Manchester United’s season has descended into crisis, with the Old Trafford club in the Premier League relegation zone after winning just one of their opening 10 matches, and Mauricio Pochettino reportedly being lined up to take over if Michael Carrick’s departure as head coach is confirmed. United are 18th, one point off the bottom, after their worst start in 30 years; their next league game is away to Liverpool on November 22. The reported move would make the 54-year-old Argentine the eighth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson left in May 2013.
Key Takeaways: United have one win from 10 league games, sit 18th and face Liverpool next. Pochettino’s release from his USA contract is said to have been arranged while Carrick officially remains in position. If confirmed, the appointment would be another high-risk reset for a club still struggling to replace Ferguson’s stability.
The background is familiar but unusually severe. United have long marketed themselves as exponents of attacking football, yet recent years have brought recruitment failures, managerial turnover and a drifting identity. The club’s hierarchy is reportedly leaning toward Pochettino’s front-foot, youth-focused approach over the more pragmatic style associated with Antonio Conte, another potential candidate. The reported sequencing — a USA exit arranged before Carrick’s position is formally resolved — raises questions about communication and timing, even as the club faces immediate pressure before a trip to Anfield.
Pochettino’s playing career shaped his reputation. A no-nonsense central defender, he started at Newell’s Old Boys in 1989, joined Espanyol in 1994 and made more than 200 league appearances over seven years, winning 20 Argentina caps and starting every game at the 2002 World Cup. He also played for Paris Saint-Germain and Bordeaux before returning to Espanyol, where he passed 300 appearances in all competitions. His first managerial job came at Espanyol in January 2009, when he steered the club away from relegation and beat Barcelona at Camp Nou for the first time in 27 years.
He left Espanyol by mutual consent in November 2012, took over Southampton two months later and led them to eighth place and their highest points tally since the Premier League began in 1992. At Tottenham from 2014, he reached a League Cup final, built around young players such as Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Eric Dier, finished second with a club-record 86 points in 2017 and reached the 2019 Champions League final, losing 2-0 to Liverpool in Madrid before being sacked five months later. Spells at PSG and Chelsea followed, then the USA job in September 2024 and a reported contract extension in August. The article says his USA team exited the 2026 World Cup in the last 16 against Belgium.
The outlook remains uncertain. If Carrick’s exit is confirmed, Pochettino would inherit a squad in urgent need of stabilisation, with little time before Liverpool away and intense scrutiny over whether his demanding style can deliver quick results. The reported USA arrangement also leaves unanswered questions over compensation and timing. For United, the danger is that another celebrity appointment masks deeper structural problems rather than solving them.
Source: www.aljazeera.com