Mauricio Pochettino will take up his duties next Thursday after being named Manchester United's new coach since Friday. The reaction has been wary from the start. Gary Lineker said he would be surprised if Pochettino is still at the club in 18 months, while Louis Saha called the timing of the appointment not ideal because he is still with the national team.
The concerns around the appointment
Lineker was the bluntest of the two. Speaking to Foot Mercato in comments translated from French, he said: "I think Pochettino will be disappointed by how things turn out, and I would be surprised if he is still at the club in 18 months." He added that "the real problems are above him" and argued that the coach is often the one blamed when things go wrong.
Saha was less absolute, but not much more reassuring. In his interview with So Foot, also translated from French, he said he was "very surprised" by the move and described the timing as awkward because Pochettino is still with the national team. That is a fair warning to raise before a single session has been worked on at Old Trafford.
The job waiting for him
The scale of the job is hard to miss. Manchester United are 18th in the Premier League with 8 points from 10 matches, and they have won only 1 of their last 11 games. The schedule does not give the new coach much room to settle either, with away trips to Liverpool on 2026-11-22 and Sporting CP on 2026-11-25 before Brentford visit on 2026-11-28.
Pochettino arrives with two former players already questioning how long the move will last and how quickly the deeper issues will surface. The first answer will come in a brutal week that begins at Anfield on 22 November.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →
