Julian Nagelsmann was on a skiing holiday in Austria when he looked on social media and found out he was being sacked by Bayern Munich. An hour of emergency talks followed, before he was usurped by his old mentor Thomas Tuchel.
That positions the newly available 35-year-old as one of the prime candidates to replace Antonio Conte, who parted ways with Tottenham by mutual consent late on Sunday night.
There is a sense that Spurs will have to move fast, not least because Real Madrid may turn to Nagelsmann if Carlo Ancelotti departs this summer. The Italian has been linked with the vacant Brazil national team job.
But Daniel Levy has to get this appointment right; he is looking for a fourth permanent manager in three-and-a-half years.
Experiments with Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Conte all failed so spectacularly that many fans see a return for Mauricio Pochettino as the only option. They sang as much, his name echoing around the concourses after Spurs’ Champions League exit to AC Milan.
Here, i looks at the case for both managers:
Julian Nagelsmann
Why?
Spurs fans might not like this, but it has always been intended as a compliment when Nagelsmann has been nicknamed “mini Mourinho”. It is more about his transformation from thwarted footballer to young coach with Champions League pedigree than his playing style.
As a young centre-back, injuries forced him into early retirement but Tuchel, then his coach at Augsburg, encouraged him to begin coaching. He set out with a handheld camera and a paper and pen, scouting opponents and ultimately earned enough of a reputation to get the job at Hoffenheim. He saved them from relegation when he was just 28 years old.
At RB Leipzig, he took over from Ralf Rangnick and switched from a high-tempo, pressing brand of football to an emphasis on possession. It was there that he first grabbed Spurs’ attention, knocking them out of Europe – though the last manager Levy appointed on that basis was from Sevilla in 2007: Juande Ramos.
While his suits are snazzy, Nagelsmann’s mantelpiece isn’t all that glittering yet – he has won a Bundesliga title, but Pochettino has won Ligue 1 with PSG. Neither are that persuasive, but the German – who has a long-standing desire to live in London – is still so young that it is expected silverware will come.
Why not?
Nagelsmann was sacked with Bayern in second, a point behind league-leaders Borussia Dortmund and having beaten PSG to reach the Champions League quarter-finals. However, with Manchester City lying in wait and key domestic games against Dortmund and Freiburg coming up, the board did not think he was capable of finishing the job.
There was confusion surrounding his formation – at first, he adopted a rather niche 4-2-2-2 but when that did not work, he moved to three at the back. Either way, the system confused players, and after the 2-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen the club’s sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic went full Antonio Conte, accusing the squad of lacking “drive, mentality, aggression and power”. Not exactly a ringing endorsement of Nagelsmann’s motivational skills.
In fact, if that were an isolated incident it would be one thing. Yet Nagelsmann’s man-management has persistently been called into question. First, he upset Manuel Neuer by axing Bayern’s goalkeeping coach Toni Tapalovic – Nagelsmann believed he had been leaking private conversations to the players. His handling of Serge Gnabry did not go down well either, publicly warning the winger that there would be “consequences” if he did not play well after attending Paris Fashion Week.
Nagelsmann may have only managed in Germany but he is undoubtedly an innovative coach. Levy must weigh up whether that makes him the right fit. Pochettino was once not allowed to install cameras to record training sessions because of the cost, which then led to a dispute when Tottenham allowed Amazon’s All or Nothing filmmakers in. Nagelsmann likes to modernise his drills, using drones and installing a giant videowall at Bayern’s training ground.
And on the subject of cost – whereas Pochettino wouldn’t cost a penny and he’s a free agent who has kept his house in London, reports in Germany suggest that Tottenham would have to pay Bayern Munich a fee if Nagelsmann agreed to take the job before the end of the season.
Mauricio Pochettino
Why?
If Nagelsmann epitomises a data-savvy, statistical approach, then consider Pochettino’s bowl of lemons. The Argentine kept them in his office at Hotspur Way to ward off negative energy, and much of what makes him such a strong candidate can’t be quantified in numbers.
Many of his key players at Tottenham have now departed – Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen – but Hugo Lloris, Son Heung-min and Harry Kane remain. Indeed if his appointment could be used to convince Kane to stay, then that alone would probably give him the edge. Then there is his popularity – anyone other than Pochettino would be a disappointment to many fans.
Pochettino’s 4-2-3-1 is better suited to Spurs’ current players than Conte’s 3-4-3. Mourinho and Conte were “serial winners”, but Spurs have learned the hard way that their recruitment does not tally with “instant results” head coaches. Pochettino did not only clear out the squad he inherited from Andre-Villas Boas and Tim Sherwood – he took what he had and made it better, transforming the careers of Danny Rose, Kyle Walker and Mousa Dembele.
Though his five years in north London ended trophyless, what has followed has shone a light on how impressive his achievements really were: two title races, a Champions League final, four consecutive top-four finishes, a League Cup final and two FA Cup semi-finals.
Next Tottenham manager odds
Odds via Betfair and correct on 27 March (Spurs manager for the first game of the 2023-24 Premier League season)
- Julian Nagelsmann: 15-8
- Mauricio Pochettino: 3-1
- Oliver Glasner: 5-1
- Luis Enrique: 9-1
- Zinedine Zidane: 11-1
- Thomas Frank: 12-1
- Ruben Amorim: 14-1
- Roberto De Zerbi: 14-1
- Massimiliano Allegri: 18-1
- Ange Postecoglou: 18-1
Why not?
The obvious counter-argument against Pochettino is that despite building what was widely considered to be the best team in the country between 2015-2017, he couldn’t back it up with a trophy. He got Spurs to two finals, but lost both of them and could not prevent them from capitulating and finishing third after Leicester had won the league.
PSG could have been a chance to put all that right, but like those who preceded and have followed him in Paris, Pochettino was unable to end their European trophy drought. Managing big personalities also proved a challenge, seeing his handshakes snubbed by Lionel Messi and squabbling with Kylian Mbappe, who he found “childish”.
Competition for the top four has intensified due to Newcastle’s takeover, making it harder for any new manager to continually finish in those positions.
Pochettino would not be a quick fix – he would, essentially, be starting again. The squad would need another rebuild, although not a major one. That needs to tally with the plans of director of football Fabio Paratici and many of the technical staff Pochettino knew – Steve Hichen, Paul Mitchell – are no longer at the club.
Levy was a close friend – they even went white-water rafting together – but Paratici will have a big say too. Any return would need to be backed up by hard evidence that he is the man for right now – not just a broad feeling that it was a mistake to sack him in the first place.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/4zU8pDX
Post a Comment