Mauricio Pochettino’s Long-Awaited Manchester United Chapter

Mauricio Pochettino’s driven and competitive nature suggests he will be eager to prove himself once his appointment at Manchester United is confirmed.

While Tottenham Hotspur has long been his first love, there is little doubt that Manchester United holds a significant place in his thoughts.

Spanish football expert Guillem Balague, who collaborated with Pochettino on his book “Brave New World,” noted, “There is a fit with the people at the club too.”

“Omar Berrada is a fan. When Manchester City compiled a shortlist to replace Pep Guardiola, some City supporters, including Omar, advocated for Pochettino’s inclusion,” Balague explained.

“There are numerous clues regarding his feelings for United in the book. He attended the stadium in 1999 when United won the Champions League.”

“Sir Alex Ferguson is mentioned 28 times, more than any other name in the biography.”

“Tottenham attempted to push back and remove those references. Pochettino and I discussed it and decided none of it would be altered. That demonstrates how much it mattered to him.”

Pochettino is renowned as a builder, as demonstrated at Tottenham after succeeding the dismissed Tim Sherwood. He worked with Harry Kane to develop the recent Ballon d’Or winner and brought Son Heung-Min to the club for a bargain £22 million from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015.

If Pochettino can replicate that success—a challenging task given United’s current circumstances—and reproduce the attractive, attacking football played with relentless energy, he could finally be the ideal fit Sir Jim Ratcliffe has sought in vain.

Pochettino is also his own man, making it intriguing to observe how he will collaborate with Ratcliffe, Berrada, and Dan Wilcox.

The path to Pochettino’s dismissal at Tottenham effectively began after a friendly win against Real Madrid, mere weeks following their Champions League final defeat, when he indicated he lacked sufficient influence at the club.

He maintains warm relationships with his players and has a proven track record of improvement. It was no coincidence that Cole Palmer enjoyed his best season under Pochettino at Chelsea, scoring 25 goals in 45 appearances.

However, Pochettino is also single-minded and ruthless, as evidenced by his emphatic response to criticism for not calling the players he omitted from the USA World Cup squad.

He stated, “When I was a player, if I didn’t make the roster, I didn’t want my coach to call me. The players who didn’t make the roster don’t want to hear me say ‘I apologise.’ What are you going to say? Am I going to lie?”

He will need to draw upon every one of those qualities if and when he assumes control at Manchester United.

Returning to that lunch date with Ferguson.

The final word on that day belonged to Pochettino as the pair debated who would pick up the tab.

Ferguson said Pochettino could pay if he named an Argentina player who scored in the 1930 World Cup final.

Pochettino, in what he described as a moment of inspiration, named Guillermo Stabile.

He won that argument. Now, both he and Ferguson will hope Pochettino can produce more moments of inspiration to win something more substantial at United.

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