Dimitar Berbatov has warned Manchester United that replacing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with Mauricio Pochettino will not guarantee a change in fortunes at the club.
But the former United striker admitted that ‘action’ could be taken if results fail to improve under the Norwegian.
Pressure is growing on Solskjaer after the humiliating 6-1 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, the joint biggest defeat the club have had in the Premier League.
Discontent is also rife in the fanbase after a haphazard transfer window that resulted in four deadline day signings but no key areas of squad weakness addressed.
“Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has taken some criticism recently, I can understand why the odds say he is the most likely manager to leave his post, especially if they continue down this road,” Berbatov told Betfair, as quoted by the Metro.
“The pressure on him will only continue to grow, and if they continue to fail to win points, the point will likely come where action is taken. I believe he is still fine for the job personally, and we will have to see.”
Solskjaer has been set up to fail at Old Trafford through desultory planning and recruitment. Resentment within the fanbase certainly doesn’t lie with the manager in the hot seat.
But, as Berbatov explains, there could come a time where his position becomes untenable if United can’t drastically arrest their defensive woes.
And there have been inevitable murmurings of Mauricio Pochettino’s name with the former Spurs boss still unemployed since being sacked in November.
“To me, it is amazing that Mauricio Pochettino is available for this job, one of football’s finest coaches in my opinion,” he added.
“You can say maybe he waited for this job, but that is very risky for a manager to do, and I cannot believe another club hasn’t snapped him up.
“Pochettino may be ‘the man’, but at some stage, they were all ‘the man’- Moyes, van Gaal, Mourinho, all were the next saviour at one stage.
“For United fans, I would say that every single person connected to the team in any way are all suffering.
“The ones that will express their feelings the loudest will be the fans, and I can understand this.
“United are led by people who want success for the club, and the glory days will return, of that there is no doubt- just when that is, is the question.”
Plenty of supporters will take exception with Berbatov’s last point when it comes to the people in charge at the club.
Of course, everyone involved would love to see United return to the top but a repeated failure to back the manager properly in the transfer window has once again proven the club’s owners are more interested in their own financial gain.
It is difficult to see how even a manager of Pochettino’s proficiency would turn the tide under the current board.
READ MORE: Sergio Romero’s wife gives understandable explanation of deadline day rant
