Where Erik ten Hag ranks in the top 20 Premier League managers of all time based on PPG

Erik ten Hag’s future at Manchester United remains in doubt. If he is to leave Old Trafford this summer, how would the Dutch coach’s record rank among the best coaches of the Premier League era?

It had been reported in The Guardian, prior to the weekend’s FA Cup final, that the decision had already been made that Manchester United would replace Ten Hag this summer – whether or not they got their hands on the trophy.

Now, after their 2-1 victory over Manchester City at Wembley, a new report in The Athletic claims that United will “conduct a season review next week — including the performance of manager Erik ten Hag — before deciding on next steps for the football club.”

The 54-year-old inherited a side that had finished sixth, with their lowest points tally of the Premier League era, the season before his arrival at Old Trafford.

After a shaky start, Ten Hag soon turned things around to lead the Red Devils to the League Cup, ending a six-year trophy drought, as well as a respectable third-place placing in the Premier League.

Things were considerably tougher in his second season in English football, with his squad suffering an almighty injury crisis, particularly in defensive areas. They finished bottom of their Champions League group and succumbed to a lowest-ever Premier League finish of eighth.

But they did end the largely miserable campaign on a high note, beating the odds to defeat Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

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In a quirk of fate, Ten Hag may now suffer the same fate as fellow former Ajax coach Louis van Gaal, who lasted two seasons in Manchester and waved goodbye by leading the club to the FA Cup in his final match in charge. Van Gaal had led United to one more point over two Premier League campaigns than Ten Hag has.

In another quirk, Ten Hag actually has a marginally better Premier League points-per-game record than one of the leading contenders to replace him, Mauricio Pochettino. However, the Argentinian has a much larger sample size, and it’s worth remembering that his former clubs Tottenham and Southampton couldn’t boast anything like the spending power of Manchester United.

“If they don’t want me any more, I go somewhere else and win trophies, that’s what I’ve done my whole career,” Ten Hag told reporters after lifting the FA Cup at Wembley.

“I don’t know,” he added, speaking to BBC Sport.

“The only thing I’m doing is preparing my team, developing my team. This is a project for me. When I came in I can say it was a mess. Now we are better. We are not where we want to be.

“Football is about winning trophies. I want to play the best football, dynamic, attacking football but in the end you have to win games and trophies. That’s the mentality we brought in. This was our one opportunity and we did it. I‘m very proud of the players and staff.”

Here are the 20 managers with the best points-per-game records in Premier League history. Note: we’ve also included the total number of matches and points in brackets.

1. Pep Guardiola – 2.36 PPG (304 matches, 716 points)
2. Sir Alex Ferguson – 2.16 PPG (810 matches, 1752 points)
3. Jurgen Klopp – 2.11 PPG (334 matches, 705 points)
4. Roberto Mancini – 2.05 PPG (133 matches, 273 points)
5. Antonio Conte – 2.03 PPG (132 matches, 268 points)
6. Jose Mourinho – 2.02 PPG (363 matches, 735 points)
7. Arsene Wenger – 1.96 PPG (828 matches, 1627 points)
8. Mikel Arteta – 1.96 PPG (171 matches, 336 points)
9. Thomas Tuchel – 1.94 PPG (63 matches, 122 points)
10. Carlo Ancelotti – 1.84 PPG (134 matches, 246 points)
11. Unai Emery – 1.80 PPG (114 matches, 205 points)
12. Andre Villas-Boas – 1.79 PPG (81 matches, 145 points)
13. Louis van Gaal – 1.79 PPG (76 matches, 136 points)
14. Erik ten Hag – 1.78 PPG (76 matches, 135 points)
15. Mauricio Pochettino – 1.77 PPG (294 matches, 520 points)
16. Gianluca Vialli – 1.77 PPG (86 matches, 152 points)
17. Manuel Pellegrini – 1.77 PPG (171 matches, 302 points)
18. Sir Kenny Dalglish – 1.70 PPG (237 matches, 404 points)
19. Roy Evans – 1.70 PPG (183 matches, 311 points)
20. Rafael Benitez – 1.69 PPG (359 matches, 605 points)