Wayne Rooney believes Mauricio Pochettino is the right manager to rebuild Manchester United, who he says have no chance of competing in the Champions League.
Ralf Rangnick's side limped to a 1-1 draw to Leicester City on Saturday, leaving them three points behind the Premier League's top-four but that could extend to six if Arsenal beat Crystal Palace on Monday.
Tottenham have also played a game fewer than United, whose season relies on securing Champions League football after disappointing in other competitions.
Indeed, United were eliminated in UEFA's flagship competition at the last-16 stage by Atletico Madrid and were unable to yield any returns in the domestic trophies, the FA Cup and EFL Cup.
United parted ways with club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer late in November and brought in Rangnick on a short-term contract, though neither have achieved success during what Rooney described as an unusual season.
Central to the reparation job at Old Trafford is their next permanent managerial appointment, with Ajax's Erik ten Hag and Paris Saint-Germain's Pochettino reportedly the frontrunners to take charge.
United great Rooney believes Pochettino has the credentials to deliver success, despite reports that Ten Hag has been offered the role.
"I think Pochettino has done it, he knows the Premier League and at Tottenham, and Southampton, he brought a lot of young players through," the Derby County boss told Sky Sports.
"So, if I'm choosing from one of them two then I'm going with Pochettino and giving him time. I think managers need time to come in and put their print on the club, the team and if you give him time I think he'll do well.
"Pochettino is a top-class manager and he knows how to work with young players and you need to get that blend right as they can't afford to fail again."
Asked to describe United's campaign, Rooney responded: "Strange. I've been to watch them live and it looks like a team of individuals and one of them always seem to make a mistake, then it's very difficult to recover as a team.
"So, you have to look at it and say it hasn't been good enough, with that group of players they have to perform better and they're going through a tough time as a club.
"I think what everyone wants is to get the manager situation sorted then they can rebuild over the next two, three years and start challenging again."
Rangnick has previously stated United will need two or three transfer windows to rebuild, and Rooney agrees that his former side are in dire need of change.
"For Manchester United not to be challenging, I think they'd want this season to stop now if it could and forget about the Champions League because they're not going to compete next year if they qualify," he added.
"They have to rebuild; the squad, everything around the first team, throughout the club to put themselves in the position in two or three years' time that they can actually go and challenge to win the Premier League."
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag hails ‘massively important’ Jonny Evans
Erik ten Hag praised “massively important” Jonny Evans after the defender was drafted into the starting line-up and helped Manchester United to a 1-0 victory against Burnley.
The 35-year-old made his first start for the club since 2015 and, as well as helping secure a much-needed clean sheet, set up Bruno Fernandes for the only goal after having an earlier header ruled out.
Evans re-signed for the club earlier this month following his release by Leicester, and boss Ten Hag said: “We have problems and in this moment a lot is against us: injuries, decisions and we have all seen the examples.
“We are very happy to have a player like Jonny Evans in the squad. He comes in and he is calm, composed, he has character and a good skill-set. Even when you have things against you, you can bounce back and then you have the character in the team to do that.
“In the summer, I heard he was in to train with the under-23s, I said ‘Fletch (technical director Darren Fletcher), come bring him in with the first team. Maybe he can help us’.
“I already saw in pre-season with the schedule, the problems with the numbers in the squad. We decided to sign him because I think he can really contribute to the squad and today you have seen how massively important he can be.”
Fernandes’ first-time volley from Evans’ ball over the top was a moment of real quality in a game where Ten Hag knew United could not afford another slip-up after three losses in a row.
“This was a must-win and we knew that,” said the Dutchman, who had no complaints about the disallowed goal with Rasmus Hojland deemed to be offside and interfering in front of goalkeeper James Trafford.
“The team responded on the pitch. You could see the togetherness in the dressing room. It was a squad performance.”
Burnley are still looking for their first win following promotion back to the Premier League and have picked up only one point from their first five games.
But manager Vincent Kompany was pleased with the performance of his side, who hit the post in the first half through Zeki Amdouni and had several other good opportunities.
“We had two or three massive chances, really big,” said the Clarets’ boss. “The one from Jay Rod (Rodriguez) where he is controlling the ball in front of the keeper and then slices it, the one from (Jacob) Bruun Larsen, one-on-one with the keeper, just takes his touch a little bit too far.
