Mauricio Pochettino: Why Man United have finally found the right man at the right time

Manchester United have once again taken the decision to hire a new manager. With the club wallowing in 18th position in the league with just one victory in 10 league matches, it is perhaps not hard to see why.

Since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Erik ten Hag, Ruben Amorim and Michael Carrick have all been given the job permanently and all have failed to live up to the club’s huge expectations.

Manchester United manager Mauricio Pochettino has now become the eighth man to try his luck.

Poor timing

United have clearly hired some talented managers from around the world, including some of the more famous names, but it has never quite worked out for the club.

Many feel that Mourinho had the stature to be United boss, but he should have joined in 2013 when he was still at the peak of his powers and the Red Devils had a collection of veteran winners who had won numerous titles.

Louis van Gaal was also a Champions League-winning coach who had managed huge clubs such as FC Barcelona and Ajax, but by 2014 was once again nowhere near the zenith of his career.

Solskjaer and Carrick both did fine jobs as interim managers, but once they were made permanent, their form and playing style would eventually crumble, even if Solskjaer managed to impress for much longer than Carrick.

David Moyes, Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim also all had success at different clubs, but once again, they probably arrived at an inopportune time. Ironically, Moyes would have been suited to later United squads, which lacked as many big personalities and had younger players who had not yet achieved such standing in the game.

Amorim would probably have also benefited from being hired in the summer so he could have had more time to implement his back-five system rather than trying to adapt on the fly in the middle of a packed winter schedule.

Finally, right time, right place

Pochettino might just finally be the right man at the right time for United.

The Argentine is known as a manager who can improve players. This can be seen in the work he did with the likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Son Heung-min at Tottenham Hotspur.

Cole Palmer also played some of his best football under Pochettino at Chelsea.

United clearly have a lot of raw potential in their squad, with the likes of Amad, Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven, but these players need serious guidance if they are ever going to get close to fulfilling their potential.

In addition, the head coach is not a manager who will demand a huge budget or ready-made players to win. The coach will likely be more content to work within the unfortunate constraints under which owners such as the Glazers and INEOS operate.

Some fans have called for serial winners such as Antonio Conte or a dream target such as Luis Enrique, but the reality is that United do not have the playing quality or financial capacity to fulfil the needs of managers like this.

Pochettino will gladly try to improve what he has with some well-chosen additions and help guide United back into being a consistent team that can challenge at the top of the table.