Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has shared his thoughts on Mauricio Pochettino’s imminent appointment as Michael Carrick’s replacement.
Next one up
Carrick is set to lose his job amidst United’s dreadful run this season. United currently sit in 18th place in the Premier League and will stay there for the duration of the international break.
United have won just one game all term: the 5-2 triumph over Ipswich Town in October. The club has also drawn five times and lost four matches, amassing a meagre eight points along the way.
After the final whistle in Sunday’s match against Aston Villa, a confident Carrick said he anticipated being in charge for the November 22 visit to Anfield. He will not, however, get the chance to do so. He oversaw training at Carrington on Wednesday even as news of Pochettino coming in as his replacement circulated.
A report covered by The Peoples Person relayed that United were closing in on a deal to hire Pochettino. It was subsequently relayed that an agreement is in place between the Red Devils and the Argentine coach’s representatives.
United will now reach out to the USMNT to formally declare their interest and cough up the compensation fee to free up Pochettino and his coaching staff from their contractual obligations.
If everything goes according to plan, Pochettino will be in the dugout for the Liverpool meeting.
Speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, Ferdinand expressed optimism that Pochettino is the right man for United.
Ferdinand’s Pochettino verdict
The former England international said, “I look at Pochettino and one of his biggest assets is that human element of his management and building confidence with his players.”
“That’s a big part of Manchester United at the moment because we’ve got far too many broken individuals.”
Ferdinand added, “I look at that group of names and think Pochettino is the one that jumps off the list as someone who has more of the things we’re looking for to save and build a group of players.”
“The standards have dropped massively so let’s be realistic about where we are. There’s a process to get back there, we need to stabilise and get back in the Champions League again.”
Pochettino has extensive Premier League experience from his stints at Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.
Featured image by Omar Vega via Getty Images
