Mauricio Pochettino is preparing for a Manchester United beginning that will leave little room for adjustment. The incoming manager has made clear that the opening stretch at Old Trafford will be demanding, describing it as a \u201cvery intense\u201d period.<\/p>\n
Once the November international break ends, the English schedule moves quickly while other continental leagues ease into the festive period. Pochettino\u2019s first seven matches in charge are set to be packed into three weeks, beginning with next Sunday\u2019s visit to Liverpool.<\/p>\n
Speaking to The Telegraph on Saturday, he was direct about what lies ahead: \u201cit\u2019s going to be very intense.\u201d That assessment fits the shape of the job he is taking on, with pressure expected to remain constant from the outset.<\/p>\n
There is, however, some statistical encouragement for a side in United\u2019s position. A recent study found that over the 10 matches either side of a mid-season managerial change, points per game rose from 0.88 to 1.23. The same research also noted that \u201cbad runs mostly end on their own,\u201d showing that teams which stayed with their manager in similar circumstances improved from 0.91 points per game to 1.17.<\/p>\n
United will still hope Pochettino can raise those numbers further, and he appears intent on using the qualities around him to do so. While discussing the open-ended nature of the release clause in his USMNT contract, he also said he had only spoken to United\u2019s directors and one owner, rather than the man whose influence has long shaped his view of the club.<\/p>\n
His admiration for Sir Alex Ferguson has been well known for years. \u201cWhen I was young, when I started my career as a manager, he was always my inspiration, my reference,\u201d the Argentina has said before. \u201cAnd when you can share two hours with a person who was the greatest manager in the history of football , you can only enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two previously shared an expensive bottle of wine 10 years ago, when Ferguson first attempted to bring Pochettino to Old Trafford. Now, with the appointment complete, he is eager for another meeting with the man he has long admired.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure I will have the opportunity after Tuesday,\u201d Pochettino told The Telegraph. \u201cI said many years ago and always I say the same-for me, Sir Alex Ferguson represents everything that I admire from a coach, a head coach, a man, a manager and I think he represents my values. I really admire him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even more than 13 years after retirement, Ferguson\u2019s presence still looms over the club. Michael Carrick regularly called his former manager while Ole Gunnar Solskj\u00e6r refused to even use his parking space out of respect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pochettino has warned that his Manchester United opening will be very intense and unforgiving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22479,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[1836,1162],"class_list":["post-22480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","tag-2026-27-premier-league","tag-analytics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}