Next Man Utd manager: Why it won’t be Spain coach Luis Enrique
Robin Bairner
- 31 Mar 2022 09:54 BST
- 3 min read
Luis Enrique is one of those names associated with the job of becoming Manchester United’s next manager – but, sadly for fans of the Old Trafford club, it will not be the Spain boss.
The former Barcelona star has an excellent pedigree in the dugout. After breaking his teeth in the Camp Nou side’s ‘B’ team, he moved to Roma, Celta Vigo and then swiftly back to Catalunya, where he boasted the best win percentage of any modern Barca coach – including Pep Guardiola.
He has had the role of rejuvenating the Spain national team since 2018, with the exception of a hiatus for personal reasons, and in this role his stock has continued to rise. Notably, he led La Roja to the final of the Nations League, and with an exciting young squad, they are getting back to the heights they hit around 2010, when they picked up the World Cup as well as back-to-back European Championships.
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Luis Enrique to disappoint Man Utd
Little wonder, then, that Manchester United would be interested in such a successful coach, particularly given the flair his sides typically play with.
The Red Devils, though, are set to be disappointed and it is all a question of timing.
“There is no other position that I want more than to represent my country in the World Cup in Qatar,” Luis Enrique said this week.
Previously, he had compared his links to Manchester United as being like an April Fool’s joke.
Had the 2022 World Cup been held in the conventional timeslot in the northern hemisphere summer, this would have been a link that made perfect sense.
However, the winter nature of the competition means that Man Utd are highly unlikely to wait the best part of another year before appointing a full-time manager – not least because under interim boss Ralf Rangnick they are struggling.
Man Utd quickly need a sense of permanence and direction, and it is likely that the board will feel that Erik ten Hag or Mauricio Pochettino are more suitable candidates than Luis Enrique for the manager role because of this.
