Next Manchester United manager: Wayne Rooney tells former club to go 'all out' to get Mauricio Pochettino

The Tottenham boss is the club's No 1 choice to fill the Old Trafford vacancy

Sunday 20 January 2019 08:06 EST
Comments
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United aim for top four

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Mauricio Pochettino "ticks every box" to be the next long-term manager of Manchester United, according to club record goalscorer Wayne Rooney.

The Tottenham boss is the club's No 1 choice to fill the Old Trafford vacancy since the sacking of Jose Mourinho last month, and Rooney believes his record at Spurs makes him the ideal candidate for the job.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is in interim charge of United and has overseen seven wins out of seven since taking on the role, with the latest success being a 2-1 Premier League victory over Brighton on Saturday.

Rooney, working as an analyst for ESPN FC, said: "I think first of all you have to give Ole an opportunity, if he continues the way he is going then I'm sure that will be a discussion for (executive vice-chairman) Ed Woodward and the Glazers whether he keeps the job. But if I had the opportunity to appoint somebody then I would go all out for Pochettino.

"Manchester United - for the last 20 or 30 years, since Sir Alex Ferguson anyway - have based themselves on young players, bringing players through.

"Pochettino gets the best out of his players, whether they're young or older players, but he also gives the young players a chance.

"You see some of the young players he has brought through at Tottenham, and Southampton, who have gone on to play for the national team.

"I think he ticks every box in terms of his quality as a coach but also his willingness to give young players a chance."

Rooney scored 253 goals in 559 appearances for United after joining them from Everton in 2004. He rejoined the Toffees in the summer of 2017 and is now playing in Major League Soccer for DC United.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in