Monaco meetings, Manchester training
Gary Neville has seen plenty of managers leave Old Trafford. He says he has rarely seen one handled this badly. Speaking on Sky Sports News today after Michael Carrick’s dismissal, the former United captain called the club’s conduct “quite simply disgusting”.
His anger centres on the timeline. United executives met in Monaco on Wednesday and opened the approach to the US Soccer Federation for Mauricio Pochettino while Carrick was still out on the grass in Manchester taking training. Neville said that in any other industry it would amount to constructive dismissal and the club would be getting sued. Sky Sports News reports that an agreement in principle with Pochettino is now in place, with only paperwork and regulatory steps left with US Soccer.
Neville does not absolve Carrick. Three wins in 15 matches this season have left United in the relegation zone, and he felt the writing was on the wall after the 3-0 defeat at Bournemouth, when Carrick’s lap of the pitch looked like a goodbye. The board’s indecision since then, he argued, made a bad situation worse.
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£1.6bn and a makeshift back four
The bigger target is the structure above the dugout. Eight managers since Sir Alex Ferguson, roughly £1.6 billion spent on players, and on Sunday United lined up with Patrick Dorgu, Noussair Mazraoui, Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven across the back. Neville said any fan picked at random would have built a better defence with that budget.
He was just as harsh on the summer midfield signings, describing them as players other top clubs had passed on. Kobbie Mainoo is the only midfielder he considers good enough. His estimate for the rebuild: around ten players moved on, most of them defenders, plus a goalkeeper and a centre-forward.
A warning for Pochettino
Neville has backed Pochettino for the job for years and still does. He recalled visiting him in his early Tottenham days, when the Argentine had a whiteboard splitting the squad into keepers and players to move on within months. That ruthlessness, plus a large budget and full control of recruitment, is what Neville wants written into the deal. Otherwise, he fears, a six-month bounce and another sacking.
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