In a surprise turn of events, Mauricio Pochettino has emerged as the leading candidate to replace Michael Carrick at Manchester United. At the time of writing, Carrick has not been relieved of his duties, nor has Pochettino stepped away from the States. But if all continues to go awry for Carrick at United, Pochettino might be the man to enter the dugout.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith that, I take a look at how Pochettino set up the United States Men’s National Team for success, and what that might mean for his potential return to the Premier League.
SYSTEM OF PLAY: 4-3-3
One of the reasons I admire Pochettino is that he’s always been a highly flexible tactician. His players can switch in and out of different formations, keeping the same principles in place.
At the 2026 World Cup, the States operated primarily in a 4-3-3. Tyler Adams held down the base of the midfield, giving Malik Tillman and Weston McKennie the ability to bounce back and forth between defense and attack.
With a solid spine through the centre, his team consistently looked to exploit the wide areas. Fullbacks could overlap and underlap as skillful wingers made their mark, and the two outside midfielders in McKennie and Tillman would also contribute heavily as they shifted with the ball.
Embed from Getty ImagesIf Pochettino can be credited for anything across his time in the States, it would be the balance he struck in midfield. The former Spurs boss understood how to construct his midfield to get the best out of his players.
Embed from Getty ImagesSo much so that he had two incredible understudies in Sebastian Berhalter and Gio Reyna to enter the fold and provide equal quality from the bench.
While Adams is so much of a defensive destructor and fantastic reader of spaces, Berhalter is a classy deep-lying playmaker who moves the ball around the pitch with ease.
Meanwhile, McKennie never stops running. He’s everywhere on the pitch. Then you have Tillman, who can carry the ball across large spaces, dribble his way through pressure, and combine in tight areas in the attacking third.
Gio Reyna provides that extra pizzaz with all the thrills and skills in possession. He’ll even pop up with a smooth finish if you let him, just as he did against Paraguay.
Embed from Getty ImagesPochettino fully understood what each of them could bring to the dinner table.
This is something that many United fans will feel is currently lacking. Carrick hasn’t found the right balance since Casemiro departed the club, and United keep getting overrun in midfield.
Embed from Getty ImagesQuite evidently, they need a Tyler Adams, or maybe a Chema Andrés type of midfielder. They need someone that can cover the defensive ground and break up the play, thus allowing the more impressive ball players to work their magic.
But a McKennie type – someone that doesn’t do much flashy but works incredibly hard and puts in a shift every match – would be incredibly helpful too. They have the creative tools they need going forward in the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha. They just need players that can work hard, break up the play and cover ground in behind them.
Embed from Getty ImagesKobbie Mainoo is an obvious one to play in behind them, but that natural partner is still missing. Pochettino will know this too.
ATTACKING STYLE OF PLAY
Embed from Getty ImagesOut from the back, the States liked to build-up in a back-three under Pochettino. They used Alex Freeman to play passes from deep and combine with the two centre-backs, as Tyler Adams would sit in front of that trio with one of his midfield partners.
The shape would then take on a 3-2-4-1, with Sergiño Dest acting like a wing-back (since, you know, he’s a wing-back not a winger), and Antonee Robinson pushing high and wide down the other side. Christian Pulisic could then play inside where he likes to, with one of the midfielders higher up the pitch to provide balance. That meant McKennie would often be the one floating up when the States would try to progress play more quickly through the thirds.
Embed from Getty ImagesBringing it back to United, this kind of approach would suit them nicely. Dalot, Shaw and Dorgu can all work well at spreading the width high up the pitch, as Matheus Cunha perfectly fits the Pulisic category of an inside-left playmaker.
For a player in that Dest mould of offering speed and skill but not much end product, look no further than Amad Diallo (not to give a total backhanded compliment). The Ghanaian attacker played many minutes at right-wing-back under Ruben Amorim, and would suit that deeper role well, allowing Fernandes to float higher up the pitch on the inside right channel where he can be on his stronger side.
So much emphasis on width in the attack and stretching the opposition still requires a mobile destructor in midfield, and that is why any new United boss needs to turn their attention to that area of the field in January.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt’s a shame that the Red Devils spent so much money on their midfield this summer just to end up with Baleba, Santos and Tielemans, none of whom can even come close to holding a candle to the defensive aptitude of Casemiro.
