POCHETTINO TO MAN UTD?! Rio Ferdinand Reacts to Carrick's Future & United's Next Manager!

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0:38Right, people, we're back. This is an emergency Rio reacts, man. I'm hearing some big news about Maurizio Pochettino maybe coming in as Manchester United's next manager. Obviously, that means Michael Carrick is no longer going to be the manager of Manchester United, which I'll get onto in a little bit of time. A couple of things, I see David Ornstein, a friend of the channel, reporting that there's a$10 million buyout clause in the contract that Maurizio Pochettino is happy to pay himself. So he's obviously got deep pockets and he obviously wants this. So it's crazy. You know what? I don't know.

1:13This is a difficult one for me. Before we get to Pochettino, I think it's probably right for me to address Michael Carrick. He's a friend. I know all his family, his kids. We grew up together at West Ham, played with England together a few times, had a career at Manchester United together, won and lost trophies together. And yeah, I call him a friend and not just a teammate. So yeah, it has been difficult to watch this season with him. Last season was a fairy tale when he joined. He came in and rescued the club, rescued the team, built confidence, made the team a Champions League finishing team.

2:04And then this season it seems to have all capitulated and it's all gone wrong. Performances, the morale at the club, the confidence dropped back to where it was when he first came in. Two big important players, one of them being the captain, coming out and speaking about the change room and about the hierarchy at the club all under his watch. And then you hear all of the murmurings and the shouts about is he good enough? I never thought he was the man anyway and whatnot. And with hindsight, everyone's right. So this has been difficult for me because I consider him more than just a teammate. Like I said, and having to talk about him losing his job.

2:41And I'm consistent in the fact that I have felt that I thought he's deserved more time. because you can't just go from being the guy that's coming and been the saviour one minute to then a few games down the line, beginning of the season after a transfer window where you're looking at the signs and some people are questioning them and whatnot. Could he have had more? Could he have had better, etc.? And then now all of a sudden he's not the man. Yeah, I just really feel that he deserved more time. He deserved more time to go through a rough patch and come out and give them a chance to come out the other side and what i would say is that is people were saying the change rooms lost and whatnot but i started thinking that and i was looking at that more and it was becoming uncomfortable to look at the team and were they putting in the effort that's required to be a footballer not even to play for man united but to be a footballer but then the two the two games i've seen recently Roma and Aston Villa yeah you can the results haven't been great parts of the performance you could pick apart yeah but has he lost a changing room the way they've come back and shown character and fight in those two games would suggest not um but yeah the big thing for me is that i i really in this moment now if If Michael Carrick loses his job and the new manager's appointed, Maricero Pochettino, whoever it's going to be, I really think it's absolutely imperative, it's important, it's vital that Omar Barada or Jason Wilcox come out and speak and really bring everybody up to date and up to speed with how, why, where, how we've got here, how we've got to this decision, the reasons why and just explain and make everybody kind of clear on the picture and the vision because now I'm going to move it on to Mauricio Pochettino because he's the name on the end of everyone's tongue now and he's the name that's being pushed forward to the front he seems like the favourite I want to know how we've got to saying that he's the man because I mentioned it on Rio Presents on the Rio Reacts this week that a football club like Brighton is being held up in high esteem and is looked at as, you know what, they know what they're doing.

5:01That's a club. Don't matter about the size of the club. They have a way of working that is very clear. And they know who the next one, two, three managers are going to be. Who's your top three picks now? If Herzl was to go now, they've probably got the same with the assistant manager and probably got the same with the technical or sporting director, CEO. They know exactly who these guys, the next people in play are because they've run it off data and they're a very organized and efficient operation many night don't look like that right now doesn't look like that it looks reactive it looks very reactive doesn't look proactive doesn't look planned and that's not a good place to be and that's what any us have been brought in to do they've been brought in to to to get hold of the reins and make this an operation that works efficiently professionally and best in class and the amount of managers now where we've gone through since they've come has been, it's difficult to see.

6:00Some may argue they're right to pull the trigger on some of them, but I sit here and look at it and whether you think Mauricio Pochettino's the right man or not, I'd like to find out the finer details in why you choose a particular manager. Because it should be a manager that comes in to suit the style of football and philosophy and DNA that you've presented into this football club that you want relayed onto the pitch. And just want to see and show us what that looks like. But yeah, Maurizio Pochettino. He's somebody, again, I know in person. We've had him on the show before. We had him at the World Cup.

6:40I've been to dinner with him and his team. Great guys. They love the game. They love football. All we done was sit there and talk about football all night long. Loved it. Proper football guy. and I've got a huge respect for him as a man not only as a man, him and his team but as guys but coaches as well and we've got to look at is he the right manager for Manchester United I mean I was looking at some of the stuff that he's done I mean his Tottenham years obviously stand out five years he was there five consecutive top five Premier League finishes which if you're looking at that from a Man United perspective right now and people do not shout me down about standards we want somebody who's going to get us to Champions League places for the next two, three, four years consistently.

