Jamie Carragher immediately raised a red flag about Julian Nagelsmann’s potential move to Manchester United. The Red Devils have been linked with the Red Devils manager as a potential replacement for Ruben Amorim, who was sacked by the club earlier this year.
Michael Carrick has since taken over as interim manager and led United to the brink of Champions League qualification. Just a few points are needed to seal a return to Europe’s most prestigious competition after a three-season hiatus, but who will be in charge next season is still up in the air.
Carragher believes Nagelsmann, who is currently in charge of Germany’s national team, should not take over as he is too focused on the World Cup. The former Liverpool ace claimed in his column for the Telegraph that Nagelsmann will not have enough input into his pre-season plans.
He said: “Coach Nagelsmann may have a return to club football in mind after the World Cup, but you wouldn’t expect the German manager to be secretly discussing transfers or pre-season plans while taking part in such a huge tournament.”
“If Germany had gone that far in America, he probably wouldn’t be at United on the first day of pre-season training. That’s an immediate red flag. United would be sacrificing the chance to get a head start on pre-season under Carrick to further disrupt their preparations.”
United’s first pre-season match is scheduled for Saturday, July 18, the day before the World Cup final. Carragher therefore believes United’s best bet is to stay with Carrick and give him the job permanently.
Justifying his appointment, Carragher wrote: “Over the past four months, Carrick has provided himself and the United board with something precious not generally available in football: time. He has regained a sense of normalcy, a quality that would have been undervalued at any club, let alone one of the biggest.”
“The United leadership must feel they have finally arrived at a blissful situation where they can wake up every morning without worrying about the next drama where managers fall out with players, expel players, say strange things in press conferences and, most importantly, regularly lose games in unacceptable fashion.
“It must be reassuring to have a manager who can simplify the game by playing players like Bruno Fernandes in the right positions. It’s a tactical shift that makes the United captain a candidate for player of the year.”
