6 Managers Already on the Hot Seat Around Europe

A three-week international break is a nightmare for any club manager. If things have been going well, the interruption could have ruined all that momentum. Those off to a bad start, meanwhile, have been left waiting to try to turn things around.

For the managers on the tougher end of that scale, the wait is finally over. The issue with being in the hot seat, though, is that the recovery doesn't always work out, and clubs are rarely shy about pulling the trigger when enough is enough.

The following six managers could all face some serious questions if results don't improve soon. While not an exhaustive list of coaches under pressure, these are some of the more intriguing situations around Europe as domestic play resumes.

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No wins in five games, along with scoring just two goals, would have any manager's seat feeling toasty. After being allowed to spend more than $400 million over the summer, though, Roberto De Zerbi should really be feeling the heat.

Spurs' latest rebuild was never likely to be smooth sailing, but De Zerbi made some risky decisions entering the season, and the results so far speak for themselves.

Antonin Kinsky became the team's starting goalkeeper after largely serving as the backup for the previous 18 months, during which he made several high-profile errors. While it would be unfair to blame the 23-year-old for the eight league goals Spurs have conceded so far, he hasn't been convincing either.

At the other end of the pitch, Richarlison was omitted from the Premier League squad entirely, leaving Dominic Solanke and Omar Marmoush as the only options up front. Solanke has looked short on fitness and confidence, and Marmoush has offered more of a threat playing from wide.

In midfield, De Zerbi has struggled to find a workable combination despite sanctioning a $240 million-plus revamp, signing Sandro Tonali and Matheus Fernandes, and never starting the same trio in consecutive games across all competitions.

There's still time to turn things around, but it will be interesting if things haven't improved by the time January approaches. There will be pressure to spend money once again, and Spurs may decide that they can't keep writing checks to fund a failing project.

This time last season, Marseille were gearing up to start a Champions League campaign with a trip to face Real Madrid. Now, they're second-to-last in Ligue 1 and on a five-game losing streak in all competitions.

Bruno Genesio arrived in the summer, but it seems he wasn't fully aware of the scope of the challenge. Marseille's ownership has set about slashing the budget, and the only arrivals have been Timothy Weah and Hamed Traore, who were both on loan at OM last season.

Goal.com's Krishan Davis documented the issues between Genesio and ownership, which have seen the manager publicly question the club's strategy on multiple occasions. French newspaper L'Équipe has reported that Genesio is unlikely to make it past Christmas, but Marseille's financial situation may even prevent them from paying the agreed compensation.

If that sounds untenable to you, that's probably because it would sound untenable to anyone. Marseille may be hoping Genesio simply leaves of his own accord to avoid having to pay him to do so, but however the situation is resolved, it feels unlikely to go on much longer.

Alarm bells started ringing for Alvaro Arbeloa less than a minute into his first competitive game. Just 31 seconds in, Chelsea's Joao Pedro burst through a huge gap between Fulham's centre-backs and lifted the ball over goalkeeper Bernd Leno to give his team the lead.

Those defensive issues continued throughout that 3-2 loss and into defeats to Sunderland and Crystal Palace. In those first three games , Fulham conceded seven times from over six expected goals, according to FotMob. Arbeloa's tactics could be described as aggressive, or, if you were less generous, as naïve.

After then having to answer questions about cryptic social media messages from a few players appearing to suggest dissatisfaction in the squad, it seemed Arbeloa's stay in West London would be a short one.

Following consecutive draws with Liverpool and Manchester United, however, things don't look quite so bleak. New signing David Affengruber has made an impact in defence after coming into the team for both of those games, while 19-year-old academy product Josh King looks capable of being a significant contributor this season.

Striker Gonzalo Garcia is also top 10 in the Premier League in expected goals, according to FotMob . While he has underperformed relative to that total (one goal scored to 2.3 expected), there are signs that more could come for him and Arbeloa.

If results don't pick up soon, though, Fulham may need to make a decision if relegation becomes a serious threat.

Pierre Sage felt like a logical pick for Crystal Palace to succeed Oliver Glasner. In a single season at Lens, he guided them to a second-place finish in Ligue 1 after they had finished midtable the previous year. He also won the Coupe de France, securing the club's first major honor since 1999.

With one win and a draw from five league games with Palace, though, pressure is starting to build. Even the 3-2 win at Fulham raised concerns, as Palace benefited from some disastrous defending by the home side to steal the three points.

A key selling point for Sage, in addition to his achievements in France, was his frequent use of wing-backs. That could have made for a smooth transition from Glasner's wing-back system, but it hasn't played out that way.

It is worth noting, though, that Glasner's team won just four Premier League games from mid-December. This was arguably a group in decline long before Sage's arrival, with a victory in the Europa Conference League at the end of last season masking many of those struggles.

It may be that this was simply a deceptively tougher job than some were willing to admit at the start of the season. The 0-0 draw with high-flying Leeds United prior to the international break was encouraging, though a victory over Glasner's Nottingham Forest in their first game after the break would go a long way toward stabilizing things for Sage.

"Worst 15 minutes I've ever seen." That was the assessment of former Manchester United player Gary Neville on Sky Sports commentary just before Lisandro Martinez's calamitous own goal that handed Fulham a second-half lead in a 1-1 draw before the international break.

While Neville is prone to hyperbole when it comes to the Red Devils, his criticism summed up the current sentiment around Michael Carrick's team. After guiding the team to a third-place finish last season, the 45-year-old has won just two of seven games in all competitions.

The early returns on the summer transfer work are also concerning. United didn't get involved in bidding wars for higher-priced midfielders as they set about rebuilding that position, but so far the trio of Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba haven't made an impact, although the latter has been injured. That their arrivals also came at the cost of additions in defence and attack also looks to be an issue.

The biggest worry for United may be that their fixture schedule is about to get much busier. The team benefited from the extra rest that came with being out of Europe last season, but they're about to begin a run of eight games in under a month, starting with a home game against the hapless Tottenham Hotspur.

It could be the perfect opportunity to get things back on track for United and their manager. Anything but a win would really crank up the pressure, though.

Real Madrid have not made a disastrous start under Jose Mourinho, with two defeats and five victories putting them fourth in La Liga.

However, if history tells us anything, it's that the manager's seat at the Santiago Bernabéu is never cool. Those losses to Real Betis and Atlético Madrid also leave Los Blancos already six points behind Barcelona, and trailing their rivals by a considerable margin will never go down well with the club's leadership.

Mourinho does have Kylian Mbappe scoring at a goal-per-game pace in La Liga, and Jude Bellingham already has half as many goal involvements (five) as he had in all of last season. Vinicius Júnior only has one league goal, though, and Mourinho may be the next Real Madrid manager to struggle to make things work with both Mbappe and the Brazilian in the team.

The moment of truth for the early days of the 63-year-old's tenure should come on Oct. 25. The visit to Barcelona, who has already scored 31 league goals, will reveal whether this team is ready to compete with other European heavyweights both domestically and in the Champions League.

Victory there could see Mourinho win over his players in an instant, but defeat will likely lead to the same old questions about how far he can take a team aiming to compete for major honors.