Manchester United officially sacked manager Jose Mourinho on Tuesday bringing an end the Portuguese boss’s two-plus years at Old Trafford. Despite winning the League Cup and Europa League in his first season, Mourinho was unable, or unwilling, to change the team’s style of play. Mourinho spent £400 million on 11 players but failed to develop young players like Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, and Memphis Depay. Dutchman Depay was sold after playing just four times for Jose Mourinho.
A number of names have emerged as possible replacements. However, Manchester United have said a caretaker will take charge until a new manager is appointed.
Who are the potential replacements?
Mauricio Pochettino
Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino is atop lists being drawn up by the media to replace Mourinho. The Spurs man signed a new deal last spring and would cost the Red Devils a lot of money to bring aboard. Tottenham won’t be willing to let him go and would gladly allow Pochettino to join Real Madrid rather than Manchester United.
Zinedine Zidane
Since stepping down as Real Madrid manager, supporters have professed their desire for the Champions League winner to take over at Old Trafford. Zinedine Zidane has previously said he doesn’t want the Manchester United job, but he continues to be linked with it. Reports have claimed Zidane has been studying English, so he can communicate with his players and staff. Manchester United may not be an ideal job as he will need to rebuild the squad.
Diego Simeone
If fans hated Mourinho’s defence tactics, they will not want Diego Simeone managing the team. Simeone’s defend first, counter-attack second tactics work wonders, but it is nt the Manchester United way. He has been highly successful at Atletico Madrid and is happy there. Simeone has two coaching options on the table and he will take one of them when he leaves Atletico. The first is to manage the Argentina national team. The second is to coach Inter Milan, who are desperate for him.
Laurent Blanc
According to major sportsbooks, former Paris Saint-Germain manager Laurent Blanc is the favourite to take charge at Old Trafford. Blanc is a former Red Devils player. He featured 48 times for the club before retiring. As manager of France’s Bordeaux and PSG, he won four Ligue 1 titles.
Antonio Conte
Antonio Conte seems like a name form left field, but he is high on the list of leading sportsbooks. Conte was dismissed from Chelsea last summer after a poor second season in charge of the Blues. Conte did win the Premier League in 2016-17, but failed to defend it after falling out with several top players.