Manchester United\u2019s 3\u20132 win over Arsenal has reawakened a familiar debate about long-term leadership at the club. Gary Neville warned against rushing the decision and urged United to seek a successor \u201cin the mould of either Carlo Ancelotti or Thomas Tuchel\u201d when Michael Carrick leaves at the end of the season.<\/p>\n
Neville cautioned that emotion has too often driven appointments. \u201cManchester United have acted emotionally a number of times in the last 12 years,\u201d he said. \u201cI honestly could not be happier with the last two weeks. The familiarity in what I\u2019m watching feels like I\u2019m watching my team play again properly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey played properly, with intensity. I think it\u2019s right that Carrick keeps the job until the end of the season and then hands the baton over to a Tuchel or an Ancelotti, someone of that world-class ilk.\u201d<\/p>\n
The appeal of Tuchel or Ancelotti rests on contrasting credentials. The draft noted both have Champions League success and could be available after the World Cup; the pair represent distinct managerial styles. Ancelotti has said: \u201cThere are two types of coaches: those who do nothing and those who do a lot of damage. I try to be in the first. The game is for the players and you can tell them a certain strategy but then the decisive thing is their quality and commitment.\u201d The piece contrasted that view with Tuchel\u2019s more interventionist reputation.<\/p>\n
The article recalled Ole Gunnar Solskj\u00e6r\u2019s early caretaker surge: eight straight wins and a 74% win rate across 19 matches, including victories over Arsenal and Chelsea and that dramatic Champions League knockout of Paris Saint-Germain. His subsequent permanent record fell to a 52% win rate over 149 games and ended without a trophy.<\/p>\n
Not all former players agree on Carrick. Roy Keane remained unconvinced: \u201cTwo great performances but anyone can win two games,\u201d he said, and added, \u201cIf United win every game until the end of the season, I still wouldn\u2019t be giving him the job,\u201d and \u201cI still wouldn\u2019t be convinced he\u2019s the man for the job. Absolutely not.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need a bigger and better manager. The size of the club and the challenges they face over the next few years, you want a manager who you feel can get them winning league titles.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre we going to sit here and believe Michael Carrick can get United winning league titles? It\u2019s not enough for me. I don\u2019t believe he is the man to get them winning league titles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wayne Rooney backed Carrick strongly: \u201cOf course he can,\u201d and added, \u201cI think Michael Carrick\u2019s got an opportunity to show everyone, to show Manchester United, that he\u2019s capable of doing that job.\u201d \u201cWhat we\u2019ve seen is he\u2019s very capable of doing it,\u201d Rooney continued. \u201cAnd if it continues like this, there\u2019ll be a massive pressure on the Manchester United board to put him in at the end of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know they\u2019ve been there with Ole before, but I think this feels a little bit different.\u201d Danny Murphy reacted with audible scepticism in studio, while Keane had previously questioned Carrick\u2019s credentials, his backroom staff and even his wife before the Manchester derby. The piece also noted Ruben Amorim required 11 months to collect consecutive Premier League victories, a point Keane ignored in his criticism.<\/p>\n
Carrick himself downplayed the speculation: \u201cWhat happens next [manager position] I\u2019m not going to be answering it every week,\u201d he warned. \u201cI\u2019m enjoying it and I\u2019ll continue to do what I can.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know from our perspective it\u2019s just about moving forward to the next game. It\u2019s been less than two weeks that we\u2019ve been together, so it\u2019s just keep getting good habits and good routines. The boys have been fantastic with that. ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Neville wants a Tuchel or Ancelotti; Keane opposes Carrick; Rooney sees clear potential. A firm note<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6257,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179,969],"tags":[1162,1379,1087],"class_list":["post-6258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","category-premier-league","tag-analytics","tag-club-structure","tag-coaching-change"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6258","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=6258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}