McNulty: First things first, he will need a clear vision, giving the team the identity it has never had under Erik ten Hag. He will need to be strong-minded to work within the new set-up, working in tandem with it while marrying his own ideas on to those above him.
He will need to be strong enough to deal with the unique pressures and scrutiny of managing Manchester United and not be haunted by shadows of the past – although the recent lack of major success will make his task a little easier.
Murray: We saw the qualities when Tottenham played against them recently. A fearless manager like Ange Postecoglou, who will set out to attack and play fearless football.
There has been too much fear around becoming the Manchester United boss. You have to deal with not only the pressure on the pitch but the global expectation. The defeat by Spurs last week gave a glimpse into what the United fans want to see from their team.
Sutton: Without a shadow of a doubt, he will want to come in and put his own stamp on the team, and bring his own players in but, until that happens, he will have to make do with the players already at United.
The biggest and most important thing for whoever gets the job will be creating an identity, but does he have the players to immediately play the way he wants to?
I look at their midfield and ageing players like Casemiro and Christian Eriksen, and they are not able to press the way some managers would want them to.
Right now it is about someone coming in and building slowly because as far as I can see they don’t have the players to do anything drastically different.
For starters though, the new manager needs to be able to get the team organised quickly, and get his message across.
Schmeichel: It is probably the hardest place in the world to play football. To be the manager you have to be mentally strong. The pressure on Manchester United players and managers is relentless. Everything you do is under the microscope.
We’ve tried the big managers, the big names and it hasn’t worked out. I don’t mind that we appoint the next one who is just a coach – takes care of the team, has an input but looks at the solution. It is the modern way to do that, so why not consider it?
I think it’s an attractive job – the playing staff isn’t terrible. There just isn’t a structure that can be leaned upon. Are we pressing? Are we keeping the ball? Someone who spends all their time on the training pitch, I think that is a good idea.