“Then obviously the one from Zeki Amdouni that hits the post and rolls out. I don’t think you get many more big chances against a team like United. We have to take the positives from it and learn from the things we could do better.
“I am a rational mind, I thought 14 new players, and you see City, United, Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Tottenham all within the first 10 games and you know this might be a difficult start but, if I look at the performance today, our moment will come.”
Mauricio Pochettino believes PSG stint stood him in good stead for Chelsea job
Mauricio Pochettino thinks the 18 months he spent in charge of Paris St Germain kitted him out to tackle the complicated task of turning Chelsea’s fortunes around.
Under the Argentinian, PSG were crowned Ligue 1 champions in 2022 having missed out to Lille the previous campaign after he had replaced the sacked Thomas Tuchel mid-season.
Crucially he failed to land the club’s Qatari owners the prize they most coveted, the Champions League, losing in the semi-final to Manchester City in 2021 and to Real Madrid in the last-16 the following year.
It was reported that Pochettino never felt that he enjoyed full authority over the club’s star-studded squad, and was kept by the hierarchy from reining in the erratic behaviour of certain big-name players.
He left in the summer of 2022 and did not work in football again until accepting the job of piecing together Chelsea owner Todd Boehly’s expensively assembled side in June.
He said the experience of managing in the famously chaotic environment of the French champions helped him as a coach, but acknowledged that the challenge he faces at Stamford Bridge is of a different order.
“I think it helps,” said Pochettino. “It helps to take things in a different way. Of course, experience is a really important point in football, in how you are going to deal with things.
“It would be arrogant to say that because I was there, now I can manage everything. The demands always are completely different.
“But when you add experience and experience of different clubs, different countries, different cultures, I think it gives us the capacity as a coaching staff to help in a better way the players and then the club that wants to develop some new ideas or new projects, like we are now doing.”
Chelsea face Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Sunday when Pochettino will come up against another coach who knows intimately the unique demands of life at PSG, Unai Emery.
Emery managed the club for two seasons between 2016-18, winning the title in his second year but joining the list of coaches unable to fulfil the club’s frustrated Champions League ambitions, twice going out in the last 16.
He returned Villa to Europe for the first time in 12 years last season, finishing seventh in the Premier League after taking over from Steven Gerrard in October.
“For myself and for Unai, (the job) is not to prove anything,” said Pochettino. “I think it is to try to help (our) clubs to achieve what the clubs want. I never feel that I need to prove something.
“We (Pochettino and assistant Jesus Perez) arrived at PSG and in one year and a half we won three (trophies). We proved that we can win.
“But you can win with a team that normally wins when you are in a project ready to win. In that case, Unai and myself are building something. He is building at Aston Villa a very nice project, and we are starting to build a very good project for the long-term at Chelsea.
“I think it’s not easy to win with PSG, it’s not easy to win with different clubs. We need to give the credit for the coaches and players that win with different teams, because for different reasons, you feel the pressure in a club like PSG. You cannot (have) any excuses.
“But the Premier League is the most important competition and the most competitive, and if you can win here, I think the feeling for sure that the credit is bigger.”
Bruno Fernandes scores stunner as Man Utd beat Burnley to end losing run
Bruno Fernandes’ stunning volley secured absentee-hit Manchester United a much-needed victory as Burnley’s wait for a Premier League win continued.
Injuries and off-field issues have been compounded by poor performances in some tough fixtures, with the Red Devils losing four of their opening six matches in all competitions for the first time since 1986.
United ended a run of three successive defeats at Vincent Kompany’s Burnley, where Erik ten Hag’s team were not entirely convincing but ran out 1-0 victors thanks to Fernandes’ moment of magic on Saturday night.
The Portugal midfielder showed exceptional composure and technique when providing a fitting finish to a brilliant pass from Jonny Evans, who was making his first start for the club since 2015.
The 35-year-old recently rejoined the club and thought he had scored shortly before Fernandes’ goal, only for the VAR to intervene in a first half that Burnley had held their own in.
Zeki Amdouni struck a post during the opening period and Kompany’s side threatened towards the end of the second half, but the Manchester City great was unable to celebrate a late equaliser.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
