00:00Who should replace Michael Carrick as Manchester United manager?
00:05Well, who saw this coming? Turns out Michael Carrick is not quite up to standard to be
00:09in the Old Trafford dugout permanently. I, for one, am shocked by that. Joking aside,
00:15he was brilliant at the back end of last season and left the hierarchy with no choice really,
00:19but to give him a shot as the Man United manager proper. Unfortunately for him,
00:22it's not really worked out. Despite still evidently being a popular man amongst the fans,
00:27the writing is on the wall. So here we are again. Who should replace the former United player as
00:33manager? And how many times will we repeat that sentence in the next few years?
00:37We've ranked the top five options. Let's have it.
00:39Number five, Kieran McKenna, the protégé becomes the master. McKenna is out of work after choosing
00:44to leave Ipswich at the end of last season, where he guided them back to the Premier League following
00:48relegation. He is a legend in that part of the world and his stock was sky high in 2024 when
00:53both Chelsea and Brighton tried to nab him from the tractor boys before the start of that season.
00:58He got that role after being assistant to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Old Trafford. Many United fans
01:03attribute large portions of the relative success under Ole to McKenna. An undoubted tactician and
01:08a manager who is destined for a big job at some point, could the time be now? He knows the
01:14club
01:14is ready to go now and has a very high ceiling. But there's a few reasons why he is so
01:19low down.
01:19Firstly, being destined for a big job at some point and taking the Man United job in their
01:24current situation, having just left Ipswich, are very different things. This is not an easy
01:30role. It is an unbalanced squad who have lost all goodwill with the fans. It's October. No
01:35pre-season, no transfer window, no depth and no time to work with the players because you're
01:40playing twice a week. This is a massive step up and McKenna will be aware that taking this job
01:45comes with huge risks. Secondly, any Premier League club that wants to hire McKenna this
01:50season will, reportedly, need to give Ipswich a whopping £8 million. In this era of Ineos
01:56austerity, are they really going to be willing to pay that much for a manager of McKenna's standing
02:01when there are far better options out there who don't have this catch? I'm fascinated to see where
02:07he ends up this season. Any manager who built a special project at a club will want to prove it
02:11wasn't a one-off. This, however, is not McKenna's opportunity to do that. Number four, Unai Emery,
02:17the man who has it all to lose. This is not my first rodeo, okay? Villa fans, I am aware
02:21that
02:22Emery is highly unlikely to want to make this move. He has everything he could possibly want at Villa.
02:27Total control, Champions League football, a home where he is worshipped. It would take an
02:32unbelievable opportunity to pry him out of the Midlands and the most likely exit route for Emery
02:36will just be him deciding that he's bored and doesn't want to do his job anymore. This new era of
02:40exciting young talent at Villa Park would be a bizarre time to leave, but this is Manchester
02:45United football club. It is a massive job, even if they are not the team they once were. United are
02:50undoubtedly a bigger club than Villa, and every manager who has an ego will think, maybe I can
02:56be the one to get them out of this slump. I have no doubt Emery would back himself to do
03:01it. He's a
03:01versatile manager who is excellent at squeezing the best out of his players. He took Villa from a dire
03:06situation in the relegation zone and, over a period of years, turned them into European regulars and won
03:11the Europa League. He is unbelievably experienced at the top level and has managed Arsenal and PSG.
03:17There is still a cloud over those tenures though. Emery failed at Arsenal, and he did okay at PSG,
03:22but only really won the league and was the manager for the Remontada against Barcelona. There is serious
03:27doubt over Emery's pedigree at the absolute highest level. He will be desperate to get rid of that though,
03:32and restoring United to their former glory would put him in a new category of managers,
03:36whether Villa fans like that or not. He becomes unanimously viewed as a truly elite manager who
03:42sits at the top table. He doesn't currently have that status. Would the job he did in Paris or in
03:47London put United off? To be honest, it shouldn't. United are not those guys anymore. But the ball won't
03:52be in Jason Wilcox's court on this particular link anyway. If Emery wants the job, he'll get the job.
03:58The biggest doubt is whether he does. I personally can't see it, but it's still worth exploring.
04:02Number three, Eddie Howe, the current favourite, ready to make the step up.
04:06The former Newcastle manager is hotly tipped to replace Carrick, and you can see why. He was
04:11brilliant at both Newcastle and Bournemouth. He left Newcastle of his own accord and is clearly
04:15ready to go to the next level, which Manchester United is. Again, like Emery, he took a club from
04:20the depths to European football and trophies. He did it playing high-octane football,
04:24at times, and the pressure of being Newcastle manager shouldn't be underestimated. He's
04:29available, he wants the job, and he is a realistic hire. He has lots of Premier League experience.
