Thierry Henry has stressed Manchester United’s hierarchy must outline a clear strategy before deciding on their next permanent manager.
Former United midfielder Michael Carrick is in interim charge until the end of the season at Old Trafford, giving the Red Devils time to choose a permanent successor to Ruben Amorim.
Carrick oversaw a stunning 2-0 win over rivals Manchester City in the derby at the weekend.
With Carrick in post in the short-term at least, Premier League great Henry believes the club need to produce a clear identity for Man United to have success moving forwards.
The legendary Arsenal forward drew on his time at Barcelona, noting how the Spanish giants had a clear idea of their identity, which made it easier for the club to target coaches who fitted with their philosophy.
‘The reality is what do they want Man United to be?’ Henry said on Sky Sports.
Thierry Henry insisted Man United’s hierarchy must offer a clear direction at the club, before choosing their next manager at the end of the season
The Premier League great expressed confusion over Man United’s identity under Sir Jim Ratcliffe compared to the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich
‘What do they want, I don’t feel it from the outside. I don’t feel whatever they are looking at.
‘Bayern went to get Vincent Kompany, we talked about Luis Enrique, we talked about Frank Rijkaard (at Barcelona).
‘You can agree of disagree, you can see what type of coaches they want. I don’t know at Man United, I really don’t know what they are about now, what they want to achieve and what is the DNA.
‘I am talking about now when I watch the games. What Michael Carrick did at the weekend was brilliant, but in two weeks we could be talking about something else.
‘What do they want, how are they going to go about it? It should be clear in order to get one of the guys we are talking about.
‘The way they [Barcelona] see it on the other side, if you don’t fit who the house is, it doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done before.
‘If you fit what we believe in, you can come. But what are you to make that decision.’
Henry’s comments reflected the variety of different approaches Man United have gone down since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement back in 2013.
Henry suggested Carrick should be given the chance to be re-interviewed for the position should his interim spell in charge prove to be a success
David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim have all sat in the dugout as permanent Man United bosses since and have attempted to impose different styles of play at the club.
Amorim in particular had looked to impose a back-five system, which had led to a clash with the club’s director of football Jason Wilcox, contributing to his departure at the start of the month.
Henry’s comments came after fellow pundit Jamie Carragher suggested four possible candidates for their top job in PSG boss Luis Enrique, England manager Thomas Tuchel, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe and Julian Naglesmann, who is currently in charge of the German national team.
The selection offered another range of approaches for Man United to pursue, should the club decide to move for a new boss who is currently in work.
Henry also refused to rule Carrick out of contention for the role on a permanent basis, should he succeed during his interim spell.
Henry said: ‘If there is a guy in position and he does very well, why does he not get the chance to be re-interviewed and to keep his job. Why not?’
