Paul Scholes believes Antonio Conte is the standout candidate to replace Michael Carrick at Manchester United, calling the Italian 'streets ahead' of other contenders despite acknowledging his volatile nature.
Carrick remains in charge at Old Trafford, but a 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth on Sunday extended the club's winless run to eight matches, with just one victory in their last eight Premier League games. Poor results have been compounded by off-field unrest, with Lisandro Martinez speaking out against the club's hierarchy and captain Bruno Fernandes criticising Carrick and his coaching staff.
Conte the clear choice
Speaking on The Good, The Bad and The Football, Scholes was presented with three names - Conte, Eddie Howe and Julian Nagelsmann - and had little doubt about the right pick.
'You'd have to pick a manager who you think will get us back to being a competitive team for the Premier League. Out of them three, Antonio Conte's the man, but he comes with a big f***ing massive warning,' Scholes said.
'He's made noises that he wants to come and I'm pretty sure the club would have spoke to all three of them.'
Despite his endorsement, Scholes questioned whether Conte would actually want the role. 'I can't understand why he'd want this job because I don't think the team's good enough for him, personally.'
Emery also considered
The former United midfielder also floated Aston Villa manager Unai Emery as a potential option, praising his Europa League success with the club.
'Is the answer staring us right in the face in Unai Emery?' Scholes asked. 'He's won the Europa League with Aston Villa, do you know what an achievement that is?'
'He gets a new team every single year because they have to sell their best players. And he keeps producing, keeps producing.'
Scholes acknowledged that Emery's spells at Arsenal and PSG might put some off, but still favoured Conte. 'I think Conte's the best one around. When I'm talking best in class and you talk them four, I think Antonio Conte's miles ahead of all of them.'
Short-term success would suffice
Conte has managed nine clubs in his career, with his longest stint being three seasons at Juventus from 2011-14. Nowhere else has he stayed longer than two campaigns.
Scholes accepts that could happen at Old Trafford too, but believes a brief spell that quickly returns United to contention would still count as a success.
'He's volatile, I know he's volatile and might be a bit of a madman, but when you talk about successful managers at top clubs he's streets ahead,' said Scholes.
'I don't care if it's short term. I don't care if he's there 18 months and he gets us challenging for the league, that would be a success. The more and more I think about it, Conte needs to come in and start banging some heads together.'
Another former United star, Ashley Young, who played under Conte at Inter Milan, has warned of the potential 'disaster' of appointing the Italian. Young told Overlap Daily: 'I've worked underneath him at Inter. He's crazy by the way, crazy. A lot of talk has been about Man United's running stats. If they're not going to run and Antonio Conte goes in there, it's going to be a disaster I think.'
Young described long meetings and intense training sessions under Conte, adding: 'I think that's one of the reasons why he doesn't last long at places because it's not just the players he tries to test mentally, but the board as well, and the owners. I think that people get annoyed with him and think "it's time for you to go".'
