Managers are evolving – and so is United’s most promising candidate

Managers are evolving – and so is United's most promising candidate

Another huge week for coaches – from changes at Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest to Thomas Tuchel staying on with England – underlines that this is now a market with fewer guarantees than ever before. Also in today's members-only newsletter:

The Manchester United leadership have already been giving more and more consideration to Michael Carrick for the summer, only for that shortlist to begin getting shorter.

Tuchel had been seen as one of the strongest candidates for the job, to the point that it became one of those notions well-connected industry figures were regularly repeating.

"It's going to be Thomas for United."

Such intrigue was only deepened by murmurs over the past two weeks that the Football Association were considering another pitch to Pep Guardiola, to take over England for Euro 2028.

That won't happen now, unless the 2026 World Cup is a disaster.

If the prospect of such a failure makes it surprising that national federations still offer new contracts before tournaments have even taken place, it is not exactly a shock that Tuchel has committed. He already had reservations about United, and he is greatly enjoying himself in his current role. England, "the impossible job", has turned into the German's perfect job. Most tellingly, he has a great chance of winning two tournaments, both carrying immense emotional symbolism. One could be England's second World Cup, 60 years after their first. The other could be a first European Championship, and at home.

Even more enticingly, despite that emotional weight, the job comes with virtually none of the pressure it once did. It barely compares to a major club role any more, at least outside tournaments.

You can sense that when you see Tuchel whizzing around central London on a Lime bike.

Why wouldn't he continue with this healthier work–life balance, especially once he looks at some of his counterparts?

This has been another bad week for managers, aside from the financial compensation. Another two went in the space of 16 hours, taking it to nine in the Premier League this season. That is still five short of the 2022–23 "record" of 14, but you would not count on it staying that way. Sean Dyche had his boyhood Forest dream crushed, albeit amid some mundane football. Thomas Frank, long considered one of the few modern coaches as charismatic as Tuchel, cut a beaten figure by the end of a trying stint at Spurs.

The latter now have a tricky decision and are understood to be going back and forth in meetings about what to do next, in a market that offers fewer guarantees than ever before.

That may instead mean a market that proves advantageous to formative coaches such as Carrick.

Every week, I take Inside Football members behind the scenes at the Premier League's biggest clubs. This Friday, I uncover how managers are being reshaped by a chaotic market – and what that means for the clubs still searching for coaches.

From that, it's almost humorous to note that some Premier League executives constantly talk about how the competition needs more star players. They might well be right but, no matter what else changes – including the very role of the head coach – this is a football culture still obsessed with "the manager". The manages are the real stars, regardless of actual responsibility.

Look at how often I discuss it in this newsletter. It's unavoidable, because of how much it dominates the news cycle, and consequently dictates what happens on the pitch.

Perhaps Evangelos Marinakis' Nottingham Forest, in becoming the first ever Premier League club to appoint four full-time coaches in one season, are just an inevitable extreme of where English football is going. Or maybe that's just Marinakis. A wider trend is nevertheless clear.

In 2026 alone, however, Inside Football has already looked at the cult of the sporting director and how that has changed the parameters of the role of manager. But such forces have also changed managers, and how they work.

This is also what is so relevant to a job like at Manchester United.

I have written in this newsletter before that United want a coach with the experience to carry the weight of expectation, which was why Tuchel was so favoured... but how many others have that?

If you compare to when United went for Jose Mourinho in 2016, or came close to Mauricio Pochettino in 2019, the profiles are now completely different.

The summer of 2016, after all, was probably the high point of an era; the start of the Premier League's "league of managers". All of Guardiola, Mourinho and Antonio Conte landed big Premier League jobs, with Pochettino, Arsene Wenger and Jurgen Klopp already there.

One of the reasons United even went for Mourinho was that they felt they needed to respond to Manchester City getting Guardiola, who the Old Trafford hierarchy previously thought they had. United then needed a similar "big beast".

Guardiola undeniably "won" the era, through so many titles, to offer the long-standing template for big-club coaches. Over the last 15 years, the ideal appointment for any such club has required the following: proven success at the top level or close to it, all delivered through a progressive modern tactical ideology, that was generally shaped by Guardiola's positional game, since that was the dominant trend.

Many such coaches also had grand career plans, in the way that Mourinho and Guardiola wanted to win in a series of the major leagues. Such coaches do tend to be obsessed with records and legacy, because they obviously have egos.

Now, much of that is just impossible.

Formative coaches don't get anything like the time to develop proper experience at elite level – particularly when certain decisions are made for non-football reasons – with their very dispensability ensuring it is too difficult to plan a career in the same way. Guardiola's positional game is meanwhile fracturing, simply because the game naturally evolves, with the Catalan himself moving with the times. There is even the argument that the calendar doesn't allow the same deep implementation of ideology at a big club.

That similarly means coaches don't have the space to "build" careers in the traditional way. As extreme as Real Madrid might be, Xabi Alonso's fate was a warning, that even names as big as his may have to get used to more transitory periods at clubs.

And the net effect is that, certainly compared to 2016-19, the "big names" just don't exist in the same way.

It says much that Stuttgart's Sebastian Hoeness is currently the name every club is talking about. He's, of course, very talented, but hasn't yet done much. It points to how sporting directors are now forced to quickly leap on one of the many "designer" managers the game's coaching structures produce, without necessarily giving the time to properly develop at the top level. There are lots of coaches that Brighton might appoint but not as many as before for United.

Hence Tottenham being desperate for Pochettino again. They know he's worked before.

Most clubs are now increasingly trying to just look at what fits, rather than necessarily what's "best", which is partly why Unai Emery has done so well at Aston Villa.

