Erik ten Hag has found himself under fierce pressure to turn Manchester United's fortunes around after the reigning champions were eliminated from the EFL Cup last night by Newcastle United with a dismal performance in front of the Old Trafford faithful.
This defeat to the Magpies followed an embarrassing 3-0 loss in the derby to bitter rivals Manchester City on Sunday at the "Theatre of Nothing", as Gary Neville called the historic arena on Wednesday in his post-match analysis.
The Red Devils sit eighth in the Premier League table, 11 points behind leaders Tottenham Hotspur and eight adrift of top four.
Although the hierarchy are reportedly "desperate" to stick with Ten Hag amidst this turgid run of form, more poor results and a further slide down the table may resign the Dutchman to the same fate suffered by those before him. In that case, there could be an obvious contender for the job.
Thomas Frank links to Manchester United
Thomas Frank arrived at Brentford in 2016 and was initially appointed as an assistant head coach to Dean Smith while also acting as a bridge between the first team and the Bees' B side.
That was until the start of the 2018/19 season when Smith stood down from his position to join Aston Villa, who were in the Championship at the time. Frank was handed the job as head coach, despite having only had professional managerial experience at Brondby prior to his appointment.
Over the course of his five-year reign with Brentford, Frank guided the London club to promotion to the top-flight of English football for the first time since the 1946/47 season while also helping the Bees to maintain their status in the Premier League for two seasons running.
The Danish coach even earned lofty praise from talkSPORT pundit and former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan who called Frank a "manager of the highest calibre".
The 50-year-old's impressive job at the Brentford Community Stadium reportedly garnered interest from Manchester United two years ago toward the back end of Ole Gunner Solskjaer's time in charge. Frank admitted the rumours were "very nice" but that he wanted to stay put in west London for the time being.
Brentford currently sit two points off Man United in the table and while Frank may not have been overly keen to take the job two years ago, perhaps now is the right time for him to make the next step in his career should Ten Hag bite the bullet over the coming weeks.
The manager has also publicly declared his admiration for the Red Devils' £72m summer signing and compatriot Rasmus Hojlund, labelling the striker as "incredible".
Frank's style of play
Brentford's biggest defeat in Frank's five-year reign was a 5-1 thrashing suffered at the hands of Eddie Howe's Newcastle United at the start of last season. In contrast, United have been on the receiving end of several hidings under Ten Hag, including a 6-3 loss in the Manchester Derby, a 4-0 defeat to Frank's Brentford and, perhaps most infamously, a 7-0 humiliation at Anfield.
One of the main reasons the Bees have been so successful during Frank's tenure is the manager's ability to set the team up to be solid defensively, primarily opting for a variation of a back five against the 'bigger' teams, whether this be in the shape of a 5-4-1 or a 5-3-2, as the Dane outlined himself on a recent edition of Sky Sports' Monday Night Football.
Brentford have conceded 12 goals this season in the top flight from a total expected goals against (xGA) of 12.8 which is the seventh-lowest in the league. Meanwhile, United's xGA stands at 17.5, according to FBref.
Frank's men are also outscoring the struggling English giants, having found the net 16 times in ten matches to Man United's 11 within the same time frame.
However, it's not just a case of Brentford being more clinical in front of goal, the Bees have registered a total team xG of 19.6 this season which is the fifth-highest in the league to United's 14.7, so the London-based club are actually creating better goalscoring opportunities compared to a team with a squad market value of more than two times their own.
Ten Hag has struggled to get a tune out of his squad despite spending £411m on transfers since taking over eighteen months ago. Perhaps it's now time for Frank to have a crack at the whip.
