According to rumours, Manchester United have approached Mauricio Pochettino about replacing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager. Pochettino has been out of work since he left Spurs last year and is keen on staying in England for his next stint as well unless things go otherwise. Even though Poch remains one of the prime targets for the role, an alternative target in Massimo Allegri is also being considered.
It has become increasingly difficult for Solskjaer to hold his position following a dreadful start to the season that sees United lying at the 15th spot in the Premier League and having failed to win a home league game in four attempts. The team’s fantastic win at Paris St Germain and the home trouncing of RB Leipzig have also been overshadowed by humiliating losses to Tottenham, Istanbul Basaksehir and Crystal Palace. United have had a dreadful run at home and the worst run in recent years.
Insiders say that the United hierarchy was privately backing Solskjaer and was reluctant to part company with the Norwegian so early in the season. Things and stances have changed for Solskjaer since the shambolic Champions League defeat to Istanbul Basaksehir.
As the Argentine is considered one of the best in the World, United wouldn’t want to delay their chances and would want to swoop in for him before he puts his signature on another team’s paper. Regarding Allegri, it is feared that whether he would settle well with the fans or not. Despite enjoying plenty of success at Juventus, Allegri isn’t known to get his teams to play particularly expensive football, which is a pretty important requirement at Old Trafford.
It’s also to be considered that it is a different challenge winning the title with the dominant Juventus side for many years who have been maintaining the balance, due to the lack of competition in Serie A, with United up against a lot of teams that are already a lot better than them in the Premier League.
With both of them being contested against one another, a new story has come up. Availability! A report by Metro claims that United are wary of rivals Manchester City, who are also admirers of the Argentine and looking to get his presence at the Etihad, with Pep Guardiola’s contract due to expire in the summer of 2021.
Looking at the odds of Pochettino, signing for United would be a sight to behold and here are some of the odds of some other World Class Managers as well: -
Mauricio Pochettino – 8/13
Massimiliano Allegri – 6/1
Ralph Hasenhuttl – 12/1
Laurent Blanc – 14/1
Brendan Rodgers, Michael Carrick – 16/1
Here an interesting read on Why Mauricio Pochettino might avoid Manchester United
