Pochettino, United, and the poisoned chalice

A look at why Mauricio Pochettino could suit Manchester United, what weaknesses in the squad might limit him, and how a Paul Mitchell appointment could fit alongside the new manager.

With it looking like Manchester United will soon have our 8th permanent manager since Sir Alex retired 13 years ago, along with 6 interim managers in that time (Giggs, Ole, Carrick, Rangnick, RvN, Fletcher, and Carrick again), with Ole and Carrick both being made permanent after an initially successful spell as interim.

That'll be 12 different managers in 14 years across both permanent and interim basis. The very definition of a poisoned chalice.

If the current media is to be believed, then it looks like it will be Pochettino's chance to have a swing at it.

I really like Pochettino as a manager, I like his style of play, and I like how he comes across in the media. He also has a great record of improving/developing players.

Is he perfect? No, of course not; no one is. We often forget/dismiss Sir Alex's weaknesses/failings as a manager, which often then puts an unrealistic expectation on our managers.

His record against the biggest sides isn't great, there are rumours that he isn't the strictest in terms of discipline, and he has often failed to get his side across the line (losing finals, and missing out in title races).

That said, maybe with the experience he has gained over the last decade he understands his weaknesses better and has worked on improving in those areas.

Like quite a few of the managers we have hired, I can see how he might get the best out of some of the players in our squad; how they will adapt or be well suited to his style of play. While there are other clear areas of weakness that will need to be addressed for him to be successful. Things like the lack of stamina and ground coverage, and the lack of pace and mobility in defence. As well as his best sides have always relied on quick, offensive full backs, of which we are severely lacking.

However, his energetic, vertical, hard working, pressing style, with the use of width and quick counter attacks, really suits how I feel a Manchester United side should play. He also has clear tactical ideas and structures that should help make us more stable in defence, along with a tactical identity for breaking down low blocks.

This season I think he'll struggle with getting the players to have the stamina to consistently play his style, along with a lack of quality in the full back areas. But I do think he'll enable us to shore up our leaky defence (at least enough to get us out of the relegation zone and make it to next summer when we need to bring in a few new defenders).

One other thing I thought about with Pochettino is that his most successful spells came at Southampton and Spurs when he was working alongside Paul Mitchell as head of recruitment/technical director/DoF.

I find this interesting as most fans, and I think a growing number of people at the club, are starting to look at Jason Wilcox, with the idea that we might soon need to replace him.

Paul Mitchell has been touted as a top class option for us in that Technical Director/DoF role. He is a local lad, has worked very well with Pochettino in the past, has experience of working within the Red Bull group with Leipzig, and has been recommended to us by Rangnick and others, and it currently available having left Newcastle. I'm unsure if he has worked with Vivell in the past, but both have spent time with Red Bull and seem to share similar ideas on player recruitment. So, in theory, he could work well with Vivell.

Could we end up seeing a double swoop: Pochettino as our new manager with Mitchell as our new DoF? It would certainly make a lot of sense.

Written by Shappy November 11 2026 15:55:48