Man Utd should hire PL boss over ‘obsession’ – Merson

Paul Merson says he doesn’t understand Manchester United’s “obsession” with Mauricio Pochettino.

The former Spurs boss is thought to be among the leading candidates to take over at Old Trafford this summer, along with Erik ten Hag and Luis Enrique.

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Pochettino is currently in charge of Paris Saint-Germain but is rumoured to be interested in a return to the Premier League.

Ralf Rangnick is in place as interim boss at United as the board search for a new boss, but Merson is bemused by their willingness to wait for Pochettino.

He wrote in his Sky Sports column: ‘I don’t understand why Manchester United would be waiting for Mauricio Pochettino. I don’t get it. If Pochettino doesn’t win the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain, why would they be going in for him?

‘You’ve got to remember he failed to win the French league last year, too. That’s virtually impossible to do. Everybody keeps saying they need to go out and get Pochettino but I don’t understand why.

‘It does my head in. It’s all I ever hear. What did he do? He got Tottenham to the final of the Champions League and his side finished third one year in the Premier League.

‘PSG have appointed him to win the Champions League, but I don’t give PSG a chance of doing it this year so I’m not sure what the obsession is with Pochettino.

‘United haven’t won a trophy for five years. How many managers have they had? Two? Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Ralf Rangnick’s not the manager, he’s just a stopgap.

‘We’re still bought by an exotic name. Rangnick was at Schalke and RB Leipzig but at United he has to work with big players. They’re thinking, ‘what have you won?’ He’s won nothing.

‘Is someone going to come in around June and figure out that the side needs one or two players and everything will be fixed? It’s going to take more than that to get them up alongside Manchester City and Liverpool.’

Merson believes United are making a mistake in waiting until the summer to appoint a permanent manager, and says he would go after Brendan Rodgers, as he’s “done a far better job” than Pochettino.

He continued: ‘It’s phenomenal what’s going on at United. Why are they waiting to appoint a manager? It should be done now.

‘Football is all about timing. If Leicester were second in the Premier League right now and still in the cups, Brendan Rodgers would be the bookmakers’ favourite to be the next manager of Man Utd.

‘If I was in charge at United, I’d be going for Rodgers or Graham Potter now. People are still caught up on the Pochettino of seven years ago. If that’s the case, why isn’t everyone going for Claudio Ranieri again?

‘He won the league in 2016, Pochettino didn’t. He took Tottenham as far as he could, and then you’ve got someone like Rodgers who has done a far better job than what Pochettino did.

‘He only lost the league at Liverpool because of a slip. Now, he doesn’t even get a mention.’