United don’t need a name, they need an identity. Forget Simeone and his antics... look at Potter and Inzaghi
HOW many years and how many managers have Manchester United gone through to find Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor?
The answer is nine years and seven managers (including caretakers) but really it’s much simpler: too many.
The truth is, what they’ve really been searching for is an identity as strong as Fergie delivered, a philosophy and style that defined the club.
I laughed when Gary Neville said his former club should make Diego Simeone their next manager.
Honestly. C’mon.
I’m not saying that he’s anti-football, but some of the antics his team get up to, the horrible stuff they do, and the tactics they pursue. Not at Manchester United.
The fans would be calling it out within weeks and, even if he actually won things with it, they wouldn’t put up with it for long. United have a certain expectation about how they should be playing, which was laid down by Sir Matt Busby and Ferguson.
Simeone doesn’t fit with that. He doesn’t fit with anyone who loves football. He essentially exists to stop opponents playing, which no one should welcome – and that’s what I mean by identity.
It’s not enough to be simply winning – even if it helps, obviously. Jose Mourinho found that out at Old Trafford. Clubs need a fit with a manager, as well as a winning United need a boss team – and who can put their his philosophy own imprint on
the club over time didn’t fit.
So we know what United don’t want – the question now is: what do they want and what do they need?
For me, it’s a proven boss with a winning record who can sort them out.
In modern football, that means a structure which embraces the technical, medical, analytical and development departments and brings them together under a single vision. Look at Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool and – at a lesser level – Arteta at Arsenal, Graham Potter at Brighton, even Thomas Frank at Brentford.
They have a clear identity which runs not just through the first team, but right through the club.
Do United have that? I haven’t seen it. When they went out against Atletico in midweek, I couldn’t see what it was they were trying to do at all. I couldn’t tell you what the game plan was, how they intended to break down opponents they knew – and knew for weeks – with a singular approach.
They’re not getting Klopp or Guardiola. Full stop. But that’s the type of manager they need – someone who can come in, put his own imprint on the club over a long period of time. Klopp took five years, and I believe it could take as long as that at Old Trafford.
I’ve heard Thomas Tuchel, with Chelsea’s problems, touted as a real candidate.
Would he be the right sort of manager, who can change the club from top to bottom? Absolutely.
Can they realistically get him? No. Chelsea aren’t going to roll over and let him go, no matter what their situation.
So do they go for Potter and take a gamble that he’ll turn into the next Klopp?
Dortmund did with Klopp when they took him from Mainz. But United aren’t Dortmund. It would be a risk. So would Erik ten Hag. He’s done well with Ajax, but in Dutch football – just about any competent manager would do well there. They have the most money and the best system, which remains after the coach goes.
Mauricio Pochettino? Well, if PSG let him go, it will be because they think he’s failed. After Spurs let him go because they thought he failed. That would actually be a risk too.
Whoever they choose, it will be a risk, and they will need good football sense and intuition – or an amazing analytics department – to find that candidate who has the record they need.
I have a shout for them, though. Simone Inzaghi, the younger brother of Filippo.
You can see that he has taken Inter Milan on beyond the dour football of Antonio Conte, despite the club having financial problems. They are in contention for the title, performed well – and, I think, above their level – against Liverpool in the Champions League, and all with budget constraints.
Before that, he was at Lazio, where he won three trophies and was popular with fans.
Would it be a gamble? Of course. But United need a manager to build something now . . . not simply a ‘name’.