Man Utd should be careful because of what happened with Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea.
Mauricio Pochettino is the front-runner to take over from Michael Carrick at Manchester United, but the way he left Chelsea might worry some at the club.
Reports from The Athletic say United could part ways with Carrick before their big game against Liverpool on November 22. It’s been a tough season so far—United are near the bottom of the Premier League, with only eight points from 10 games, including one win, five draws, and four losses.
So, who might step in if Carrick leaves? Many big names have come up, like Eddie Howe, Antonio Conte, and Julian Nagelsmann. But Pochettino, who used to coach Tottenham and Chelsea, seems to be the favorite.
Pochettino has a lot of experience in the Premier League. He got Spurs into the top four four years in a row before moving to PSG and then Chelsea in 2023. At Chelsea, he helped the team finish sixth in the league and reached the League Cup final and FA Cup semi-finals. However, he left after just one season.
His time at Chelsea wasn’t simple. The club said they “mutually agreed to part ways,” but it turned out Pochettino and the club disagreed over transfers and managing the squad. The Guardian reported that he was frustrated because he had little say in which players came and went. For example, he wanted to keep players like Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah, but Chelsea wanted to sell them to keep finances in check.
This raises a question: would Pochettino fit well with how Manchester United currently works? United has a similar setup, with director of football Jason Wilcox and CEO Omar Berrada handling recruiting and strategy. It’s not clear if Pochettino would be happy working within those limits. Berrada has said he wants a mix of experienced and young players at the club.
One thing is clear—United need to find out how much control Pochettino wants over transfers before hiring him, so they don’t face the same issues that happened at Chelsea.
In an interview with The Overlap, Pochettino opened up about his time at Chelsea. He said, “What I understood didn’t happen after. Maybe I was wrong. When we arrived, the team was 12th in the Premier League. We didn’t play in Europe—no Conference League, no Europa League, no Champions League. It was a time of big changes with new ownership. There were many priorities.”
He continued, “I’m a bit disappointed with some internal things because, from our view, we were building something solid for the future. We finished sixth, winning the last five or six games. We reached the Carabao Cup final and played a tough FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City. We deserved to win those games, but it didn’t happen. Still, we were heading in the right direction.”
“In the end, when things didn’t match our vision, we agreed it was better to part ways and let the club go its own way. I’m not complaining because it was my decision to leave.”
So, while Pochettino has a strong track record, Manchester United will need to make sure they’re on the same page before making a move.