Manchester United have decided to pull the trigger on club icon Michael Carrick, blaming him for the current malaise at Old Trafford that has been years in the making despite the former midfielder being the one to grant them the reprieve of a return to Champions League football after a surprisingly promising 2025/26 Premier League campaign. And the Red Devils have hired former Tottenham Hotspur manager and club icon Mauricio Pochettino to be his hyped up successor, hiring him away from the USMNT project.
Pochettino was actually close to joining Tottenham again last season, but Spurs decided not to wait for Poch and hire the riskier Roberto De Zerbi instead, as Poch would not abandon the United States before the 2026 World Cup that they were hosting. Though Spurs are hovering in the mid table themselves, there are no regrets about RDZ, who saved the Lilywhites from relegation and immediately has them playing much better football.
Manchester United don't value managers
Meanwhile, Pochettino may have chosen poorly yet again. After signing up for a failing PSG project run amok with egos and overrated players before joining a totally dysfunctional Chelsea project under Todd Boehly where he was nothing more than a souped up "Yes Man", Poch has joined the king of failing projects in Manchester United, a club that cycles through managers faster than Katy Perry says a girl changes clothes.
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher often has the most astute uncomfortable truths in the media, and he loves unleashing on his old rivals Manchester United. And his summary of what lies ahead of Mauricio Pochettino at Old Trafford is quite apt, via CentreGoals, "I'm a huge fan of him as a manager and what he did at Tottenham. But that's ten years ago now. Pochettino has got a reputation that he's up there with the big managers in European and world football, but he hasn't got the big trophies. The biggest thing is going to be time. Amorim had just over 12 months. Carrick had six months. United need to find somebody and just go, let's fasten in for two years. That team at Tottenham that he created was fantastic, but still never won something. Couldn't get across the line in a big game, semi-final or final. That will not be accepted at Manchester United."
What Carragher says about Pochettino not winning anything at Tottenham is harsh, but it is true. But the larger issue is that United will never give Poch the time to build a project. They fire managers almost as soon as they hire them, and because it has been a while since Poch worked his magic at Spurs, which was already a long term project, Man United are going to set him up to fail. He won't gaet time, he won't get to sign the players he wants, and the moment he struggles or doesn't get them over the line despite progress, they will just dump him, too.
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