CHELSEA MAN UTD WINNER
Fernandes fan Tuchel admits: He’s sensational and I tried to sign him
THOMAS TUCHEL comes face-to-face with the player he tried to sign today... Bruno Fernandes.
Tuchel is a huge fan of the former Sporting Lisbon star and tried to land him during his first year as Paris Saint-germain boss.
Tuchel said: “I have nothing but the biggest respect for this guy. The impact Bruno has had since he arrived at Manchester United is indescribable. Unbelievable.
“Not only is he an effective goalscorer, he makes the other players around him more dangerous.
“My first sporting director in Paris was Antero Henrique, who is Portuguese and he knew Bruno very, very well. He fought hard to bring him to our team.
Outstanding
“He’s outstanding, one of the best attacking midfielders in the world. He has a huge, huge impact. To have this as a single person in football, you must be absolutely top level, because it’s almost impossible.
“He has such a big influence on their game, on their attacking game, it’s a big key to defend against him, to be around him, to be close to him.
“He’s a key player of Man United in a way that is outstanding.
“We tried to sign him during my first year in Paris.
“We watched more and more games about him, we followed him and tried to be in touch with him to make it happen.
“I was never personally in touch. PSG tried, but he went another way.
“It’s bad for us, huh, that we have to play against him?”
Fernandes has done as much as any United player to keep boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in his job since arriving at Old Trafford 13 months ago for £47million.
And Tuchel (below), who was sacked by PSG despite enjoying more success than Solskjaer has had at United, has big admiration for the way the club have backed their boss in good times and bad.
The German, who recorded two wins and two defeats against Solskjaer during his time in the
French capital, added: “We could always feel that even in situations where results were missing, we could always feel from outside that this is the guy, they have found the guy they trust.
“Of course, you wish for it, but in the end you have also to be honest, you have to earn it. I assume that this is not a gift for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that he has this trust.
“I assume he works hard for it and creates on a daily basis an atmosphere everyone is happy with at Manchester United.
“This is what we all want but this is also not a gift for anybody else so we’re all working hard to get the trust.”
Chelsea are unbeaten in eight games since Tuchel’s arrival, with only two draws – and he is working hard to earn the same level of trust at Stamford Bridge.
Judge
Asked if now is the right time to judge him or too soon, he laughed and said: “Now is a very good time, a very good moment to judge, an excellent moment for a fiveyear contract and then to lay back…
“The point is to not get affected too much in these moments when you have good results, to keep your feet on the ground.
“This is the big challenge.”
I have nothing but the biggest respect for this guy. The impact Bruno has had since he arrived at Manchester United is indescribable. Unbelieveable
IN the Arsenal boardroom, a question-and-answer session along these lines needs to be had between now and the end of the season.
‘Where are we? We are average. ‘Where do we want to be? We want to be elite.
‘How do we bridge the gap to get there? We hire Brendan Rodgers.’
The Leicester boss would be a much better fit for Arsenal than Mikel Arteta.
In fact, he’d be the perfect fit.
His background as a development coach would turbo-boost the progress of Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka.
And, having managed Liverpool and Celtic, he knows exactly what it takes to be at big clubs and how to deal with the unique pressures they present.
The beauty for Rodgers is that in any interview with Arsenal’s board, he’d be able to turn round and say, ‘I’ve managed Liverpool, with the greatest of respect, I’ve been at another big club in Celtic, where the expectation is insane, and we’re talking about me taking over at a club that has been mid-table for much of the season. And if I’m coming to you, I’ll be leaving a job at Leicester that I could probably have had for eight to 10 years if I’d kept them challenging for Europe each season and winning an FA Cup or League Cup here or there.’
Definable
The Northern Irishman knows what it takes to win trophies, even if it was in Scotland, so there isn’t that monkey on his back.
And it’s not like he was far from winning the Premier League with Liverpool, either. He has a definable style which always works with good players and has never been one to go out and spend £50million, £60m or £70m on a player.
Leicester have worked to a budget that is at a similar level to the one Arsenal operate on and I’m struggling to find a box he doesn’t tick.
Arteta, on the other hand, arrived with no track record of working with youngsters or a definable style.
He got the job because he’d played for the club and because he had worked with Pep Guardiola.
The problem with Arsenal is that so
Having 10,000 fans in stadiums for the final game of the season will although I’m desperate for fans to return, fairness says we shouldn’t
many people think it will just take one magic bullet, maybe two, to turn them into title contenders again, that a couple of signings could do that.
But they are so far off that mark it is frightening and now it’s about making sure clubs such as Leicester, West Ham and Everton don’t overtake them.
I know Leicester won the Premier League in 2015-16 but the challenge for the Foxes then was to establish themselves regularly in the top six rather than produce another miracle and they are working well towards that.
They are pitching themselves as the equivalent of a Sevilla or Valencia in Spain and that ambition tallies with Arsenal’s right now.
I know plenty of you will say, ‘Hang on, Stan, why would he leave Leicester for Arsenal as things stand?’
And don’t get me wrong, Leicester is a great club in a fine sporting city and county, and was one of the clubs I enjoyed being at the most.
But whether people like it or not, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal will always be the Holy Trinity of English football and have an allure that other clubs just don’t have.
Rodgers proved when he left Celtic for Leicester that, no matter how close an affinity he has with a club, he still recognises a good, new challenge when he sees one. And he will know it would be a seamless transition for him and his coaching team if the Gunners were to come knocking.
Rodgers proved when he left Celtic that he recognises a good, new challenge when he sees one