Manchester United have done well on Tuesday night in their first match under Michael Carrick, following the departure of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Red Devils have 2-0 against Villarreal in Spain, to seal their place in the Champions League round of 16. They have also clinched the first place, which could potentially mean a better draw for those matches in February and March 2022.
But as it has been obvious since Sunday and Solskjaer’s departure, Carrick is just sort of an interim manager until a different interim manager arrives, to lead the team until the end of the 2021-22 season. Man United’s plan is to have a manager appointed, until they find a long-term solution ahead of the new season, considering the biggest names in the game are not eager to jump in midway through the season.
According to several reports from the media, Manchester United are looking towards five interim candidates, all of which are foreign managers. Their wish is Mauricio Pochettino from Paris St Germain, and for the long-term, but it seems that the Argentine coach will be only allowed to leave France once the season ends.
So who could come to Old Trafford and stay there between now and the end of the season?
Ralph Rangnick
Rangnick is a well respected coach due to his ability to instill overarching strategies in clubs, even though he has not won much throughout his career. What he is best capable of is bringing a single direction to an entire sporting part of the club, which is something that Man United have lacked in the past eight years. He could bring in proepr tactical nous to a team that has often looked clueless.
Ernesto Valverde
Former Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona head coach could be the right man for this short-term deal, mainly due to his experience of working with big stars, but also because of his mannerisms. He is a calm coach, who can make things much simpler than they currently are and he might be able to steady the ship in these uncertain times. He was the last man to win LaLiga with Barcelona, after all.
Lucien Favre
Favre is another one of those coaches who is best known for making his teams play interesting, direct and attacking football, with a lot of tactical inputs. His work at Borussia Monchengladbach and Nice were particularly impressive, where he managed to elevate the sides by playing dynamic, quick football with a lot of changes of the tempo.
Rudi Garcia
Rudi Garcia is another interesting name on the list. He worked at Roma, Marseille and Lyon in the past eight years. Most famously, he won the double at Lille in 2010-11, while he also brought Marseille to the Europa League final in 2018. He might not be the top priority among these coaches, but could also be an intriguing solution.
Paulo Fonseca
And ultimately, there is Paulo Fonseca. He is the manager who has seldom worked at clubs for several years. After his break out at Porto in 2013-14, he also worked for Pacos Ferreira, Braga, Shakhtar and Roma. He was the most successful in Ukraine, where he won seven trophies in three years. He is still a young manager and it does not seem as if he would be the ideal fit among these five names, but apparently, Man United are keeping their options open.
Leave a Reply