David Ornstein rules out Man United approach for Simone Inzaghi | OneFootball

David Ornstein has rejected stories linking Manchester United with an approach for Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi as rumours continue to swirl around the precarious position of Erik ten Hag.

A blockbuster report from Italy emerged last week contending the Red Devils had approached Inzaghi with an offer to take over the managerial role at Old Trafford in the international break.

As relayed by The Peoples Person here, Italian reporter Tancredi Palmeri broke the news, revealing on X that, “Manchester United in past days offered to Simone Inzaghi to take over managerial job with immediate effect during international break but Inzaghi declined.”

The 48-year-old coach has enjoyed great success since being appointed manager at Inter Milan in 2021.

The Nerazzurri have won one Serie A title, two Copa Italia cups and three consecutive Supercoppa Italiana trophies in the three years Inazghi has been at the helm. They also reached the final of the Champions League in 2023 and were desperately unlucky to lose 1-0 to Manchester City, after thoroughly outplaying Pep Guardiola’s side in Istanbul.

Inter sit in second place in Serie A this season, two points behind Antontio Conte’s Napoli, and are ninth in the new Champions League table.

Inzaghi has firmly re-established a three-man defensive system while in Milan, demonstrating the ability to be both effective defensively and offensively – a combination which has proved beyond Ten Hag’s reach during his time in Manchester.

As Inter sauntered to a dominant league win last year, Inzaghi’s side conceded only 22 goals while scoring 89 themselves. No other side in Europe’s top five leagues boasted as strong a defensive record as the Nerazzurri.

United, by comparison, conceded 58 goals, scoring only 57 in the process. Quick maths tells you a negative goal difference is a shocking return for a club the size of the Red Devils.

The club sought to improve this leaky defence in the summer, signing Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt to buttress the centre of defence, while Noussair Mazraoui was signed to provide an upgrade on Aaron Wan-Bissaka at right-back.

This trio, when added to a unit already containing Lisandro Martinez, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot, creates, on paper at least, a very strong selection of defenders.

A three-at-the-back system appears tailor made for this United squad if, and this is a big if, all of these defenders are fit. The fact that Inzaghi enjoyed great success with Andre Onana as his goalkeeper in this exact set-up at the San Siro only strengthens the idea.

The Italian coach would likely be able to cultivate much-improved performances with United if he was given this defensive unit to build around:

Onana

Yoro         De Ligt       Martinez

Mazraoui                                                      Shaw

The suitability of this line-up to Inzaghi’s system with Inter is strong. However, the rumours suggesting the 48-year-old is being lined up as an imminent replacement for Ten Hag appear just that – rumours.

Ornstein asserts it is “not the case” that Inzaghi was approached by United and the Italian coach was “slightly surprised” to see his name linked with the move.

The Atheltic reporter even reveals it’s not believed Inzaghi speaks English, offering a further hurdle to any appointment.

While the Inter Milan manager offers a tantalising prospect at the helm at Old Trafford, given the rapid improvements he implemented at the Serie A side with a system appearing tailor made for the United squad, this does not seem to be a link with any meaningful legs unfortunately.

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