Man Utd urged to ditch Pochettino plans in favour of Rodgers
Martin Macdonald
- 16 Feb 2022 06:47 CST
- 3 min read
Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson believes Manchester United should ditch any plans to appoint Mauricio Pochettino as manager in favour of Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers.
At the moment, Man Utd have Ralf Rangnick in charge on a temporary basis following the disappointing tenure of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
However, the German is expected to take up an advisory role at the end of the current campaign, meaning a new manager will be needed.
As well as Pochettino and Rodgers, names like Zinedine Zidane and Erik ten Hag have done the rounds.
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Pochettino was desired by Man Utd a couple of years ago before they decided to give the manager's job to Solskjaer on a permanent basis.
He remains one of the favourites again, but Merson doesn't think the Argentine has the credentials.
"I don't understand why Manchester United would be waiting for Mauricio Pochettino. I don't get it," he told Sky Sports.
"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."
Rodgers a better fit for Man Utd?
Merson insists someone like Rodgers or even Graham Potter would be better options for Man Utd than Pochettino.
"If I was in charge at United, I'd be going for Rodgers or Graham Potter now," he continued.
"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.
