Former Manchester United defender Ashley Young has warned his old club that appointing Antonio Conte as head coach could result in a complete disaster. The Italian manager has been heavily linked with the Old Trafford hot seat as pressure mounts on Michael Carrick following a string of poor results.
Mounting pressure at Old Trafford
Rumours are intensifying around the managerial position at United as Carrick fights to save his job. Reports suggest the current boss is on the verge of being dismissed after a miserable run of form.
United recently suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat to Como in the Champions League, followed quickly by a 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth in the Premier League. The crisis has been deepened by senior players publicly criticising the club's recent decision-making.
With a vacancy potentially opening up, Conte has emerged as a high-profile candidate. However, former United full-back Young believes bringing the Italian to Manchester could be a catastrophic mistake for the current squad.
Young warns of a potential disaster
Young understands Conte's methods perfectly, having won the Serie A title under him at Inter during the 2020-21 season. Despite that success, the Englishman feels the intense tactician is entirely the wrong fit for the United dressing room.Speaking on the Overlap Daily, Young did not hold back in his assessment of his former boss.
"I’ve worked underneath him at Inter. He’s crazy by the way, crazy," he explained. "A lot of talk has been about Man United’s running stats. If they’re not going to run and Antonio Conte goes in there, it’s going to be a disaster I think."
Brutal training and marathon video meetings
Conte is renowned for his demanding nature and touchline antics, which Young compared directly to Diego Simeone. The Italian insists on intense training sessions with heavy physical demands, alongside exhaustive tactical reviews. Young revealed that the squad would face brutal post-match analysis whenever results did not go their way.
"There was a lot that he’d done, the training sessions were a lot of 11 vs 11, at times a little bit boring," Young noted. "Meetings were long. When I say long, I’m talking: If we lost a game, we could go in for the meeting and he’d stop literally everything. And you could be in there for three or four hours. It was like ‘come on now, let’s be serious’.
"I think that’s one of the reasons why he doesn’t last long at places because it’s not just the players he tries to test mentally, but the board as well, and the owners. I think that people get annoyed with him and think ‘it’s time for you to go’."
Competition for the United managerial job
While Conte remains a prominent name in the frame, he is not the only manager being monitored by the United hierarchy. Several other high-profile coaches have been tipped as potential replacements should Carrick be sacked.
Eddie Howe, Julian Nagelsmann, Unai Emery, and Fabian Hurzeler are all reportedly on the club's radar as they consider their next move. For now, Carrick remains in charge, but the pressure is firmly on. The club hierarchy faces a pivotal decision in the coming days that could define the remainder of their season.