According to reports, Mauricio Pochettino has edged ahead as the leading candidate to take over the mess at Manchester United.

Reports on Monday night suggested that Michael Carrick would soon face the sack and while names such as Eddie Howe have been linked, the current USMNT boss has emerged as the front runner.

But what would a Pochettino United team look like? How would it be different to Howe? Here’s our best guess.

One of the key components of Pochettino’s attacking philosophy is full-backs playing a major role in attacks. This will be a problem at United.

At Southampton, he had a young Luke Shaw and Nathaniel Clyne. Spurs were blessed with plenty of good full-backs in Danny Rose, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier.

All of these were young, athletic and attack-minded full-backs who could get up and down the wing and play a crucial role in going forward without being left so far forward that they cannot help at the back.

United’s full-back department is one of the poorest areas of the club. Pochettino has the options of his former player Shaw, who can’t stay fit, Noussair Mazraoui who lacks the engine to get up and down and Diogo Dalot who has one mistake in him per game at least.

When negotiating his contract, Pochettino would do well to insist that United strengthen this area during the winter transfer window.

Centrally, Pochettino insists that his teams play out of the back and so he will favour centre-backs that can do that.

Currently, Ayden Heaven and Lisandro Martinez are the best passing centre-back duo, averaging around 60 per game while Harry Maguire is at 51.6. Leny Yoro is down at 41.6.

In central midfield, Pochettino does not want his two defensive-minded players to simply win the ball but also be able to create as well. Harry Winks, Christian Eriksen and Mamadou Sissoko all played in that double pivot and all three could be classed as good on the ball as well as winning it back.

Seemingly perfect for that role is Kobbie Mainoo who has made the most defensive contributions per 90 and accurate passes per 90 of anyone in the United squad.

Alongside Mainoo, Pochettino would likely rotate between Andre Onana and Youri Tielemans depending on the opponent.

At Spurs, Pochettino was blessed with a young Harry Kane who had all the potential to become a Ballon d’Or winner. He is not going to find similar quality at United.

A player with the profile of Kane would work perfectly for United as it would allow Bruno Fernandes to crash into the box and score goals but United lack that type of player. Pochettino will have to work with Joshua Zirkzee until January at the earliest.

Two players that would likely benefit from a Pochettino system is Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha.

While Howe likes his wingers to hug the touchline before cutting in late, Pochettino likes to play attacking midfielders in his wide positions and encourage them to cut in early, creating an overload in the middle.

Both Cunha and Mbeumo are not typical wingers but instead prefer to move inside. Cunha in particular, if played off the left, looks like he could fit very well into a Pochettino system.

Whoever gets picked, they better get used to one thing – running. One of the cornerstones of a Pochettino team is that when they are out of possession, the team is pressing as a unit to win the ball back.

At Spurs, the front three plus the midfield three would press as one but do it smartly. One would go to the ball carrier while the others would move to mark opposition players and eliminate passing routes.

This is why Pochettino could not work with Mbappe, Neymar and Messi at PSG, for none of them were too bothered about closing down.

United players don’t have that excuse and they must be prepared for frequent, short sharp bursts of pace to close down the opposition.

This United squad is probably one of the worst in terms of player quality Pochettino has to work with in his career but his system is designed to mask over individual quality in favour of what they can do as a collective.

To make it work, he needs players to buy into his ideas, which is a problem plenty of United managers have faced in the past.

GK: Senne Lammens

He’s had a few mistakes in recent weeks but he is still the best keeper United have.

Pochettino wants his keepers to play an active part in build up which Lammens has proven to be okay if not fantastic.

RB: Diogo Dalot

Best of a bad bunch, United would do well to strengthen here.

CB: Ayden Heaven

Pochettino likes centre backs who can pass, and Heaven fits that mould.

CB: Lisandro Martinez

Similar reasoning as with Heaven. Plus Martinez will likely have a better rapport with fellow Argentine and notable man-manager Pochettino than he did with Carrick and Wilcox.

LB: Luke Shaw

See the entry for Dalot.

CM: Kobbie Mainoo

Makes the most tackles and completes the most passes per 90 of anyone in the United team, two traits Pochettino loves for his midfielders.

CM: Youri Tielemans/Andrey Santos

The picking for this position will depend on who United are facing.

If Pochettino believes United will have the majority of possession, he may go with the less mobile but more attack-focused Tielemans.

If Pochettino is expecting a tough game where United need to work hard to win the ball back, Santos would likely get the shout.

CAM: Bruno Fernandes

At every club he has been at, Pochettino has had good No. 10s but crucially, they have all been on the younger side.

Bruno Fernandes is 32 but still one of the league’s best players on his day. Will also be time to prove that his finger pointing to press is not just for show and he is willing to get in the trenches.

RW: Bryan Mbeumo

Pochettino likes his wingers to cut inside which is what Mbeumo tends to do. He looks like a player that could play in a similar mould to Son Heung Min albeit at a lesser equality.

LW: Matheus Cunha

Cunha could really shine in a Pochettino system.

At Wolves, he was nominally shown on the left of starting lineups played so centrally that he was practically a striker at times, something Pochettino has liked to do in the past.

Think prime Dele Alli or Christian Eriksen cutting in and overloading the central areas.

ST: Joshua Zirkzee

With Benjamin Sesko out until January, Pochettino is stuck with Zirkzee as the only recognised No. 9.

It’s not a great option to be honest but he does play like a false nine in a similar way to Kane. Which is a bit like saying a Peugeot 206 drives in a similar way to a Ferrari.