Manchester United hope to have a new coaching team in place in time to prepare for the Manchester derby on January 17, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
The game against Burnley, Darren Fletcher’s first game in charge, means that active negotiations with candidates are temporarily suspended as the club’s entire focus is on that game, but I expect things to pick up speed later this week.
Jason Wilcox, the club’s director of football, was key to the decision to sack Ruben Amorim and is leading the search for a short- and long-term replacement.
So far, he has held only private talks with a number of candidates, including Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Michael Carrick, his main targets for the interim role. There are still many decisions to be made regarding:
How (and can) the two work together? Will one (presumably Solskjær) be given seniority? Will Fletcher continue to have a role in the first team? When will a new coaching team take over? Whether United will choose someone else entirely?
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United clearly like the idea of appointing an interim coaching team for the remainder of the season to allow for a more thorough due diligence process on more big names likely to be available in the summer (Oliver Glasner, Marco Silva, Andoni Iraola, Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, Julian Nagelsmann, Roberto de Zerbi, etc.). However, when that interim player takes over is an important and difficult decision.
While other top clubs may consider playing this weekend’s FA Cup third round with a different squad as they prioritize their Premier League campaigns, the competition is hugely important for Manchester United, who host Brighton on Sunday.
Firstly, this is their only realistic chance of winning a silver medal and a path to European football next season. But it’s also the only other competition they’re involved in.
United’s elite players are used to a hectic schedule of games at the weekend and in the middle of the week. If your calendar of dates was much sparser than that, it could be confusing.
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The extra games United could get in cup competitions could be crucial for the rest of the season, as a new head coach (or coaches) looks to entrench their tactical system and gain much-needed game time for the wider squad.
Solskjær, if he takes over as manager, famously used a 4-2-3-1 formation during his first spell in charge in 2021, but this current United team famously uses it very little.
Finding successful partnerships in the new system, considering which players are best suited in which positions, and perhaps reintegrating Koby Mainu into the starting XI – all of this will be made easier with the extra cup games.
Sunday is therefore not a game for United to take lightly. And part of the decision regarding the coaching predicament will be determined by what is best for the team at that stage.
Is it best to leave Fletcher in charge of Old Trafford in the lead-up to the tie, or is it better to bring in a new player at the first opportunity?A thorough assessment of the Burnley game will be required.
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Of course, there’s a more important process behind that, which is deciding who the next head coach will be.
Having paid Amorim and his staff around £10m in severance packages, United will once again be keen to avoid a hefty remuneration bill for whoever they hire next.
That’s at least some of their thoughts on why it’s best to postpone important appointments until summer and cancel canning plans.
