Gary Neville has suggested that a world-class manager should fill the vacant head coach’s role at Manchester United following Ruben Amorim’s sacking – but no one else has mentioned him.
Following Ruben Amorim’s sacking on Monday (January 5), several names such as Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner, ex-Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, and PSG manager Luis Enrique have been linked with the vacancy.
Former United midfielder and youth team coach Darren Fletcher is currently in charge of United on an interim basis while the club have held talks with Michael Carrick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer about taking on a caretaker role until the end of the season.
Solskjaer, who previously managed the side between 2018 and 2021, reportedly had face-to-face talks about a return on Saturday (January 10), according to BBC Sport.
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The ex-Norway international previously guided United to a second-placed finish in the 2020/21 campaign, something which only Jose Mourinho has also achieved since Sir Alex Ferguson’s 2013 departure.
And despite the 52-year-old appearing open to a return to Old Trafford, his former teammate Neville has suggested that a world-class manager would be top of his shortlist, followed by Newcastle boss Eddie Howe and England head coach Thomas Tuchel.
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Writing in The Overlap’s newsletter, Neville put Carlo Ancelotti’s name forward and explained how “No one comes as close to fulfilling everything laid out above than he does”.
The terms laid out by Neville were the four criteria a United manager has to tick in his opinion.
The former right-back wrote: “1. You have to be able to handle the media and the noise that comes with this club. It is what it is, so get over it and deal with it. It’s why you’re getting paid the big bucks.
“2. You have to show that you can have success getting into the top four, that you can cope with Champions League football, and that you can get the best out of a group of players that will include egos and superstars
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“3. You must understand the Premier League and English football culture because it’s different to competing in many of the European leagues.
“4. You have to understand the Manchester United way, which means you have to be a glass-half-full kind of manager. Be positive and prepared to take risks and play with pace and excitement. In all likelihood, that is going to a variation of 4-4-1-1/ 4-2-3-1.”
“The outstanding candidate for me would be Carlo Ancelotti, even if it would mean potentially delaying his arrival until late July if Brazil reached the World Cup final,” Neville claimed.
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“Ironically, the club met with Carlo shortly before his retirement in 2013, and we could have short-circuited this entire process and started with him at the beginning of the cycle. But by that stage, he was close to agreeing to joining Real Madrid for his first spell in charge, and so what might have been a perfect appointment never happened.
“After Ancelotti, the next two on my short list would be Thomas Tuchel and Eddie Howe, Roy Keane’s suggestion, and one of the names suggested by Ashworth in 2024. Again, these are two candidates who know the Premier League inside out and who both have Champions League experience.”
Ancelotti, who has won five Champions League crowns as a manager, previously guided Chelsea to the Premier League title in the 2009/10 campaign, as well as winning the FA Cup that same season.
The Italian also managed Everton between 2019 and 2021 before returning to Real Madrid for a second stint in charge.
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The 66-year-old has won league titles in England, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain and is widely considered one of the greatest managers of all time.
It remains unclear whether United are interested in Ancelotti.
Topics: Manchester United, Gary Neville, Ruben Amorim, Carlo Ancelotti, Premier League, Football
Luke Davies