The faded glamour of Mauricio Pochettino makes him the perfect fit for modern Manchester United

And so it’s Mauricio Pochettino’s turn to stride purposefully into the ring, gumshield gleaming and eyes ablaze, the latest member of the Bum of the Month club at Manchester United. When he walks out at Anfield next Sunday, Pochettino will be the eighth different United manager since the same weekend in 2021. And if you think that’s a lot, just remember that it’s actually nine different stints – Michael Carrick had two goes at it.Nine managers in five years. They’ve had four in the first 11 months of 2026 alone. Of course, they would point out that those numbers are misleading – they include interim spells for Darren Fletcher (two games in January of this year), Ruud van Nistelrooy (four games this time two years ago) and Carrick himself (three games at the back end of 2021). Also, Ralf Rangnick’s 23 games officially go in the books as an interim spell, even though it amounted to only a few months short of the time David Moyes spent in charge.But you can quibble over semantics until the rain stops leaking through the Old Trafford roof. The unavoidable truth of it is that United are always starting again. Worse, they’re always starting again from further down the mountain. When Moyes got the road, it was because United couldn’t wear the indignity of being seventh in the table. They’re currently 18th. Eighteenth. And full value for it too. When United fans watch the current team, we go through long spells where we’re asking ourselves what exactly this shower were ever good at. They have conceded 30 goals in 15 games this season – officially the second worst of any team in Europe’s top five leagues. French side Lens have the worst record but at least their tally is weighed down by a freak 9-1 defeat in the Champions League. United are just consistently, relentlessly and dependably leaking goals. READ MOREThey’re so easy to play against. They bought three midfielders in the summer and finished the Villa game with all three of them in the stand. Carlos Baleba is injured, Youri Tielemans hasn’t played 90 minutes in the league since September, Andrey Santos didn’t get off the bench. United’s summer outlay was £144 million, all of it aimed specifically at fixing their midfield. Not a single penny of it was on the pitch as Carrick’s reign turned to ashes.[ Tearful Mauricio Pochettino admits Manchester United job too big to turn downOpens in new window ]So they have a crap defence, a midfield that doesn’t play and a forward line that seems to only rouse itself into action once they’ve dug the deepest hole possible for themselves. In each of their past five matches in the Premier League and Champions League, United have gone at least 2-0 down. They salvaged a win against Roma and a draw against Villa but it was madcap firefighting, hoses spraying this way and that, the whole thing left in cinders all the same.Into this smouldering ruin walks Pochettino, fresh meat for the mincer. In true United style, there appears to be no particular rhyme or reason for his appointment, nothing to suggest a coherent club policy or philosophy. If his appointment says anything, it’s that they’re gone back to throwing their hands in the air and grabbing a famous name out of the sky.Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal. Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images They had a couple of goes with thrusting young Euro types in Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim. They gave it a couple of nostalgia-drunk lashes with certified club heroes in Carrick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Now it seems they’re whistling back into the Jose Mourinho/Louis van Gaal mode, appointing someone whose reputation still has just about enough juice left in it to feel like it might work.And it might, eventually. The laws of financial gravity may well kick in somewhere along the way. The Man City punishment is in the post, Chelsea have been at least somewhat cut off at the knees. If and when some level of basic, middle-of-the-road, bread-and-butter organisation takes hold at Old Trafford, it’s not insane to imagine that the money could do the rest.The problem with United these days though is that all the money in the world can’t make the club attractive to top-tier talent. If you’re one of the best 23-year-olds in Europe at your position, would you trust Manchester United to navigate you through the critical next few years of your short career? All the zeros on all the cheques in the world aren’t enough to justify taking that sort of risk if you’re an elite young player.Radamel Falcao, one of a host of big name footballers that was past his best when he signed for Manchester United. Which is why the only big names United get to sign any more are players who don’t need to worry about all that. Who do they get that makes a splash, post-Ferguson? The likes of Radamel Falcao, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Cristiano Ronaldo, Christian Eriksen, Casemiro. All with their best days behind them, all still capable of a blinding flash of class here and there, all knowing that there’s a nice pre-retirement bag on offer at Faded Glamour FC.[ Ken Early: Michael Carrick’s fatal flaw got him sacked but Manchester United’s problems run far deeperOpens in new window ]Pochettino looks every inch the managerial equivalent. Where was he going if he didn’t go to United? Probably nowhere. He was likely happy enough with the low-watt, low-stakes life of coaching Team USA. Good money, palatable expectations, a grand life. Liverpool weren’t chasing him to take over from Arne Slot, Real Madrid didn’t give him a shout after stuffing Alvaro Arbeloa into a cannon. Pochettino was the coming man once upon a time. The Spurs team he managed to the Champions League final in 2019 was a whizzing, blinding, joyride of a side. But he hasn’t won a trophy since guiding PSG to Ligue 1 in 2022, which was hardly the achievement of the century anyway. He did okay with Chelsea before walking out in a huff. His USA team were fun at the World Cup until they got stage fright against Belgium.All in all, he’s a big name who has done a bit in the game, albeit that was a while ago. The perfect fit for the modern Man United, then.