Manchester United are on the search for another head coach after the dismissal of Ruben Amorim with Carlo Ancelotti emerging as a potential candidate for the club
Carlo Ancelotti
Carlo Ancelotti has been suggested as a possible Ruben Amorim replacement for Man United(Image: (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images))
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Carlo Ancelotti has previously taken aim at the Glazers for their running of Manchester United, as the legendary boss has been suggested as a potential option to replace Ruben Amorim in the summer. The hierarchy at Old Trafford decided to wield the axe on the head coach, following an outburst that seemingly criticised his role in the club.
The Portuguese coach was the first full-time hire made by Ineos and Sir Jim Ratcliffe as part of their co-ownership of United, which has looked to transform the sporting departments of the club. With no clear favourite lined up to immediately replace Amorim, they have turned to Michael Carrick as caretaker manager.
As a result, the shortlist of potential names for the summer continues to grow, with international coaches such as Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, and Julian Nagelsmann among those who may be available. There is also the case of Ancelotti, who is in charge of the Brazilian national team, with former United assistant Rene Meulensteen believing he should be on the club's radar.
"Carlo Ancelotti is the guy with the type of pedigree who can handle it because he’s done it, he’s seen it and he knows what a winning culture looks like," he said. "I don’t think Ancelotti would listen to anybody else. Ancelotti would say this is what I’m doing. I’m managing what I’m here to do.
“Football has changed. You’ve got Directors of Football now or Sporting Directors and Technical Directors who are there to safeguard the big picture of the whole football operation at a club and then you’ve got a Head Coach who should be working with the squad of players.
“As a coach, you need to be very clear on that. That’s why Ruben Amorim ran into trouble. They obviously weren’t aligned. He had different ideas about how it should be run than the people in the background.”
It's unclear whether Ancelotti would be open to making the move to Old Trafford, or whether the hierarchy at the club are even looking at the former Chelsea and Real Madrid man. However, when it comes to alignment, there may be concerns over the role of the Glazers.
While the partial sale of the club saw Ineos and Ratcliffe take a minority stake, along with control on the sporting side of things, the American family are still the majority shareholders. This may cause some friction, not least as Ancelotti made it clear exactly what he thought about the family back in 2016.
Avram Glazer and Omar Berrada watch a Manchester United game
The Glazer family, including Avram Glazer (left), have been a majority shareholders at Manchester United since 2005.(Image: (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images))
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He said: "I was fortunate to be able to coach Real Madrid, although then the club decided to change managers. That is part of the job, we are exposed to that. In the big clubs it is difficult to stay a long time because the expectations of results are so high.
"Madrid’s history and demands mean that if a coach doesn’t win trophies, a change is made. You have to respect that. It’s true that there are other clubs like Manchester United, where [Sir Alex] Ferguson was there many years, and now [Arsene] Wenger at Arsenal.
"These cases are different, as their owners are from the US and they are more interested in the financial aspect than in who is coach.”
It remains to be seen whether Ancelotti is a serious target for United or not in their search for a new head coach, but it will continue talk surrounding what the club wants or needs for the future. The 'Man United DNA' has been a common theme surrounding discussion on who should be the next appointment.
Figuring out exactly what that means, and how to deploy it into action, will be the job of the sporting department. Director of Football Jason Wilcox will be in charge of deploying a game model that can align through the club, uniting the recruitment team, directors, and the management team.
The appointment of Carrick has bought them time to make those key decisions, but they will have to be spot on to help rebuild the team for the future.