STATS ENOUGH

THE best candidate for the Manchester United manager’s job has been identified.

But top options Gareth Southgate and Graham Potter would both be WORSE than current boss Erik ten Hag.

Dutchman Ten Hag is clinging on to his position as Old Trafford chief after going five matches without a win.

And now data gurus Carteret Analytics have crunched the numbers and worked out who would be the ideal fit to take the reins at United.

And it is Ruben Amorim who comes out at the top of the pile.

Ironically, the Sporting Lisbon boss was a target for arch rivals Liverpool when they replaced Jurgen Klopp before settling on Arne Slot.

But now, if United’s chiefs look at the numbers, he could be approached for the potential vacancy at Old Trafford.

Amorim was handed a top score when the numbers were crunched.

The data analysts show Amorim scoring extremely highly for ‘Strategic Intelligence’, a measure that looks at a manager’s ability to set their team up for victory.

He also scored incredibly high for his ability to transform matches during games.

Those attributes put him clear of Zinedine Zidane in second with the ex-Real Madrid boss pipping Simone Inzaghi on the podium.

Thomas Tuchel has already been linked with replacing Ten Hag and the German comes up as the fourth best candidate for Manchester United in the data.

Kieran McKenna — the Ipswich boss who was previously a coach at United — is fifth, just narrowly edging out Ten Hag’s current No2 Ruud van Nistelrooy.

That places him directly above free agent Southgate, who is admired by the Ineos bosses and is available after quitting from his role as England gaffer following the Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain.

Southgate scored particularly poorly in the ‘Tactical Command’ measure. This looks at a manager’s ability to transform a match during the game — something many England fans who felt he was too often tactically outwitted will concur with.

Former Brighton and Chelsea boss Potter, still out of work and now starting life as a pundit, is next in ninth.

Middlesbrough’s Michael Carrick, Roberto De Zerbi of Marseille and finally Brentford boss Thomas Frank complete the list of the 12 managers who were looked at.

Carteret Analytics, quantitative analysis experts who have built a series of algorithms that utilise a huge amount of raw data, looked at a number of areas.

Objective achievement, strategic intelligence, tactical command, attacking coefficient, shot creation and conversion, possession and formations over the past six seasons were all taken into consideration.

When Ten Hag was first employed by Manchester United, their analysis correctly warned fans of the Red Devils not to expect all out attacking play, and that rather than have a specific style, he adapted his tactics match-by-match.

Their latest number crunching now indicates where Manchester United should turn next.

Amorim came out strongly across the board, particularly in strategic intelligence, tactical command, attacking coefficient and shot conversion.

That relates to his ability to set up his teams to win matches and make transformations within games to impact results.

His high attacking coefficient would tap into the United “attack, attack, attack” mantra.

Incredibly, Ten Hag does not outperform Amorim in any one of the metrics that were analysed. — Sun.