Mauricio Pochettino has a monumental task at hand as he prepares to take charge of a beleaguered Manchester United. The Red Devils are currently in the Premier League’s relegation zone, having won one game all season, and have already exited the Carabao Cup.
The Argentine is inheriting an unfit team with squad morale at an all-time low. With Liverpool up first, the current USMNT boss will need to get up to speed pretty quickly.
As well as on the pitch, the former Tottenham Hotspur boss will also have to navigate contract matters off it.
Quite a few of their high-profile names are reportedly on the verge of leaving, including Lisandro Martínez, Joshua Zirkzee, Luke Shaw, and even captain Bruno Fernandes.
Contract talks planned
According to Fabrizio Romano, Mauricio Pochettino has plans to sit down with the club’s hierarchy to discuss their futures.
“Mauricio Pochettino will have specific meetings with the Manchester United directors to decide on some of the players who are already at the club.
“What to do with them? There are some players who had planned to eventually leave Manchester United, for example, in the January transfer window, and having a conversation with Pochettino will help.
Pochettino record at Spurs
| Season | Matches | Wins | Losses | Draws | Final league position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–15 | 38 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 5th |
| 2015–16 | 38 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 3rd |
| 2016–17 | 38 | 26 | 4 | 8 | 2nd |
| 2017–18 | 38 | 23 | 7 | 8 | 3rd |
| 2018–19 | 38 | 23 | 13 | 2 | 4th |
“Lisandro Martínez, Argentine like Pochettino, and what they want to do now — that’s going to be an important point. The situation of Joshua Zirkzee is another interesting situation to follow.
Pochettino will need to rebuild the squad in his own image
“For Zirkzee, there was movement over the summer transfer window. Juventus, Fiorentina, Italian clubs, but also Everton in the final minutes of deadline day. Nothing happened.
“Zirkzee ended up staying. And so now the opportunity is going to be for all these players to have a conversation with Pochettino and then decide on the future.”
As previously relayed by The Peoples Person, one player the incoming head coach is eager to work with is Marcus Rashford, incidentally another player linked with an impending exit.
It will be interesting to see if he can convince certain players to stay while offloading deadwood that has been allowed to fester over the years.
Feature image Omar Vega via Getty Images