More and more, meanwhile, are talking of "doing a Mikel Arteta". That is essentially giving a young figure connected to your club the space to grow. It's a live discussion for a lot of clubs, including in current meetings for Spurs and United. There is an obvious issue, however, as articulated by a senior Arsenal figure: "They actually have to have an Arteta."

Spurs would love someone similar, especially as an interim.

This is where Carrick might end up making more sense for United. If there's no Tuchel, there is instead an increasingly obvious logic.

Get in touch

Who should be United's next permanent manager? Email me at m.delaney@independent.co.uk with your thoughts.

Since the Premier League was founded in 1992, only seven foreign players have arrived from abroad and immediately scored 20 goals in their first full season in the competition. Name the seven.

Note: only Premier League goals count. If a player signed in January, as is actually the case with at least one answer, only their first full season is counted.

Spurs have one preference – but it's far from simple

As of Friday morning, Tottenham's preference was still to appoint Mauricio Pochettino this season. Since that now looks almost impossible, the next best plan is to bring in an interim until they can secure the Argentine. The club would naturally prefer a figure from within whom they can train up, like Carrick – as noted above – and it is in that context that Robbie Keane has been mentioned.

However, as is reflective of many Spurs meetings at the moment, that raises an obvious question: why would he leave a good job at Ferencvaros? The club are said to be desperately trying to figure out what comes next, which helps explain why Thomas Frank stayed in the job so long – they had no plan.

They do need to move quickly, though, as the players return on Monday. This is not the usual caretaker or interim situation; Spurs need to secure points to guarantee safety. If no interim is possible, they may have to move directly to a permanent appointment. Sources say Roberto De Zerbi, for example, would want a contract running until 2029.

Ratcliffe unpopular for more mundane reasons

Sir Jim Ratcliffe obviously made numerous headlines with his shocking comments on immigration, to the point that he was forced to apologise for his choice of language. Some other Premier League executives were surprised by the backlash. Ratcliffe is not a popular figure in boardrooms: many counterparts complain that he does not even rise to greet opposition officials, something generally expected in the competition. Some also roll their eyes when discussions veer into politics. Sources within the Labour Party, however, noted Ratcliffe's comments wryly, having previously believed he was trying to curry favour with them.

More changes afoot for Champions League?

The big question at this week's UEFA Congress in Brussels is what deal Real Madrid have secured to return to the fold. I've written a longer piece here about how their return to European Football Clubs – formerly the European Club Association – effectively marks the Super League victory they always sought, giving them control of the club game.

But Florentino Pérez still wants more and is reportedly not entirely satisfied with the current Champions League structure. It was also noted that Madrid's press release stated the legal challenges would only be dropped once a formal agreement is reached. Bigger changes may be on the horizon for the post-2030 cycle.

Ask Miguel

Is there any chance of getting rid of VAR? David, Richard and many others expressing similar sentiments

In short: no. FIFA simply has no will to act. It may be an abrupt answer, but this is not even a discussion within the game.

As far as the authorities are concerned, the system has generally worked well. Individual leagues could opt out, but there is little appetite to do so.

Want to ask a question?

Email me at m.delaney@independent.co.uk for a chance to be featured. 

Tuesday offered a good choice of London matches, each with its own distinctive narrative: Chelsea 2-2 Leeds United; West Ham United 1-1 Manchester United; and, of course, Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Newcastle United. As sometimes happens in these situations, I quickly felt like I was at the wrong game.

It was agreed I would cover Manchester United – both because they always draw huge audience interest and because of their resurgence, Champions League ambitions, and West Ham's rising performance in the relegation battle. Still, it didn't quite reach the drama of Spurs, which, of course, led to a managerial sacking.

One caveat: the West Ham game naturally became part of that story, as their 1-0 lead briefly put Spurs in real danger of relegation. That added tension to what had been a poor first half at the Olympic Stadium, though the game did pick up in the second half.

One thing: I deliberately avoided directly mentioning a certain hair story.

A bonus FA Cup round comes with one exception: Arsenal travel to Wolves on Wednesday, the fixture having been moved because of the Carabao Cup final. That's the one "competitive prediction" we'll include that counts toward overall scores. Otherwise, there are nine FA Cup predictions.

As for those scores, last week's double brought seven correct outcomes and one correct scoreline. That brings my overall totals to 109 correct results out of 260, and 147 points out of 780 when factoring in exact scorelines.

Bonus FA Cup predictions:

Hull City 0-3 Chelsea

Wrexham 2-1 Ipswich Town

Southampton 3-2 Leicester City

Aston Villa 2-1 Newcastle United

Manchester City 8-0 Salford City

Birmingham City 2-1 Leeds United

Liverpool 2-0 Brighton

Grimsby Town 0-2 Wolves

Oxford United 1-2 Sunderland

My predictions for Premier League midweek game:

Wolves 0-2 Arsenal

I know many of you play along so let me know how your points are stacking up via email.

Jurgen Klinsmann, 20 goals, Tottenham Hotspur, 1994-95

Ruud van Nistelrooy, 23, Manchester United, 2001-02

Fernando Torres, 24, Liverpool, 2007-08

Sergio Aguero, 23, Manchester City, 2011-12

Diego Costa, 20, Chelsea, 2014-15

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 22, Arsenal 2017-18*

Erling Haaland, 36, Manchester City, 2022-23

Aubameyang actually arrived in January 2017, but in his first full season – 2017-18 – hit 20.

Drop me an email and let me know how you did. Thanks for reading – and see you on Monday!

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