‘We were under his spell straight away’ Morgan Schneiderlin explains why Mauricio Pochettino has the charisma to transform Manchester United
Manchester United look set to change manager following a run of just one win in 10 league matches under Michael Carrick.
Mauricio Pochettino is in the picture to replace Carrick, meanwhile former Old Trafford and Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin has delivered an emphatic endorsement of the Argentine coach.
Pochettino is widely considered the leading candidate to take charge, and Schneiderlin – who played the finest football of his career under the Argentine at St Mary’s Stadium – insists the 54-year-old has the personal qualities required to unify a fractured club.
Schneiderlin: ‘Pochettino was screaming in Spanish for us to press, press, press!’
Reflecting on Pochettino’s arrival in English football in 2013, Schneiderlin revealed that an initial language barrier did nothing to dilute the manager’s authority.
“He didn’t need to speak a lot of the language,” Schneiderlin recalls, via Comeon.com. “He would put an arm around you, and with the translator or someone who spoke English, he’d explain what he liked about you and exactly what he wanted you to do.
“I’ll always remember his team talk before that first game against Everton. He was just screaming in Spanish, a deeply motivational speech, entirely in Spanish, but all we could hear and understand was: ‘Press like lions! Press like lions! Press like lions!’ And we did press like lions!
“Now that he speaks fluent English, it’s going to be even easier for him. But his charisma, his presence, and the way he carried himself – we were just under his spell straight away.”
That buy-in was cemented on the Saints’ training ground, where Pochettino instituted a relentless physical culture.
“We were working very, very hard in training sessions and in the gym, not to be bodybuilders or look nice on the beach, but building a lot of lower-body strength,” Schneiderlin explains.
“He used me much more as a true box-to-box midfielder – he wanted me to run, to press, and to win the ball back. It was very enjoyable.”
However, Schneiderlin has warned against expecting Pochettino to instantly rely on academy graduates to dig Man United out of trouble, stressing that Old Trafford ‘demands results immediately’ and requires a stable footing first.
Having since managed Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, Pochettino will set foot inside Old Trafford a more battle-hardened version of the coach who took charge at Southampton 13 years ago.
“He arrives now with so much experience behind him and so much baggage, both good and bad, he has learned from,” Schneiderlin added. “He will use everything he learned from being in Paris Saint-Germain dealing with big players and big personalities.”