7:22We have to be looking at it like that. We can't sit here and be ignorant and be all nostalgic and go, we should be fighting for the Premier League at the end of this season or next year because we're Man United. We've got no God-given right to be thinking like that. That's ignorant. That's arrogant. Realistically, we need to start consolidating ourselves as a Champions League qualifying team for the next couple of years and then try and win a trophy along the way alongside that, a cup. but he's finished second in the Premier League with Spurs. He had a stint obviously at PSG where he won a couple of trophies there.

7:55Obviously gone to be, he started at Southampton in the Premier League.

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8:38With Google Workspace with Gemini, Google's AI is built right into the premium versions of tools we already use. like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets. No new tools or extra logins, just personalized AI for the way we work. That means less time on the work, around the work, and more time finding the stories worth talking about. Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini at goo.gle slash workspace with Gemini. That's goo.gle slash workspace with Gemini. You look at him and you go, there's a human element to him that I really like. It's somebody who looks like a good communicator, but I know he is.

9:13I've sat and had dinner with him and we've had him on the podcast before. But we need someone to consistently build a competitive team to qualify for the Champions League and to just build on that. His preferred playing style is a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. Very front-footed. You remember the Spurs team that he had was quite an aggressive, dynamic team. I think all the teams that you see, even the United States and America team, there's a bit of dynamism in those teams. athletic element that he always tries to introduce. He needs a fit team. And again, I think that's one of the things that he's got to look at when he goes into this Man United squad.

9:52That's one of the areas that's called out where Man United are lacking in their ability to be mobile and get around the pitch. So he's going to have to address that immediately.

10:04But I don't know, man. I look at it and think...

10:10He had... At Spurs, he had Harry Kane. He had Son, he had a fire in Dele Alli, among others with Vertonghen and Odoverald and them type of guys in the team. Really good players. Paris Saint-Germain had some of the biggest, best names in the world. So he's got a wealth of experience of managing high-profile players. But he's got to get a team that works together. He's got to build team morale. This is a team that is their morale, their confidence is on its knees. It's probably below the decks. How is he going to go about building that? He's got to rebuild individuals. He's got to rebuild fractured mindsets.

10:55Players with deep scars who have been hurt time and time again because of a lack of consistency as a team, bad performances, low finishes in the Premier League, being knocked out of tournaments and cup competitions early. People pointing the finger at these individuals, this team, this club, and they've been there. They've been a huge part of it. How does he rebuild those guys? And again, when you're recruiting someone, the next manager like Pochettino, they've got to be some of the questions that Jason Wilcox and Omar Barada are asking. Tell us how you're going to go and rebuild these players in this team to start representing this football club the way we need it to be.

11:37with consistent edge, consistent bravery in and out of possession, consistent work ethic, consistent personality and character in any situation, when you're under duress, under pressure, or when you're flying as a team. How do you build that here? Tell me what your plan is for you and your staff. How are you going to rebuild these guys? Because it ain't going to be about just having an overhaul of players in one transfer window. getting rid of a group of 11, 10, 12 players and going to signing loads of new players can't happen. That's not the way football works. So he's man management, he's improvement of players, his ability to have like very good talent ID as well.

12:24One thing I will say where Pochettino absolutely hits the nail on their head as an option for Manchester United is his ability to identify young talent and have the balls to play them and introduce them. You go through some of the names that he's introduced. Luke Shaw, who's still at Man United now. When he was at Southampton, he had him. Xavi, who's now at Spurs, when he was at Paris Saint-Germain, he brought him through. Coutinho. I'm missing loads as well, by the way, that he's had. I think Carl Walker might have been one of the young players that he played at Spurs. I don't know. But there's loads of players, young kids that he's had.

12:58Or players that he's built, Dele Alli, that he's put in and they've gone from here to go bang and then gone on to have some great careers. And I think he's somebody who enjoys playing young players, isn't afraid of it. And that speaks to Manchester United's history of playing academy players and bringing them through. So the likes of the Shea Laces of this world, JJ Gabriel, if he's still going to be at the club, they'll be sitting there going, oh, I could get some time under this new manager if Mauricio Pochettino comes in. I think Cole Palmer got some minutes, was another young player who came in.

13:30So you look at them players there and you think, wow, Harry Kane grew into a world-renowned goalscorer under Pochettino. And some people are going to go, Pochettino, he ain't won the league or the Premier League. What has he won? We can't be sitting here and thinking, oh, we need somebody who's won the league because that's what we're aiming to do. No. We're aiming to have somebody who's coming in to aim to build this team. to build these group of players into some players that you can rely upon. Because far too many times, these players have let themselves down. Yes, they've let the clubs down that they're playing for here.

14:11And it's a lack of consistency. Please, whoever comes in, if my character's not there anymore, or if my character's there, whatever it is, whoever comes in, whoever's holding the reins at Man United, build a team that us as fans can bounce into the weekend and go, do you know what? Whatever happens, we could lose this game, but I'm not going to lose the ability to be proud of this team because they're going to graft, they're going to work, and they're a good representation on the whole of Manchester United Football Club. That's what we need to get back to. So, yeah, man, get in the comments, guys.

14:42Let us know how you feel about this. Is Pochettino the right man? Should Michael Carrick have been given more time? Or who's the alternative names you think should be given a chance? Let us know. This is another Rio's Reacts. I'm sure there'll be more this week. See you soon.

15:20We'll be right back.

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