Mauricio Pochettino will arrive at Manchester United next week with an overflowing in-tray of problems to solve as he plots their escape from the Premier League relegation zone.\n<\/p>\n
The club announced on Friday that the Argentine, currently in charge of the US men\u2019s team, will start work as the new head coach from November 18.\n<\/p>\n
Just four days later he will take his new team, 18th in the league, to the home of bitter rivals Liverpool.\n<\/p>\n
United could be bottom of the table by then, depending on results involving Sunderland and Crystal Palace.<\/p>\n
AFP Sport looks at the most pressing problems for the man who replaced the sacked Michael Carrick in the Old Trafford hot seat.\n<\/p>\n
The winning feeling\n<\/p>\n
\u2014 Manchester United must start winning games quickly to quash talk of an unlikely relegation.<\/p>\n
Their haul of eight points after 10 games \u2014 with a solitary win \u2014 is their lowest tally at this stage of a league season for 40 years.\n<\/p>\n
The omens are troubling, even if a drop into the second-tier Championship appears unlikely.\n<\/p>\n
There have been 41 teams who have earned exactly eight points at this stage of a Premier League season, and 17 of them (41.5 per cent) were relegated.\n<\/p>\n
Defensive shambles<\/p>\n
\u2014 Only one team in Europe\u2019s top five leagues has conceded more goals than United\u2019s 30 across all competitions this season \u2014 French side Lens.\n<\/p>\n
United have failed to keep a single clean sheet in the Premier League and have conceded at least twice in each of their past five games in all competitions.\n<\/p>\n
Goalkeeper Senne Lammens has been guilty of several costly errors, while individual lapses elsewhere in the defence have also proved damaging.<\/p>\n
Injuries, most notably to left-back Luke Shaw, have led to multiple changes in the back line, compounding the problems.\n<\/p>\n
Striking power\n<\/p>\n
\u2014 Manchester United chose to focus on a midfield rebuild during the summer transfer window, leaving themselves badly exposed in forward areas.\n<\/p>\n
Their first-choice striker, Benjamin Sesko, has not played since mid-September.\n<\/p>\n
Bryan Mbeumo has been playing out of position to compensate but has just two goals to his name since Sesko\u2019s injury. <\/p>\n
Marcus Rashford, currently injured, has not managed a goal or an assist since returning from an impressive loan spell at Barcelona, while Matheus Cunha and Amad Diallo have been inconsistent.\n<\/p>\n
Pochettino has limited options but he must find a solution quickly.<\/p>\n
Bridge toxic divide\n<\/p>\n
\u2014 Pochettino is United\u2019s eighth full-time manager since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 but it is US owners the Glazers and other members of the hierarchy who fans want replaced.\n<\/p>\n
The Manchester United Supporters\u2019 Trust issued a statement following Carrick\u2019s dismissal this week, pinning the blame for poor results firmly on the ownership.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Glazers\u2019 debt-funded takeover continues to burden the club,\u201d MUST said in a statement. \u201cWhen INEOS came in (as minority owners in 2024) they promised sporting excellence, but yet with repeated changes in football leadership we have seen anything but.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Pochettino cannot change the ownership but he can at least alter the mood music at the club.\n<\/p>\n
To do that he must quickly gain the trust of supporters.\n<\/p>\n
Sort out Bruno\u2019s future<\/p>\n
\u2014 United captain Bruno Fernandes has been the club\u2019s talisman and main creative force for many years but there is uncertainty over his future.\n<\/p>\n
The Portugal midfielder, who has been below par this season after a stellar 2025\/26 campaign, is understood to have rejected a second contract offer.\n<\/p>\n
United have an option to extend his deal to the end of the 2027\/2028 season, meaning he would not be free to talk to other clubs in January.\n<\/p>\n
Getting the best out of United\u2019s senior players, Fernandes in particular, will be key.\n<\/p>\n
Tactical shake-up\n<\/p>\n
\u2014 United fans feel badly let down by the underperforming players after a series of shocking performances.\n<\/p>\n
They made their feelings known after last month\u2019s 3-0 drubbing by Bournemouth, pointedly jeering them after Carrick had gone down the tunnel.<\/p>\n
The team are low on confidence and with no obvious template despite impressive comebacks against Roma and Aston Villa.\n<\/p>\n
Pochettino must stabilise the team and convince his players that his high-pressing, dynamic tactics are the right ones to get them out of the mire.\n<\/p>\n
AFP\n <\/p>\n
Source: <\/p>\n
Mauricio Pochettino will arrive at Manchester United next week with an overflowing in-tray of problems to solve as he plots their escape from the Premier League relegation zone. The club… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17718\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}