In a move that has surprised absolutely no one except the club’s own accountants, Manchester United have opened advanced talks to replace interim-turned-permanent manager Michael Carrick with Mauricio Pochettino. The Red Devils currently sit 18th in the Premier League after 10 matches—one win, a goal difference that would make a Sunday league side blush, and a points total that would get most managers the sack even if they were managing a church hall five-a-side team. Club officials, meeting in Monaco to discuss the crisis (as one does), have apparently concluded that the problem is not the decade of chaotic recruitment, the bloated wage bill, or the tactical identity that changes more often than the club’s principal sponsor. No. The problem is clearly the man in the dugout. Again.
Carrick, who took over after the previous “project” collapsed under its own weight, has overseen a start that ranks among the club’s worst in the modern era. Results include a 4-4 draw against Aston Villa that somehow managed to be both chaotic and depressing, and a table position that has fans refreshing the relegation zone with the grim determination of people checking flight prices to Portugal. Rather than pause and ask whether constantly resetting the coaching staff has delivered anything beyond a series of expensive press conferences, United’s hierarchy has identified Pochettino—currently coaching the United States national team—as the man to restore order. Sources indicate he is ready to accept, provided United pay the roughly $10 million release clause he signed only months ago. Because nothing says “long-term vision” like poaching a coach mid-cycle after he just extended his contract.
This will be the latest in a long line of appointments that began after Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement and has since included managers of every philosophical persuasion, nationality, and preferred formation. Each was welcomed with the same breathless narrative: this one understands the club, this one will impose a clear identity, this one will finally make the expensive signings click. Each, in turn, discovered that Old Trafford’s problems are less about pressing triggers and more about a structure that treats managers like seasonal accessories. Pochettino, previously linked with the job on multiple occasions and known for high-intensity pressing and developing young players, will now be asked to do what Carrick, Amorim, ten Hag, and several others could not: turn a side that has won once in ten league games into a coherent Premier League outfit before Christmas.
Supporters have heard the script before. It usually ends with another expensive farewell and a new shortlist.The logic, such as it is, appears to be that if you change the manager often enough, eventually one of them will solve the underlying issues by sheer force of personality. Early evidence suggests this is roughly as reliable as expecting the weather in Manchester to improve because you bought a new umbrella. Pochettino will inherit a squad still adapting to previous regimes, a fanbase whose patience has been exhausted by years of mid-table drift and relegation scares, and a hierarchy that has shown little inclination to stop the revolving door long enough to install anything resembling continuity. Reports of a verbal agreement already circulating only reinforce the sense that the decision was largely preordained once the points total dipped into single digits.Whether Pochettino can reverse the slide remains to be seen, but United’s recent history offers limited encouragement. The club has spent the post-Ferguson years treating managerial appointments as the primary lever of improvement while the table has repeatedly suggested other levers might be worth examining.
For now, the plan is clear: sack the current coach, install the next one, issue a statement about “aligning the project,” and hope that this time—unlike all the previous times—the results finally match the optimism. In 18th place, with the international break offering only temporary relief, Manchester United are once again betting that the next new face in the technical area will be the one that sticks. History, and the league table, suggest the smart money is on the opposite.