Gary Lineker lays out reasons why Lee Carsley is an ideal candidate to be next Manchester United manager
Today at 12:51 PM
Gary Lineker has explained why he believes Lee Carsley could be a shock contender to fill the vacancy at Manchester United.
United announced on Monday morning that they have sacked Erik ten Hag less than 24 hours after their 2-1 defeat to West Ham.
Ten Hag delivered Carabao Cup and FA Cup success in a little over two seasons at the club but has now left the Old Trafford hotseat.
His assistant and United legend Ruud van Nistelrooy is now interim manager as the club begin their search for a permanent successor.
Various names have been speculated for weeks amid the increasing pressure on Ten Hag, but Lineker has offered a new name for the job.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, he suggested England’s interim manager Carsley has all the ingredients to be a success.
“I think it would be very interesting, I think he’s clearly a brilliant coach. A certain Lee Carsley, who they probably won’t think about. But, he’s an imaginative coach, he plays really attacking football.
“The players, from what I heard at England, thought he was really good, and really interesting and thoughtful on the game.
“The one thing he struggled with a little bit I suppose was the media side of things but, that’s quite easy to learn quite quickly.
“I don’t suppose they’ll go for him because they’ll probably either stick with Van Nistelrooy if he does well at the start, which is often the case, or they’ll…
“But there are not many big names out there available at the moment in terms of your elite, proven, year in, year out managers.”
Carsley was named as England’s interim boss in August and has since overseen four Nations League matches, winning three of them.
The 50-year-old has previously been head coach at Brentford as well as caretaker manager at Coventry City and Birmingham City.
He is currently the head coach of England’s U21 side and his spell with the first team will end next month as Thomas Tuchel prepares to take over permanently.
Carsley is probably unlikely to be approached by United regarding the vacancy but it remains to be seen how quickly an appointment is made.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank has admirers from members of the Old Trafford hierarchy, and Newcastle’s Eddie Howe formerly worked with sporting director Dan Ashworth.
United have also shown recent interest in Julian Nagelsmann, who is the current manager of the German national team.
Sources in Spain claim that former Barcelona boss Xavi has held talks about a move to United.
Xavi has a close relationship with their chief executive Omar Berrada from their time together at the Camp Nou.
