Wayne Rooney is at odds with Gary Neville over the ‘outstanding candidate’ to replace Ruben Amorim as Manchester United manager.
United intend to appoint Amorim’s permanent replacement in the summer after a caretaker boss sees the club through to the end of the season.
Michael Carrick has emerged as the frontrunner for the caretaker job, edging ahead of fellow Old Trafford legend and former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Darren Fletcher was put in temporary charge of the side after Amorim’s hugely disappointing and turbulent 14-month reign came to an end.
But Fletcher oversaw a 2-2 draw with relegation-battlers Burnley and a 2-1 FA Cup defeat to Brighton in his two games in charge and was never truly considered for the caretaker role.
It remains possible that Carrick, one of the best midfielders of his generation who impressed at Championship side Middlesbrough, earns a permanent contract back at his former club.
But Rooney and Neville believe there are two ‘outstanding candidates’ in the running who could be available come the end of the summer.
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Earlier this week Neville talked up Carlo Ancelotti’s credentials as a Manchester United manager and now Rooney has revealed his support for Thomas Tuchel.
‘Long-term you hope Thomas Tuchel goes and wins the World Cup with England,’ Rooney said on his BBC podcast.
‘He’d be one you’d certainly try and bring in. He’d be the one you’d look at.
‘Whoever goes in now, it is an opportunity. Last time Ole went in as interim and got the job permanently. Whoever goes in now has an opportunity to go and show what they are worth.
‘If not, Thomas Tuchel is the outstanding candidate.’
Tuchel is only contracted to England until the end of the World Cup and is expected to leave the role whether or not the Three Lions lift the trophy for the first time since 1966.
Before taking charge of England, Tuchel had spells at Bayern Munich, Chelsea, PSG and Borussia Dortmund, winning the Champions League at Stamford Bridge and league titles in Germany and France.
Like Tuchel, Ancelotti also has aspirations of winning the World Cup following his appointment last year as Brazil manager.
There has been talk of Ancelotti extending his Brazil contract, which also expires at the end of the World Cup, but a departure in the summer would not be surprising, especially if the team underperforms.
Backing Ancelotti for a sensational move to Old Trafford, United legend Neville told The Overlap: ‘With these last 12 years being a period of massive underperformance for Manchester United managers, there are certain boxes the next candidate now needs to tick.
‘You have got to be pretty special to tick all four of those boxes and, as such, the outstanding candidate for me would be Carlo Ancelotti, even if it would mean potentially delaying his arrival until late July if Brazil reached the World Cup final.
‘No-one comes as close to fulfilling everything laid out above than he does. Ironically, the club met with Carlo shortly before his [Sir Alex Ferguson’s] retirement in 2013 and we could have short-circuited this entire process, starting with him at the beginning of the cycle.
Gary Neville's four key criteria for Man Utd manager
1. You have to be able to handle the media and the noise which comes with this club. It is what it is so get over it and deal with it. It’s why you’re getting paid the big bucks.
2. You have to show that you can have success getting into the top four, that you can cope with Champions League football and that you can get the best out of a group of players that will include egos and superstars.
3. You must understand the Premier League and English football culture because it’s different to competing in many of the European leagues.
4. You also have to understand the Manchester United way, which means you have to be a glass-half-full kind of manager. Be positive and prepared to take risks and play with pace and excitement. In all likelihood that is going to a variation of 4-4-1-1 / 4-2-3-1.
Courtesy of The Overlap
‘But, by that stage, he was close to agreeing to joining Real Madrid for his first spell in charge and so what might have been a perfect appointment never happened.’
Before taking the Brazil job, Ancelotti won three Champions Leagues during his hugely successful spell in charge of Real Madrid.
The 66-year-old, widely considered one of the best managers of all time, has also managed the likes of AC Milan, Bayern Munich, PSG and two of Manchester United’s domestic rivals, Chelsea and Everton.
United hope to have a caretaker manager in place for this weekend’s Manchester derby against City.
Pep Guardiola’s City are second in the table, six points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal, ahead of Saturday’s clash, while Manchester United are seventh.
United only won one of their last five games under Amorim but Man City have also dropped several points recently, drawing three games in a row before Saturday’s remarkable 10-1 FA Cup win over Exeter City.
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