Tom Cleverley says Graham Potter belongs at a club like Manchester United and reveals best-case scenario on title bid

In the third part of a Ladbrokes exclusive, former Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley addresses the rumours surrounding Graham Potter potentially replacing Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford and gives his thoughts on Saturday’s trip to West Ham.

Click on the links for part one in which he talks about the Red Devils and part two for his thoughts on Aston Villa and their title prospects.

Graham Potter deserves to be coaching at highest level

I’m not surprised at all that Erik ten Hag is still in charge of the football club. After the Man City game earlier on in the season, I very much thought the club should stick with him.

At the minute it’s just a bit of consistency that’s missing. One game they’ll pull off a positive result and you’re thinking stability is the best way, and then it’s followed by a stinker, and you’re wondering whether he’s lost everyone. So I think they’re lacking a bit of consistency in their performances. The league form isn’t too bad. I don’t think the Champions League exit has helped with the snowball effect of criticism that’s come the manager’s way. I’m not surprised he’s still in charge, but neither would I be surprised if they opted for a change.

I’m in the coaching world myself, so I don’t want to disrespect Erik ten Hag too much by talking about potential replacements when he’s still in the job. But when it comes to Graham Potter, you don’t know how someone’s feeling – he might have needed a mental break. He’s been in coaching for many, many years, but personally I think he’s a top, top manager. You see the rumours with Man United at the moment, and I personally believe that’s the kind of level of club he belongs at.

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You’re seeing now how much Chelsea have struggled since he left, and the problem he was having there was that the team just wasn’t putting the ball in the back of the net. They were dominating possession, they were creating bags and bags of chances – they just couldn’t score. As a manager, that’s a difficult one to deal with because you can’t physically put yourself on the pitch and put the ball in the back of the net, so I think he was a bit unlucky with that job, I really do. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s waiting for a big opportunity to arise, and that’s when we’ll see him back in the game.

The decision, by Chelsea, to sack him looks premature now. I would certainly say they’re in a worse position than they were with Potter. Obviously Frank Lampard came in and endured a difficult run of results, and again, this season, they’re very, very hit and miss with Mauricio Pochettino.

I’m not sure how well the recruitment structure is and how much of a say the managers have there. It all seems a bit scattergun, and I know they’ve got a few technical directors in there, or whatever they call them. I’m not sure how that’s working out. It’s an underachieving football club at the moment. A bit like Manchester United. You can’t just put your finger on one thing and say that’s the quick fix for Chelsea. I think it’s going to take a few years to turn around.

Man United are three years off challenging for the title

People always ask the question of how far Manchester United are from being genuine title challengers, and it’s a really difficult one to answer, for me. You’d probably say it’s a three-year cycle, but in those three years, everything would have to be perfect. You’d have to get the right recruitment, you’d have to either stick with the manager or employ the right person.

Transfer windows are massive. You need a little bit of luck. Three or four big things all need to start turning a corner and going in the right direction. Listen, it can be done, we’ve seen it at Arsenal, a few years ago we saw it with Liverpool. It’s inevitable that it will happen, because big clubs just don’t disappear. I think they’re three years away from challenging for the title, but everything has to be done super well in that time.

West Ham v Man Utd score prediction

I’m actually quite confident in an away win here. Listen, it’s not an easy place to go at all, the London Stadium, as we saw with West Ham’s result against Wolves at the weekend. I just think Man United are starting to turn a corner, application-wise. A few weeks back, you didn’t really know which United team was going to turn up, when it came to how they were going to apply themselves.

But since then we’ve seen some real resilience, a sense of togetherness and, on top of that, they’ve got quality in that team. I can see them going to West Ham, keeping a clean sheet and nicking a goal or two, so I’d say one or two nil to United.

Top six and an FA Cup is what I’d consider a good season for United

If you said top six, I think that would be – OK, obviously not considered ‘successful’ – the target for Manchester United now, when you look at how the season has gone so far. Obviously at the start of the season, you’d set your stall out for a top-four finish and a domestic trophy.

The big disappointment is that they’ve not only gone out of the Champions League, but they’re out of Europe altogether. The Europa League is now another trophy that can’t be won, they’re out of the Carabao Cup. Clutching at straws, now, you’re looking at a top-six finish and an FA Cup – that’s what you’d have to consider a good season for United at this point.

Virgil van Dijk’s comments have been blow out of proportion

I think that [Virgil] van Dijk’s comments have been blown out of proportion a little bit because of Roy Keane’s reaction, to be honest. He’s got a job in the media to do that kind of thing, but I don’t think Van Dijk’s comments were as disrespectful as they were made out to be.

It’s never easy interviewing an emotional player so soon after the game. But listen, it’s all mind games, from the player. You know, he’s trying to let the United players know that he thinks they’re inferior. And it’s up to them to prove otherwise with their performances. I think they can take massive heart from the point at Anfield, and to see how frustrated Van Dijk was after the game – they’ve done their job. No one needs to get involved in a war of words, let’s do the talking on the pitch and save all the talk for these pundits.