I've been keen on Poch for a long time given his track record with budget limitations, developing young players, style of football etc. Just the idea of bringing him in gives me hope. But I'm starting to doubt that United have the necessary fundamentals for his kind of culture to really take root. He seems to rely on a strong collective mindset for achievement, which he instills in the players through his own personal charisma. He demands really hard work, and comes down like a ton of bricks on individualistic expressions which go against the pillars of his team ethics. His methods require a lot of power. Is it really possible to implement something like that at United these days?
This is just a fairly simple theory, but the way I see the club in the post Ferguson era is essentially like a multi-billion pound hoax. A phantasmal football club. When portraying itself to the outside world, its about honoring the legacy of this or that legend, playing exciting football, competing for the biggest trophies and so on. But inside, protected by intricate contracts and NDA's, the basic logic running through the club is a thoroughly commercial one. Management considers football a necessary evil in order to keep the asset value of the club stable, while trying to drum up as much public attention as possible to entice sponsors with. While the Glazers siphon off their cut of the profits. Players and managers are brought in and shipped out based mainly on this wholly economic operating principle. Football success is welcome on the side, but never prioritized for its own sake. It's all about making money, while retaining the veneer of a top level football club to the outside world.
Players and the people managing their affairs will realize this after a while, and it will affect them in ways that are not conducive to success on the pitch. They'll realize that United is not a place to win major trophies and make your mark as a footballer. The competition is so fierce now in international football that clubs not working as a unit to achieve, will fall behind, and at best linger around outside of the elite. So if you won't be winning glory with United, what can you get here, and why would agents try to get their clients in the club? Money and attention. Coming to United will fuel your social media reach, and bring you a much larger wage than your footballing abilities/record would otherwise merit. You'll have a huge audience every week, and the highlights you produce will make you more relevant to sponsors. You won't win much while doing so, but that clothing line or charity you've been thinking about launching could get a real boost here. If nothing else, the wages on their own will set you up for a comfortable life.
In a smaller club this could still work on the pitch too, but not at a club of United's stature. Every loss is scrutinized and held up against historical achievements and the success of rivals, because of the commercially grounded need to maintain the illusion of United as an elite club. As a player you'll be feeling the pressure generated by outside forces, but inside the club little changes. Your under-performing team mates are given new contracts, and the right players are not brought in to strengthen the team. You get a washed-up Sanchez or malcontent Di Maria instead of a Kroos or Vidal. Managers are picked on their PR value, given limited control, and no continuity of thought or planning is discernible in football operations. The only continuity is a commercial one, humming in the background wherever you step on club premises. This is devastating to the efforts of building a team spirit based on the promise of collective achievement, which is necessary in order to win the biggest trophies. It's discouraging to ambitious players, and even the ones who come here will soon be under the grey cloud of expected but impossible achievement.
I really doubt Poch or any manager would make that big of a difference given the structural impediments currently miring football at United. But then again, I can't see him being worse than Ole.