Michael Carrick departs Manchester United with his popularity intact, but his relaxed demeanour contributed to his downfall, and Mauricio Pochettino cannot afford to follow the same path.
One of the positive acts Carrick performed during his time as United manager was to disband the leadership group formed by Ruben Amorim. Under Amorim, Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui, Lisandro Martinez and Tom Heaton had been named as a six-man leadership group. Carrick ended that arrangement, and the later behaviour of some of those players suggested the decision was sound.
What Carrick should have installed in its place, according to this analysis, was a leadership group of one: the manager himself.
Carrick's Decisive Moments and a Key Weakness
Carrick had his moments. He was decisive, sanctioning Martinez and Fernandes for comments he clearly viewed as ill-advised, and he was not afraid to make contentious selection decisions. Yet questions remain over whether Carrick was too protective of his players when results began to slide, and too indulgent with those who had served him well across his 17 matches last season.
Those players performed excellently for Carrick but returned for the start of this campaign, which should have been his first full season in charge, looking complacent and not fully fit. There was little snap in the tackle, little aggression in duels and little urgency in ball retrieval.
The Complacency Problem at Old Trafford
Carrick should have been furious at complacency born of doing decently for half a season and of a mentality that has undermined many United careers in recent times: the belief that once you have signed for United and made it, the hardest work is no longer needed.
That mentality is one every manager since Sir Alex Ferguson has had to fight, and, to varying degrees, every one of them has lost that fight.
Pochettino's Challenge Ahead
Perhaps Pochettino has the spirit, single-mindedness, ruthlessness and nasty streak to win that battle. He comes across as charming, personable and compassionate, but he is, at heart, an old-school Argentinian centre-half. That is what he needs to be when he takes over at Old Trafford: no prisoners, no mercy, no treading lightly.
This United squad needs home truths. The captain needs to stop the histrionics and knuckle down. The coasting midfield needs to get fitter and run itself into the ground. A raft of under-performing players need to understand that signing for United is when the hard work should start. And those employing Pochettino need to hear that the defence is not fit for purpose and requires rebuilding with significant money as soon as possible.
Pochettino will no doubt be enthusiastic and diplomatic on arrival, paying tribute to the job Carrick has done, as he should, given Carrick has left him a squad in the Champions League. He will tell the media he is looking forward to working with the owners and others upstairs. But after that, there can be no more Mr Nice Guy. Having spent the last couple of years in the United States, he knows what hardball is, and he needs to play it.
