Man Utd should have one Premier League manager in mind to replace Michael Carrick | OneFootball

Now that we’re all agreed that Michael Carrick isn’t up to the Manchester United job after two wins in six games to start the season, over Ipswich and Sabah, it’s high time we considered the alternatives and as always, talkSPORT windbag Jason Cundy’s absolutely nailed it. There really is only one sensible choice.

The bookies have Eddie Howe as the favourite, but he a) looked in desperate need of a rest at the end of his Newcastle tenure and b) is presumed to be waiting for the England job. Thomas Tuchel is next on the list but has that England job.

Beyond him there’s Julian Nagelsmann and Antonio Conte, both infamously spiky characters, and from there we get into a mix of Manchester United alumni – they surely wouldn’t again, would they? – and legendary managers like Carlo Ancelotti who have nothing left to prove and wouldn’t go near Old Trafford.

What they definitely don’t need, because no football club has needed this ever, is ‘someone who knows the club’. The decision-makers at United have chased their tails for years attempting to source managers who fit the club DNA.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Michael Carrick are presumably chock full of the right genes but – and this always felt more important – don’t know how to coach a football team, let alone one of the biggest on the planet.

Solskjaer was sacked after 29 games by Besiktas following his exit from United and hasn’t had a posting since. Carrick’s best achievement in his only other permanent role was getting Middlesbrough into the Championship play-offs in his first campaign in charge before failing to do so in the next two. Something a combination of Rob Edwards and Kim Hellberg put right at the Riverside Stadium in the season after Carrick was sacked.

The overwhelming feeling among Man Utd fans and the wider Premier League community was that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS couldn’t not hand Carrick the permanent reins at the end of an interim spell which saw them win 12 of 17 games and qualify for the Champions League.

Most will also have recognised that Carrick was essentially walking into an entirely new job this season, under the pressure of a two-year contract and with European football to contend with. He’s not coping.

Further proof of his tactical ineptitude was in evidence in the embarrassing 3-2 defeat to Brighton on Wednesday after the derby defeat to the ten men of Manchester City on Sunday. Manchester United are blistering in transition but continually struggle when they’re asked to make the running; that’s never going to be alright at Old Trafford.

What United need is a main character manager who demands respect while leading with authority, who’s won several major trophies, has a clear football vision, a proven track record of revitalising broken, mismanaged clubs and Premier League pedigree.

“Unai Emery. Go and get him. Get him out of Villa,” says Cundy.

“That’s what I’d do. If I was Sir Jim Ratcliffe, I’d now cut my losses and go and get Unai.

“Don’t wait until Christmas to have the conversation, do it now.”

Things aren’t exactly peachy over at Villa Park right now but what he’s done at that club is outstanding. Emery may well feel that he’s taken them as far as he can following a summer in which his best players have been poached and a significant rebuild is underway.

United fans will point to his struggles at Arsenal as a red flag and the hierarchy may be reticent to appoint a manager used to running the football operation from top to bottom, but allowances should be made and there’s risk/reward involved in any managerial appointment.

When the Red Devils bosses accept Carrick isn’t going to get them anywhere, they need to plump for a world class Premier League-ready manager with something to prove. That’s Unai Emery.