If Manchester United sack Michael Carrick, which is the full expectation at this point despite what he did in leading a destroyed team to the Champions League places last season, then they have made it crystal clear to the world that former Tottenham Hotspur icon Mauricio Pochettino is their pick to be the next manager of the side. They have even already formally reached out to the USMNT manager, who is making his preparations on how he is going to transition from what was supposed to be a long term project in the United States.
But just like USMNT fans, Tottenham fans can't blame Poch for taking the opportunity at Manchester United. Spurs fans will love Poch no matter what for how he nearly brought the biggest titles to the club, and they will always feel bad for the way Daniel Levy treated him on the way out.
Pochettino has to prove his legacy
A new challenge awaits Pochettino, should he take the Manchester United job, as is expected. His legacy is going to be on the line, because comparing his squad at Man United and his peak squad at Spurs, which he did help assemble, there is going to be a question that gets answered. Was Pochettino truly an elite manager for Spurs or was he the beneficiary of a special group of talent? Pochettino coached superstars before at PSG, but that was a very dysfunctional team.
Tottenham Hotspur had almost a perfect squad that a lot of people took for granted. Son Heung-min and Harry Kane are a GOAT tier Premier League duo on an all time scale, right there with Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo or Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp. Christian Eriksen, Moussa Dembele, and Dele Alli were amazing in midfield. The fullback duo of Kyle Walker and Danny Rose was one of the best in the world. Belgians Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld were insane in central defense. And Hugo Lloris was a top five goalkeeper in the world at his peak.
Mauricio Pochettino won't have that at Old Trafford. He'll have a good goalkeeper and a couple of talented attackers, but he will inherit a dysfunctional midfield and a defense of mostly washed up players. He will have a squad of chronically underachieving, injured, or insubordinate players compared to the absolute warriors he had at Tottenham. And that will say a lot about if it was Poch who elevated the Spurs talent or if the Spurs talent elevated him. The reality is probably that Pochettino was a great coach, but at Old Trafford, he'll have to prove how great he is.
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