Manchester United have reached an agreement in principle with Mauricio Pochettino to become head coach if Michael Carrick is sacked, Sky Sports reported on Wednesday. The detail that matters more sits in a Sky Sports opinion piece questioning the approach: Pochettino would be United’s fourth manager in three seasons. It works as a short-term fix. It isn’t an answer.

What Sky says is agreed

Sky reports that talks with the US Soccer Federation are set to speed up over his release. His USA contract carries a £7m release clause, which Sky says is not thought to be a problem for United. Pochettino is understood to be ready if United make the change, and Sky says a change “remains likely”. CEO Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox were already due to meet Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who controls football operations at Old Trafford, to review the season.

The case for him

Former Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld told Sky: “This is the perfect moment for him to be at Man Utd.” He added that Pochettino “wants to work as the underdog”, which fits a club that needs a dressing room reset more than a grand project. Sky also reports that Sir Alex Ferguson admired him, and that United have talked to him about the job on three earlier occasions.

That history is the point. United have wanted him for a decade and kept hiring someone else. Hiring him now looks less like a plan than a long-held itch.

The case against, from Sky’s own desk

Sky’s piece is blunt. It asks: “Why are you letting Michael Carrick suffer in public?” and says it is “intrigued to know who at Manchester United is really pushing for Pochettino to get the job.” Sky’s Dave Reed argues that, under normal circumstances, Pochettino “would not now be getting one of the top jobs at the other biggest clubs in the world”. The piece also wonders why United didn’t hire him when he was available in the summer. It rates Eddie Howe and Antonio Conte as having stronger track records, noting that Howe won a domestic trophy with Newcastle and Conte won the title in his first season at Chelsea.

The same piece lists the record behind that view: Southampton finished eighth, Tottenham went five seasons without a trophy despite a Champions League final, and PSG finished second.

Our view: the manager is not the problem

Sky’s piece puts United’s spending on hiring and firing managers since Ferguson at more than £100m, and argues the club’s structure is the real problem. Strip away the name and that is the pattern. A fourth manager in three seasons does not tell you the fourth was the right one. It tells you the process keeps producing the same outcome.

So take Pochettino on a deal that gives him a proper summer window and a say in recruitment, because the alternative is another reset in eighteen months. If Ratcliffe, Berrada and Wilcox can’t offer that, it doesn’t matter whether the name is Pochettino, Howe or Conte. The site’s look at his record and the reasons behind Carrick’s downfall point the same way.

Next up

Nothing is final until United announce it. The immediate test is Anfield: Liverpool v Man Utd is on Sunday 22 November at 16:30 UK time, live on Sky Sports, whoever is in the dugout.