What Andoni Iraola has achieved with Bournemouth since 2022 is pretty amazing. The Spanish coach took over a club on the road to relegation, turned the ship around with the confidence of the club management and players, has received the right reinforcements – and has climbed to 12th place in the Premier League, then 9th, to fight for the Europa League ticket with four games left this season. This turnaround and continuity of play this season has seen Manchester United turn against Iraola.
Various English media outlets are reporting disagreements within the Man Utd management over whether Michael Carrick has the right repertoire and experience to lead Manchester United past near-success. A few games as a super substitute when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked in 2021, 136 games as Middlesbrough coach and now interim United coach for the rest of the season, says a lot about Carrick’s potential, the question the United bosses are asking themselves is whether it is enough.
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A bunch of high-profile coaches are, as always, linked to the Red Devils, but it is Iraola in particular who is now considered one of the best candidates to take the job – if Carrick is weighed too lightly.
According to The Mirror’s sources , the Bournemouth manager is high up on United’s list of candidates. Chelsea are scrambling to find a replacement for Liam Rosenior, who was tested for 106 days, the London club are already in contact with Iraola’s representatives with an informal request.
Manchester United will not make the decision on the coaching situation until after the end of the season anyway. Iraola knows this, and is unlikely to be in a hurry to throw himself into the next job until he has led Bournemouth solidly into the end of the season. Or as the Spaniard himself put it after it became clear that he is letting his contract expire and is linked to Chelsea (and Manchester United).
“I feel like I said it when I announced that I wasn’t going to continue here. For me, it’s now about Bournemouth. Four games. We’re in an incredible position and have an incredible challenge ahead of us,” says the success coach.
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