Cristiano Ronaldo out, Mauricio Pochettino in — for Manchester United, this summer doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that.
Because the simple truth is that, until Ronaldo goes, United won’t be able to do what Manchester City have done, which is have world-class talent which goes under the radar leading the side.
It’s not about them, it’s about the team.
You only have to look at Kevin De Bruyne’s performance, including two goals, in City’s mini-mauling of United on Sunday to see that he is as effective as the Portuguese superstar these days and arguably has been for the last couple of years.
Take the story in the 24 hours around the game about Ronaldo not making it about and his hotel no-show…
The question was, ‘Has he gone off in a huff or not?’
It could have been really innocent, but the reality is it doesn’t matter whether it was or wasn’t because those sorts of episodes can suck out the life out of all pre-match preparations.
The problem is that if you have a big hitter at your club who isn’t afraid to say what he wants to say, he’s on private jets, he’s the most followed sportsperson on social media — as is the case with Ronaldo — then he is inevitably going to be bigger than the club.
And United shouldn’t have anybody for whom that is the case.
They need a cast of players all pulling together and a manager who has the ability to work with talent which doesn’t want to make it all about themselves and with young players.
Pochettino, I’ll bet, is pulling his hair out at Paris Saint-Germain, and would walk to Old Trafford if he was offered the job.
There, he’d be given a decent budget but he’d also be given a squad and told to work with them first, and there’s plenty to work with.
So United should get him in and get him doing what he did so well at Southampton and Tottenham, which was bringing younger players into the team and playing with passion and drive.
It would be high-pressing, high-octane, attractive, front-foot football under Poch — exactly what United fans want.
Look, I’m not saying he is anywhere near the level of Pep Guardiola but, under him, you’d have a United team much more capable of being the sum of its parts rather than a team of individuals.
I’ve long criticised the galacticos approach of the Ed Woodward era and we’re seeing the death throes of that now.
I know plenty of people will argue that Pochettino hasn’t won any major honours but Pep Guardiola got the Barcelona job without having won any, Jurgen Klopp didn’t win a major trophy until he got to Borussia Dortmund.
Other managers have tried and failed at Spurs as well, yet Pochettino took them to the Champions League final and they lost there only to a Liverpool team which will go down as one of the greats.
So that’s a red herring and if United give Pochettino the support he needs for a period of time he will undoubtedly be a successful manager for them.
