reputation for over-caution was only enhanced during the Euros.

Mauricio Pochettino, passed over twice by United, is out of the equation having taken the United States job.

Thomas Tuchel would be a popular and gettable option but, despite being a fine coach and a very engaging man, he is considered something of a loose cannon.

Likewise, Roberto De Zerbi, now at Marseille after his brief Brighton stint sparkled then fizzled out.

Kieran McKenna — a gifted former United coach who has won back-to-back promotions with Ipswich Town — is an intriguing candidate but the imminent vacancy may come a year or so too soon.

Marco Silva, the extremely under-rated Fulham boss, has been on United’s radar and should not be discounted.

Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, last season’s ‘next big thing’, was passed over by West Ham as well as Liverpool this summer and is not an easy man to pin down.

Zinedine Zidane, who has taken over from Alan Curbishley as a 20-1 shot for every Premier League job, is a ‘figurehead’ manager and not an Ashworth type.

Ruud van Nistelrooy, the former United goal machine who joined Ten Hag’s coaching team in the summer is the bookies’ favourite. Simply because he’s in the building and he’s Dutch.

So, yes, getting rid of Ten Hag is the easy part.

Here’s how SunSport’s Dylan Terry rated the Red Devils’ stars performances in Portugal

Andre Onana – 6/10

Reacted brilliantly the first time he was called into action with a flying save, only for Porto to score the rebound.

Porto then scored with their next shot on target too – Omorodion’s header – and Onana could do little about the excellent finish for Porto’s third.

Made two great stops to keep Man Utd in the game.

Noussair Mazraoui – 4

Looked fairly stable in the first 45 minutes but waned as the game went on.

All at sea at the start of the second half as Porto cut through the right-hand side of Man Utd’s defence with ease.

Matthijs de Ligt – 4

Looked imposing in the air as he dealt with Porto’s crosses from both sides, but then failed to get in front of Omorodion for the hosts’ second goal.

Like most of the Man Utd side, his performance dropped as the game went on and he was bullied by Porto’s No9.

Lisandro Martinez – 4

Should have reacted quicker for the first Porto goal as Pepe got ahead of him to nod into an empty net – with Martinez static on the six-yard box.

There is clearly not much of a partnership with De Ligt as Porto pulled them apart all evening.

Diogo Dalot – 4

Porto enjoyed a lot of success down Man Utd’s left-hand side and Dalot looked all at sea on several occasions.

Had little help from Martinez but still looked exposed.

Casemiro – 3

Anonymous yet again in Man Utd’s midfield – the ball just passes him by.

Could not even manage one of his customary fouls.

Christian Eriksen – 5

Looked leggy out of possession but produced an impressive run before laying it off to Hojlund for Man Utd’s second goal.

Then failed to make much more of an impact and his delivery from wide areas left a lot to be desired.

Bruno Fernandes – 4

A damning indictment of Man Utd’s current predicament as Fernandes was shown a red card for a second successive game.

Two high boots, two yellow cards, and another early bath for the Portuguese playmaker – who had worked tirelessly prior to his dismissal.

Amad Diallo – 5

Very quiet aside from one burst through the middle as Rashford received all of the ball over the other side.

Replaced by Antony who arguably created even less.

Rasmus Hojlund – 7

Made his case for starting ahead of Joshua Zirkzee with a goal, firing beyond Costa at the near post.

Held it up and then showed his strength and pace to run at Porto before the break – showing little rustiness in his first start of the season.

Marcus Rashford – 8

Rashford showed his directness for the opening goal, driving at the Porto back line and forcing the error from Costa.

A constant threat in the first half as he assisted Hojlund’s strike.

But he was then surprisingly hooked at the break, a decision that will need an explanation from Ten Hag.

See how the Man Utd subs rated here