Gary Lineker makes bleak Mauricio Pochettino prediction after Man Utd appointment

Former England striker Gary Lineker (Picture: The Rest Is Football podcast)

Gary Lineker insisted he would be ‘surprised’ to see Mauricio Pochettino last more than 18 months at Old Trafford following his appointment as Manchester United manager.

The former Tottenham and Chelsea boss has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal to replace Michael Carrick at Old Trafford, with his first game in charge set to be away to Liverpool on Sunday 22 November.

The Argentine will join United after his final two matches with the United States national team, and will be tasked with bringing an immediate turnaround in the club’s form.

The Red Devils currently sit 18th in the table and are without a win in their last eight Premier League matches, a run that dates back to late August.

And while Lineker can see Pochettino arresting that slide in the short term, he fears the setup at Old Trafford will mean the Argentine will ultimately fail in a similar way to his predecessors.

‘I see Pochettino going in there, and I think they’ll probably get off to a reasonable start, and they’ll do okay for a while,’ he said on The Rest Is Football podcast.

‘I think for Pochettino, it’s a big club, Manchester United, big by name. He’ll go on there, and then he’ll be disappointed with the way things occur in the future, and if he’s still there in 18 months, I’ll be surprised.’

Mauricio Pochettino will replace Michael Carrick at Manchester United (Picture: AP)

‘Because again and again, it’s rinse and repeat; the scapegoat is always the coach, and you can see that. And I think the real problems are above the coach.

‘These guys are all good coaches. You look at some of the names they’ve had in the last 10 years. What’s that, 12 coaches now who have gone since Alex Ferguson? And they all leave and they say the club’s a mess.

‘There will always be coaches to blame, and they didn’t back Carrick properly in the summer. They didn’t.

‘He performed brilliantly in the second half of last season. Admittedly, they weren’t in European football, and they were playing counter-attack stuff, but I don’t know how long the people at the top of Manchester United can get away with it. And ultimately, I think the fans know anyway.

"Thank you guys, thank you so much."Mauricio Pochettino gets emotional as he thanks USMNT CEO JT Batson and President Cindy Parlow Cone as he prepares to leave to become the next Manchester United head coach.https://t.co/84swYlgCVt📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 pic.twitter.com/4Wqo5FVWnI— Sky News (@SkyNews) November 13, 2026

‘Obviously, there have been years and years of complaints and demonstrations against the Glazers, and obviously Ratcliffe hasn’t made any difference. If anything, they’re worse now.’