Luke Shaw & three other Man Utd stars who risk losing starting place under Pochettino

Manchester United have announced the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as the new head coach, which will inevitably lead to changes in the starting lineup.

After three woeful months, the management decided to take Michael Carrick out of his misery. Although the decision was made several days ago, the sacking was only confirmed on Thursday.

On Friday, Pochettino was announced as the new head coach. INEOS opted to pay £7.4 million to release the Argentine from his USMNT contract, but he will still take charge of the next two games against Haiti before arriving in Manchester on November 18.

Although he’s still tactically rigid, Pochettino favours a 4-2-3-1 formation. Conveniently, this is the system Man Utd had long adopted, with its use only interrupted during Ruben Amorim’s 14-month reign.

This is certainly good news for the players, who won’t be forced to adapt to a new formation in the middle of the campaign.

But when announcing the 54-year-old, Man Utd included a key word in their statement, and it is high-intensity.

“The Argentinian is renowned for his high-intensity, attacking style of football, his dedication to building strong, cohesive teams and his outstanding record of developing individual players,” reads the official note.

This is an interesting conclusion given how United have been constantly bashed for their lack of intensity and pace under Carrick since the start of the season.

Therefore, we can expect Pochettino to implement a new training regime in addition to a few tweaks in the line-up to accommodate the new approach.

So which Man Utd players risk losing their starting places under the new head coach?

At the start of the season, Luke Shaw was considered the only natural left-back in the first team, so in theory, he should have a guaranteed starting role when fully fit.

While that was certainly the case under Carrick, who deemed Patrick Dorgu more suited to a more advanced role, Pochettino has a knack for fielding an attacking-minded left-back, which will hamper Shaw’s chances, given how he can no longer trot up and down the flank as he used to.

On the other hand, Dorgu is a young, hungry player who started his career at left-back and has the ability to drive the ball forward. Although he still has to work on improving his delivery as well as his defensive skills, the Argentine coach could be tempted to pick him.

After his revival under Amorim, Harry Maguire became almost indispensable at the back. While he remains a solid option, Pochettino tends to think long-term.

Hence, fielding a veteran with an expiring contract at the expense of the young Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven could contradict his beliefs, especially if Man Utd find themselves in a safe place in the Premier League table.

Lisandro Martinez has had several terrible outings this season, but Poch is unlikely to completely alienate his compatriot, while the returning Matthijs de Ligt would be a welcome addition to the squad.

In fairness, one could argue that Youri Tielemans wasn’t supposed to be a regular starter under Carrick, but he was constantly in the lineup due to Kobbie Mainoo and Carlos Baleba’s injuries.

Nevertheless, the English tactician seemed to be a big admirer of the Belgian, and one would imagine that Pochettino would also appreciate the midfielder’s composure and experience.

That being said, Pochettino’s high-intensity approach means he’s unlikely to fancy Mainoo and Tielemans as his double pivot.

It will be interesting to see what solution he’ll come up with in Baleba’s absence. Perhaps he’ll try to enhance Andrey Santos, who can be more dynamic than he has shown thus far, while Mason Mount will try to break into the lineup, albeit in a deeper role.

Many observers have been tipping Amad Diallo to thrive under Pochettino, and rightly so, as the 54-year-old could give the Ivorian the tactical freedom he desperately needs.

But as we suggested earlier this week, Joshua Zirkzee could be the biggest beneficiary from the managerial change, turning from an ousted player to the striker who leads the charge.

In this case, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha will start as the favourites for the two wing roles. This won’t necessarily be a permanent hierarchy, but Amad would have to prove himself worthy of a starting role before he can start taking his career to the next level.