Embed from Getty ImagesTielemans can do some smart things in possession, and play nice passes out from the back. If they take on a United States approach, he could be useful when they are the superior opposition.
Take the above example of the States, where one midfielder shifts to the left side, trying to draw more width out of the field for the midfielders to receive at staggered heights.
But that Pochettino midfield needs not just game savviness, but energy and intensity. That is where those three seem to lack, with Baleba always unsure of where to be on the field, and the other two lacking in speed and tenacity to cover ground. At least United have Mainoo, but he can’t do it alone.
Beyond that midfield construction, it’s safe to say that Pochettino’s counter-attacking and quick-thinking attacks will benefit Manchester United.
Cunha, Mbeumo and Fernandes all love to play on the break, where they can let their flicks and tricks fly through the opposition’s lack of numbers.
Pochettino prefers to play this way too. While his teams can be methodical in how they attack, they usually prefer the element of surprise. The States’ second goal against Paraguay at the World Cup was a perfect example.
On the ball, Antonee Robinson slows the game down. He casually hovers over it like nothing’s going to happen.
Then he quickly shifts the ball to his strong foot, and completely catches the opposition off-guard with a pass in behind for the pace of Pulisic.
As he so often did in the summer, Folarin Balogun then finishes off the chance with ease.
Embed from Getty ImagesUnited will appreciate these kind of attacking moves, and it will benefit the likes of Cunha and Fernandes wonderfully.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
Embed from Getty ImagesMauricio Pochettino generally adopts an intense style when his teams defend. But it’s normally not a systematic press like you might see with a Jürgen Klopp. It’s more that the striker will often lead from the front in putting pressure, and from there, players closest to the ball will pressure the ball carrier.
Embed from Getty ImagesEveryone else isn’t stepping up aggressively and limiting passing options, instead they’re marking their man and waiting to either intercept or to spring into action once their man receives the ball.
One particular thing that I liked about their defensive approach was a tightly compact and narrow midfield that sat in a clear 4-3-3.
Just about every team these days operating in a 4-2-3-1 will defend from the front in a 4-4-2. The advantage of this is in limiting options as the opposition’s centre-backs circulate the ball, and having more numbers forward when the team lose possession. But in a 4-3-3 defensive shape, you can limit central progression, and then have those same outlets in more dangerous positions to hit immediately on the counter – out wide.
This would really benefit a player like Bruno Fernandes, who can start counter attacks through dribbling from deep or cutting a team open with a knife of a long pass.
Out wide could be the likes of Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo – direct counter attacking threats who love to drive at the opposition.
Pochettino’s defensive approach could also benefit United in that it’s neither passive nor super aggressive. Their attacking shape lent itself toward having numbers to immediately swarm an opposition and counter-press. The energy and intensity of the players he selected was perhaps their greatest advantage.
Embed from Getty ImagesUnited don’t necessarily have that same intensity all around the pitch, and their not currently equipped to press systematically.
They can do it from the front, but then if they expose themselves too much at the top of the pitch, they usually don’t have the right balance in behind. So while the likes of Patrick Dorgu, Mason Mount and Bryan Mbeumo would be perfect in a Pochettino press, it would probably take time before we saw something more systematic.
Embed from Getty ImagesAnd again, United need that player who can hold down a midfield all on their own if they’re going to get the most out of Pochettino’s ideals. At the World Cup, Tillman played as this monstrous box-crasher, who could always pop up and contribute to the attack. That would leave Tyler Adams all on his own in front of the centre-backs. He was crucial in how the States could stop counter attacks.
Embed from Getty ImagesUnited currently don’t have the personnel to handle either an intense counter-press or a sole midfielder covering the bulk of the pitch on his own. So they’d need time on that one, or Pochettino to work his magic in finding the right balance from within the current squad.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut if anyone can find the right balance in midfield, and increase the tactical ideals alongside the work rate of the players, Pochettino is a pretty good pick. It might be one of the most surprising managerial moves in some time, but Pochettino could be a great fit in raising United’s ambitions again.
Thanks for reading and see you soon!
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