da bwin： The Three Lions' manager has led a cultural reset with a declining national institution and can do the same at Old Trafford

da roleta： Gareth Southgate may not want to discuss his future, but everyone else does. The England manager will this week attempt to keep the focus on his side's friendly matches with Brazil and Belgium amid their final preparations for Euro 2024, but attention on what he will do next is only going to grow.

Southgate has not committed to England beyond the summer in a bid to "remove pressure" from his players as they try to win a first major trophy in 58 years, but the uncertainty has inevitably raised questions about whether he is eyeing up another job. And, national-team manager aside, there is no greater job in English football than taking charge of Manchester United.

In the last few days, Southgate has become the favourite to become the next manager of United following a report that new minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe is confident of luring the England boss to Old Trafford. Ratcliffe and his INEOS colleagues are reportedly still not convinced that Erik ten Hag is the right man to lead the project forward, even after the stunning 4-3 win over Liverpool to reach the FA Cup semi-finals.

A fair few United fans might agree with that assessment given the team are sixth in the Premier League and have lost 16 matches this season. Not many, however, will be setting off fireworks if Southgate is indeed announced as Ten Hag's eventual successor.

But if you take a step back and consider everything Southgate has achieved with England after inheriting the national team when it was at its lowest ebb, there are plenty of reasons why he is the ideal manager to give the flailing Red Devils a reboot.

Getty Ashworth connection

If Southgate were to accept the offer to take charge at United, he would be working with key figures who he knows well and with whom there is a huge level of mutual respect. The England manager has known United's likely next sporting director Dan Ashworth for more than a decade, dating back to their time together at England's headquarters.

Ashworth was appointed as England's director of elite development in 2013, the same time Southgate had been named head coach of the Under-21 team. Working in tandem with Southgate and head of development teams Matt Crocker, Ashworth helped draft the England DNA document, which became the blueprint for a lot of success that the men's and women's team would go on to have.

Southgate praised Ashworth for the role he had played in England reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2018, while Ashworth, who has agreed to work at United but has been placed on gardening leave by Newcastle, has described Southgate as "an exceptional leader“ and praised his people skills.

"He’s got a really good understanding of getting the best out of the players and staff," he said. "So what’s ended up happening is that Gareth has brought together a way of working for the players and the staff that means it is one big group of people."

AdvertisementGetty On board with Brailsford

Southgate has also got a lot in common with INEOS director of sport Sir Dave Brailsford, who was in close contact with the FA in the aftermath of the sacking of Sam Allardyce. Brailsford, who had huge success with Team Sky and British Cycling, was invited to become part of the FA's technical advisory board.

Brailsford and Southgate also connected at the P8 Leaders conferences, where the mastermind of Team Sky's multiple Tour de France wins was a regular speaker.

“Gareth Southgate was very interested in Dave’s advice on how you keep everyone in a World Cup squad motivated, including those who aren’t playing," Sir Michael Barber told . "Team Sky had almost 30 riders, but only nine, and then it was eight, of them could ride the Tour. His real skill was making sure everyone in the team felt like they were contributing to the goal of winning the race. Gareth lapped it up and took detailed notes."

Brailsford and Southgate share a belief that you can learn a lot from other sports. The England manager and his staff have borrowed ideas from the NFL and NBA, incorporating strategies to improve set-piece routines and game management. Southgate explained in 2018: "We can try different things that work. If you keep always doing what you've always done, you get the same results."

Brailsford expanded his portfolio to work on the sub-two-hour marathon with INEOS, while also dipping his toes into Formula One and sailing before taking a keen interest in football. According to , Brailsford and Southgate have watched a Super Bowl together and maintain contact in a Whatsapp group featuring other guests at the P8 events.

(C)Getty Images'No good culture'

Southgate's interest in what Brailsford had to say on how to keep players who did not always play interested is intriguing, as many United managers have struggled to foster any sense of team unity in the 11 years since Sir Alex Ferguson departed.

Ten Hag has tried harder than most, taking a ruthless approach when Cristiano Ronaldo left a match early and banishing Jadon Sancho from the squad when he refused to apologise for calling the manager out on social media. "Strict lines is what the club asked me because there was no good culture before I entered last season," the Dutchman explained in September.

However, the manager's decision to publicly question Sancho's commitment has been criticised in some quarters, and it certainly created a messy image of the club from the outside. It is difficult to imagine Southgate dealing with a similar situation in the same way.

Ten Hag has tried to impose a top-down regime of discipline and rigorous physical training, but with mixed results, and not just on the pitch. Marcus Rashford's big night out in Belfast just hours before a training session painted a picture of a squad that does not fully respect the manager, despite his efforts.

He is far from the only United manager to struggle with a dressing room lacking in characters. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed that a number of players refused to be captain for certain matches and did not have the guts to tell the manager themselves. He also claimed some players stopped running for him in his final match in charge against Watford.

GettyTaking on cliques

Southgate could be the ideal person to tackle United's bad habits. Before he became England coach in 2016, the team was beset with similar problems to those that have plagued United of late. But he has taken a different approach to Ten Hag, trying to bring players with him rather than imposing his ideas on them.

He has overseen a cultural reset and created a far happier camp than before. Gone are the club divisions that were rife during the so-called 'Golden Generation' team of the 2006 World Cup and other England sides of the past. He has replaced it with a culture of unity.

"He's created an environment where they all enjoy going," former England U20s coach Paul Simpson told . "We've got away from a few years ago where it seemed players didn't want to play for the national team. I wasn't there for it, but they talk about little cliques and a bad feeling between the groups and stuff like that, that was not something I ever saw in my time."