Manchester United confirm Pochettino as new head coach

Manchester United have appointed Mauricio Pochettino as head coach in succession to Michael Carrick.

The club said in a statement on Friday that Pochettino has agreed to become the men's head coach from 18 November, after an agreement was reached with the U.S. Soccer Federation for him and his staff to be released once their duties with the national team are complete.

Carrick was sacked on Thursday after leading United to just one win in their first 10 Premier League games in 2026-27, with five draws and four defeats.

Despite coming from 2-0 and 4-2 down to earn a 4-4 draw with Aston Villa in what turned out to be Carrick's final game in charge, United are spending the international break in the relegation zone, sitting 18th.

It is their lowest position 10 games into a top-flight season since 1986-87, when they were 20th.

They have also gone eight Premier League games without a win for the second time, also doing so in April and May 2025, under Ruben Amorim.

And it is Pochettino who is tasked with turning things around at Old Trafford, despite signing a new deal with the United States following the World Cup.

He has signed a reported two-and-a-half-year deal at Old Trafford, becoming the club's eighth permanent head coach since the retirement of Alex Ferguson in May 2013.

Pochettino will take charge of the USA for both legs of their CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final against Haiti this international break, before heading to Manchester and preparing for a trip to rivals Liverpool on 22 November.

Pochettino has been linked with United numerous times in the past and had been in talks with the club in 2022, though they opted to appoint Erik ten Hag instead.

The 54-year-old has previous experience in the Premier League, having taken charge of Southampton, Tottenham and Chelsea across his career.

His most successful spell was with Spurs, whom he led between May 2014 and November 2019, taking charge of 202 Premier League games.

He has overseen the most Premier League games in Spurs' history and recorded the most wins (113), 43 more than any other head coach has managed for the club (Harry Redknapp is second with 70).

During Pochettino's tenure at Spurs, they scored 372 goals in the top flight, which ranked fourth in the division in that time, behind Arsenal (376), Liverpool (394) and Manchester City (470), in addition to reaching the 2019 Champions League final, which they lost to Liverpool.

Of head coaches to oversee 30 or more Premier League games, Pochettino (51%) has the 19th-best win ratio in the competition's history.

After facing Liverpool, United will travel to Sporting CP in the Champions League before Pochettino's first home game in charge, against Brentford on 28 November.