Man United know Bayern Munich truth amid Sir Jim Ratcliffe's shrinking options and damaged reputations

As Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc dined with Ineos officials at The Ivy on Wednesday they would have had plenty to discuss. Blanc's elevation to interim chief executive at Manchester United made it likely this was a night for talking shop.

With Blanc now filling the top job until Omar Berrada's arrival on July 13 and with Ineos man Roger Bell installed as chief financial officer, Ratcliffe is close to having his key leadership group in place. A date for Berrada to take up office at Old Trafford is welcome and the priority now is working out a deal with Newcastle United for sporting director Dan Ashworth.

But the decision causing the most angst within that group is surely the future of Erik ten Hag, United's under-pressure manager who continues to come out fighting in a bid to stay at the club. The Dutchman has pointed to injuries, refereeing decisions and another FA Cup final in recent weeks to outline his credentials to lead United into a new era.

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There are certainly mitigating factors for Ten Hag this season and he did store up plenty of credit from his first campaign in charge. If Ratcliffe and his team decide to keep the 54-year-old they will be overlooking collapses such as the one against Coventry City at Wembley and results as dispiriting as the draw with Burnley at the weekend.

It's not a simple decision to make, however. Ineos have changed almost every major role at the club since they took over but ditching Ten Hag would clearly be the most seismic. And while Ratcliffe felt upgrades were achievable with the appointments of Berrada, Blanc, Bell, Ashworth, Jason Wilcox and others, the case for change in the dugout isn't as obvious.

That isn't because Ten Hag has made an irresistible case for remaining in charge, but because the list of potential replacements isn't exactly long. United only need to look at Bayern Munich to see how difficult a time it is to be making a change, with Ralf Rangnick following Xabi Alonso and Julian Nagelsmann in turning them down. Bayern are returning to the drawing board and Roberto De Zerbi remains a major candidate for that job.

De Zerbi was mentioned in dispatches as a possible United manager earlier this season but his stock has fallen since. Officials in Munich admire his work but it's difficult to look past a disappointing campaign with Brighton, who have now won just two of their last 12 games in all competitions.

For all his tactical ingenuity at the Amex Stadium and the success he enjoyed at the club, the spark has fizzled out. Brighton were brilliant in winning 3-1 at Old Trafford in September and looked realistic Champions League candidates at that stage of the season. What has happened since is a disappointment and having been a contender for jobs such as United and Liverpool, he is now more likely to leave the Premier League.

Instead, it is Aston Villa who have been the surprise package of this season and under Unai Emery they are in the semi-finals of a European competition and on course for the Champions League. Emery has done a magnificent job at Villa Park and recently signed a new three-year contract.

He has had big jobs before, struggling to make an impression at Paris St-Germain and Arsenal, but he looks a better manager for those experiences and but for his new deal would surely have been a leading candidate for any potential job at United. Instead, he is another name scrubbed off the list.

That leaves Thomas Tuchel as the favourite when he departs Bayern this summer. He certainly has the best CV but his ongoing war of words with Bayern's honourary president Uli Hoeness is another example of his ability to fall out with the people above him, even if the blame for this spat lies more with Hoeness.

As a free agent, Tuchel would be a relatively simple appointment and he would be interested in the job and a Premier League return, but the German is also the type of character who could end up having separate arguments going on with Berrada, Ashworth and Wilcox on three different topics. The question Ineos have to ask is whether they want such a combative head coach sitting within their structure.

If not, then options are very thin on the ground. Gareth Southgate and Graham Potter are admired by people within Ineos Sport but would be underwhelming appointments for the fan base. Naglesmann has committed his future to Germany and Zinedine Zidane seems to have little interest in any job other than the France one.

The difficulties in identifying an outstanding candidate works in Ten Hag's favour. He is the man in possession of the job and if he can cause an FA Cup final upset he might yet do enough to earn a third season in that hotseat.