Manchester United have named Mauricio Pochettino as their new head coach, and Goal say the 54-year-old starts on 18 November, a day after Michael Carrick was sacked.
He has to finish with the USMNT first, including a double-header against Haiti, and United have agreed a release with US Soccer for him and his staff. His first game in charge is away at Liverpool next Sunday.
It’s a tough job to walk into. Carrick won one of his last 10 league games and United are in the relegation zone. That’s a long way from where he left off last season, when he took over in January and won 12 of the last 17 games to finish third.
The club were gracious on his way out. The statement said “Michael is, and always will be, a Manchester United legend.”
Pochettino, formerly of Tottenham and Chelsea, is someone United have wanted before. They looked at him in the past but went for Jose Mourinho and then Erik ten Hag instead. This time the club pointed to his high-intensity, attacking football.
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Good appointment on paper. Pochettino knows the league and plays front-foot football, which is exactly what United haven’t been doing. But Anfield is a brutal first game, with no time to work with a side that’s won once in ten. Get something from that one and the mood changes very quickly.