Former Manchester United star Ashley Young has warned the club against hiring Antonio Conte, claiming his appointment would lead to a complete disaster at Old Trafford.
The Italian manager has emerged as a high-profile target as the INEOS hierarchy considers replacing Michael Carrick following a dismal eight-match winless streak.
Ashley Young on why Conte would be a disastrous choice
Speaking on The Overlap, Young—who won a Serie A title playing under Conte at Inter Milan—insisted the tactician’s extreme physical and psychological demands would clash severely with United’s current squad.
“I’ve worked underneath him at Inter. He’s crazy by the way, crazy,” Young stated.
“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.”
Young detailed how Conte’s relentless training sessions and marathon debriefs alienate players and executives alike:
“There was a lot that he’d done, the training sessions were a lot of 11 vs 11, at times a little bit boring. 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’.”
Conte however would be most likely deliver trophies
Despite Young’s stark warnings regarding his intense methods, Conte remains one of football’s most guaranteed silverware deliverers.
The Italian manager boasts a serial-winning resume that includes five Serie A titles, spanning dominant spells with Juventus, Inter Milan, and Napoli, alongside a Premier League title and FA Cup during his stint at Chelsea.
For a Manchester United hierarchy desperate to restore an elite winning culture, Conte’s proven track record of instant domestic dominance presents an alluring counterweight to his demanding reputation.
Carrick raised issues about players not running after Como defeat
Young’s brutal warning directly echoes the recent complaints made by Michael Carrick.
Following United’s humiliating 4-1 Champions League defeat against Como, Carrick hit back at squad work rate, bluntly stating that no tactical system functions “if you don’t run forward and don’t run back.”
With United currently sitting 14th place in the Premier League table, Young’s assessment suggests that forcing an elite disciplinarian like Conte onto an already low-confidence squad would only accelerate internal collapse.
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