- Manchester United’s Pochettino Plan Raises a Bigger Question: Can a New Manager Fix the Club?
Manchester United appear to have prepared a possible successor for Michael Carrick before deciding whether to dismiss him. Mauricio Pochettino has reportedly reached an “agreement in principle” to become head coach if the club parts ways with Carrick. But the phrase matters: it describes a contingency, not an appointment. As of the latest reports, Carrick remained in charge and no final decision had been publicly confirmed.
That distinction puts the focus on the club’s decision-making as much as on its coaching choice. United are in the Premier League relegation zone after what has been described as their worst league start in 40 years. Club executives Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox were expected to discuss Carrick’s future with co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe in Monaco, with the final call resting with Ratcliffe.
The sequence is striking. United are weighing up the incumbent while reportedly arranging the conditions for his replacement. That may be intended to avoid a leadership vacuum if Carrick goes. But it also risks making a major decision appear settled before the club has explained what it wants from its next manager—or how that manager will be supported.
Pochettino’s reported agreement gives United an available route out of the immediate crisis. It does not, by itself, answer the more difficult question: whether the club’s problems are primarily about the coach, or about a football operation that has repeatedly struggled to turn a managerial change into lasting progress.
Pochettino is currently head coach of the United States national team and recently extended his contract through the 2030 World Cup. United would reportedly have to pay about £7 million to release him from that agreement. He was also due to lead the US team against Haiti during the international window, meaning even a decision to hire him could leave a gap between Carrick’s departure and Pochettino’s arrival.
That delay would be awkward for a club in urgent need of points. United’s next league fixture is a high-pressure trip to Liverpool, and any interim arrangement would face immediate scrutiny. The question is not simply whether Pochettino is worth the cost. It is whether the club can manage the transition without allowing uncertainty around the dugout to become another distraction for players and staff.
The reported release fee is also only one part of the financial calculation. United would need to consider the cost of a managerial change, the obligations attached to Carrick’s contract, the new coaching staff and the wider football decisions that a new appointment might prompt. Those figures have not been confirmed in the material available, so the £7 million estimate should be treated as the reported buyout cost, not a complete price tag for the change.
The underlying decision, however, cannot be reduced to a financial comparison. If United believe Carrick no longer has the authority or tactical plan to lift the team, delay could make the sporting cost of retaining him greater than the cost of acting. If the club has not agreed on the diagnosis, replacing him quickly could simply transfer the same uncertainty to a new coach.
Pochettino brings experience in English football from spells at Southampton, Tottenham and Chelsea, as well as his current international role. His history makes him a familiar candidate rather than an untested one. That familiarity may appeal to United’s hierarchy as it seeks a rapid response to a poor run.
Yet experience is not a guarantee of fit. United’s immediate requirement is to stop the slide, restore confidence and make the team competitive. A longer-term appointment would also need to establish a clear playing identity, improve recruitment decisions and create a coherent route from the first team to the club’s wider development structure. Those are different tasks, and a high-profile coach cannot perform them alone.
Pochettino would inherit a squad assembled through decisions made under previous managers and sporting leadership. The club must therefore be clear about which players and systems it wants to build around, how much authority the coach will have over recruitment and how progress will be judged. Without that clarity, a new manager could be handed responsibility for results without having enough control over the conditions that shape them.
That is the risk embedded in United’s repeated search for a new beginning. A managerial change can create a short-term lift, but it cannot substitute for stable planning. If the club’s recruitment, executive oversight and coaching strategy pull in different directions, even a respected appointment may become another temporary solution.
Carrick’s future is under pressure because results are the most visible measure of performance. The team is in the relegation zone, and the poor start has intensified doubts about whether he can reverse the season’s direction. The club also faces a serious reputational cost if it allows the crisis to deepen before acting.
But the decision should not become an exercise in assigning all responsibility to the coach. If United dismiss Carrick, the club should explain what went wrong and what it expects the replacement to change. Otherwise, the move may communicate urgency without demonstrating learning.
That distinction matters to players and supporters alike. A succession plan can reassure the dressing room that leadership will be present. A poorly explained one can instead suggest that the club is reacting to pressure rather than following a settled football strategy.
There is also a human dimension to the way the decision is handled. Carrick’s employment and professional standing are at stake, while players are preparing for the remainder of the season amid uncertainty. A clear, timely decision would serve everyone better than a prolonged limbo in which the team’s future is debated publicly while its next match approaches.
If Pochettino takes over, the early measure will be whether United become more organised and harder to beat. But the deeper test will come over the months that follow: can the club sustain a plan through difficult results, recruit for that plan and give the coach enough support to implement it?
For now, United have reportedly put a potential successor in place while Carrick’s position remains unresolved. The arrangement may prove prudent if it allows the club to act quickly. It may also expose how much of United’s strategy is still built around emergency decisions.
Pochettino could bring experience, a fresh voice and a chance to reset the season. None of those guarantees that United will escape the relegation fight or return to consistent performance. The appointment would matter; the structure around it would matter more.
A new coach can change the team’s immediate direction. Whether Manchester United can change their own will depend on what happens after the announcement.
