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Manchester United's new manager Mauricio Pochettino is stepping into Old Trafford with his eyes wide open. The pragmatic coach acknowledged that it will be a "very intense" beginning to a role that carries an unrelenting burden of expectation.
As the U.S. men's national team cruised to a commanding 6–0 victory over Haiti on Saturday evening, Pochettino's thoughts may have drifted toward the far more pressing challenge that awaits him in Manchester. United currently sit in the relegation zone at this point of a season for the first time in four decades, with just one victory from 10 Premier League outings and the second-worst defensive record across Europe's top five leagues.
Once the November international break concludes, while other major leagues ease off during the holiday period, the English fixture list intensifies dramatically. Pochettino's opening seven matches in charge will be squeezed into just three weeks, beginning with next Sunday's away trip to bitter rivals Liverpool.
Faced with that congested fixture list, Pochettino understandably told The Telegraph on Saturday that "it's going to be very intense."
Despite the formidable challenge ahead, statistics suggest there is a reasonable likelihood that United will see an improvement in results following this prolonged rough patch. A recent analysis found that in the 10 matches on either side of a mid-season managerial change, the affected team's points per game average rose from 0.88 to 1.23.
However, the same research also concluded that "bad runs mostly end on their own," noting that teams which endured a similar downturn in form but retained their manager still improved from 0.91 points per game to 1.17.
United will naturally hope that Pochettino's appointment pushes those figures even higher, and the Argentine has a strategy to tap into the less tangible resources at his disposal.
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While discussing the open-ended nature of the release clause in his USMNT contract, Pochettino also disclosed that he had only been given the opportunity to speak with United's directors and one owner, rather than the man who has long fuelled his deep admiration for the club.
Pochettino's reverence for Sir Alex Ferguson is well established. "When I was young, when I started my career as a manager, he was always my inspiration, my reference," the Argentine has said previously. "And when you can share two hours with a person who was the greatest manager in the history of football, you can only enjoy."
The two shared an expensive bottle of wine a decade ago when Ferguson first attempted to bring Pochettino to the Old Trafford dugout, and the club's latest appointment is eager for a reunion with his legendary forerunner.
"For sure I will have the opportunity after Tuesday," Pochettino told The Telegraph. "I said many years ago and always I say the same—for me, Sir Alex Ferguson represents everything that I admire from a coach, a head coach, a man, a manager and I think he represents my values. I really admire him."
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More than 13 years on from his retirement, the shadow of Ferguson continues to hang over the club. Michael Carrick regularly phoned his former boss while Ole Gunnar Solskjær refused to use his parking space as a mark of respect.
This is a problematic Manchester United tradition. When Sir Matt Busby—the legendary predecessor to Ferguson who guided the club to their first European Cup triumph in 1968—stepped aside, he personally selected Wilf McGuinness as his successor without ever truly relinquishing control. It didn't help that his former player continued to address Busby as 'Boss.' Frank O'Farrell's effort to move beyond Busby also got off to a difficult start. The new manager was assigned a small office to work from while his predecessor continued to hold court in the expansive room he had occupied throughout his tenure.
There is an argument that United would be better served moving on from the Ferguson era, turning over a new leaf and freeing themselves from the weight of history. But Pochettino, a self-declared admirer of the Scotsman, will not be the one to commit any such act of heresy.