Success of Ole Gunnar Solksjaer is giving Ed Woodward a problem but he should still chase Pochettino
When Manchester United sacked Jose Mourinho before Christmas and replaced him with the interim manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, one thing became immediately clear.
They wanted Mauricio Pochettino. They knew they wouldn't get him during the middle of the season, particularly with Tottenham (at the time) going strongly in four competitions, so they decided to wait.
Solskjaer was seen as a safe pair of hands to get them through to the end of the season. A club legend for his exploits as a player, the Norweigan had shown reasonable promise as a manager during two fine spells with Molde, either side of a disastrous period in charge of Cardiff City.
He was someone the fans would get behind, and get the players smiling again as they looked to recover from one of the worst starts to a season in the club's recent history and the toxic atmosphere of Jose Mourinho's spell in charge.
Except Solskjaer has done rather better than people expected. A kind fixture list saw him win his first five games in charge before the first big test of his regime, a trip away to face Pochettino's Tottenham.
Many people felt this was where he would come unstuck. Instead, a David De Dea inspired United won 1-0, courtesy of a goal from Marcus Rashford.
And the wins have kept on coming with United's latest an impressive victory away at Arsenal in the FA Cup.
Eight wins out of eight would suggest that Solskjaer is much more than just a smiley face.
The improvement in the United side under his management has been nothing short of remarkable.
Players like Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaka, Antony Martial and Marcus Rashford have been reborn under his management. They are playing brilliant, attacking football that has been so lacking in the years since Ferguson's retirement. However, they have also remained miserly at the back, which was a combination that you felt Jose Mourinho thought wasn't possible. In Solskjaer's eight games in charge, they have scored 22 goals and conceded just five.
All of which adds up to a big problem for Ed Woodward when he comes to making the final decision of who he wants to be the next full-time manager of Manchester United.
Because regardless of the turnaround in form there is still a big job that needs to be done at Old Trafford if they are going to be able to challenge Manchester City and Liverpool for the Premier League title.
Which is why Pochettino was their number one choice. He has done a magnificent job in building Tottenham into a club that challenges at the top of English football on a very limited budget. In his four and a half years in charge, he has a net spend of just £29 million.
Everything about him screams Manchester United. He plays attractive football, but perhaps most importantly he makes the players get better. He works with them on the training pitch. He inspires loyalty.
He is also a good employee. Nobody would have been more frustrated than Pochettino about Tottenham's failure to strengthen their squad last summer. But he also recognised that the club had spent an awful lot of money on their new stadium. He shrugged his shoulders and got on with the job, never criticising those above him.
Contrast that with Jose Mourinho's attitude towards Manchester United's lack of transfer business in the same window and you can see another reason why Pochettino would appeal to the powers that be.
The danger, of course, is that Woodward gets swayed from his conviction by the impressive turnaround in form under Solskjaer and there is a very recent parallel to be drawn with Roberto Di Matteo's time as Chelsea manager.
Another person wh was appointed as an interim boss following the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas, Di Matteo galvanised a mutinous Chelsea dressing room and inspired them to victories in the FA Cup and the Champions League, which had been the holy grail for Roman Abramovich.
That left Abramovich with no choice but to give the Italian the job permanently. He was sacked by November.
The same could happen with Solskjaer. A couple of early defeats next season and the spectre of Pochettino will hang over him. The whispers will start that Ed Woodward has got it wrong again.
Pochettino seems like a one time only deal. With Real Madrid also circling and Tottenham desperate to keep him United may not get another chance.
Ed Woodward should stick to his guns and do everything he can to prise him out of Tottenham's clutches.
Solskjaer's time will come again.