04:34But there is just something about him that I can't see at Old Trafford. He dealt with a lot
04:38as Newcastle manager. Bombardments from the press about the owners, players going on strike,
04:44fan revolts, the lot. Whilst he didn't exactly wilt in the face of this adversity,
04:49I wouldn't describe him as a leader or the face of the club or charismatic. In fact,
04:54his assistant, Jason Tindall, often was the one who garnered attention and even love from
04:58the Newcastle fans. Of course, charisma doesn't make you a good manager, just like not having it
05:03doesn't make you a bad one. But managing United is not just about managing football matches.
05:08It's managing the biggest fan base in the world, a lot of egos in the squad,
05:12an inexperienced board, and more media questions than any other club gets.
05:16Howe was eventually ground down at Newcastle by the stress of the role. How long would it take
05:21the same to happen to him at Man United? He is somewhere between Emery and McKenna on the
05:25manager scale. He lacks Emery's European CV, but is a manager who has proved his worth at all levels,
05:31unlike McKenna. To me, it would feel like an underwhelming hire as a neutral,
05:35but I'm perhaps guilty of underestimating Eddie Howe. I don't really know what his next role should be.
05:40He's above Everton, Villa, the three Bs, but he feels below the big six. Maybe United is the
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06:20Number two, Antonio Conte. Win now, and then what? Conte is, by a fair margin, the best manager
06:26available right now. Six league titles in his career, managing some of the best clubs in the world,
06:32as well as the Italian national team. He's already taken over a floundering, underperforming English
06:36giant and turned them into champions in less than a year in Chelsea in 2016-17. He has undoubted
06:41calibre and would be a statement higher for Man United. There is no real question about his methods
06:46or ability. Sure, his style can be a little turgid at times, but are Man United really in
06:50a position to complain about that? How important is style out of Trafford when you have a serial
06:55winner like Conte who, based on some recent quotes, would love to become the manager?
06:59The main red flag that I see is the long-term vision. Man United are a mess, from top to
07:05bottom.
07:05That needs fixing, arguably more than they need to win something in the short term. Conte has developed
07:10a reputation for being a fiery affair of a manager. Brilliant for a couple of years,
07:15an explosive breakup back to square one. How much would the Red Devils really benefit from that?
07:20Would they accept a cup and a title charge over the next few years if it meant they were back
07:24here again in 2029? I don't know, maybe they would, but it feels like a good time to really
07:28invest in a project. United have tried a few of these short-term fixes since Fergie left in Mourinho
07:33and Van Gaal and both ended in tears. Elite managers will not put up with the antics at United for
07:38long,
07:38especially if their brief is to come in and do something now rather than build a project.
07:43Conte would undoubtedly add a huge fear factor back to Man United. He would walk into the league
07:49and be a top three manager in it, at the absolute minimum. He would be a serious hire. But for
07:53me,
07:54there is only one man who ticks every box. Number one, Julian Nagelsmann. The perfect fit.
08:00Nagelsmann was, and maybe still is, one of the best managerial prospects ever. He guided Hoffenheim from
08:05the relegation zone to Champions League qualification in the space of a year before he even turned 30.
08:10He's managed Leipzig, Bayern and Germany since. Sure, those jobs had varying degrees of success,
08:16but the now 39-year-old has vast experience at the highest level for someone of his age.
08:20He is very flexible tactically, sometimes to his own detriment, meaning he offers United a short-term
08:26solution with their muddled squad as well as a long-term one. He may not have the CV of Conte
08:30or even
08:31Emery, but Nagelsmann going to Old Trafford would tell us a lot about their mindset. They have an
08:35elite manager and they plan on backing him. Nagelsmann could conceivably be United's Arteta.
08:41He is young enough to stick around for years and years and certainly good enough to guide United to
08:45the pinnacle of English football again. Whilst the other names on the list feel short-term or like
08:49stepping stones before reaching the best managers, Nagelsmann is already in that category. He has been
08:55sought after by the best clubs in the world over the last few years. Similar to Man United, he has
08:59a point to
09:00prove. His time at Bayern was disappointing and his World Cup with Germany was a disaster. Although,
09:05to be fair, international management and club management are very different beasts.
09:08But this is a coach with an enormous ceiling, with the confidence and the swagger to match and an
09:12appetite for pressure. He is the only manager on this list I can really see United winning lead
09:17titles with over a period of years. That should be the standard. United need a rebuild. They need a
09:22long-term project with big potential. Nagelsmann should be their man.
09:26There's more such a rich plan that I can do for you.
