The merry-go-round doesn’t stop, it just gets wilder, with those on the ride desperate to emulate the stability of clubs nowhere near this carnival of chaos.
The current rulers are the calmest of all. Following Jurgen Klopp’s exit, Pep Guardiola is now the Premier League’s longest-serving manager, the Spaniard having shaken hands with four Manchester United and six Chelsea bosses since taking charge of Manchester City in 2016.
He’ll meet new faces in the dugout next season, too. At Chelsea, that is a certainty. The departure of Mauricio Pochettino has the Blues searching again, while at United a change is surely in the offing, a season of record lows expected to prove Erik ten Hag’s downfall – FA Cup trophy or not.
With City expected to collect their 16th major trophy under Guardiola, United will likely watch on from Wembley with envy, so too Chelsea from a few miles away. This is what they want, a legacy, and where they want to return to: the very top.
That, though, would require patience, and while the barefaced reality is that no other English club will forge a dynasty while Guardiola remains at City, years of volatility have United and Chelsea way back in the pecking order.
Arsenal’s faith in Mikel Arteta has the Gunners next in line, while Liverpool will know from their persistence with Jurgen Klopp that the prospect of Arne Slot not winning silverware straight away should be no cause for alarm. Slot outlasting the next Chelsea and United incumbents already seems likely, all because Liverpool know better.
A desire for longevity has led to some snap decisions from Chelsea and United, as well as left-field thinking, with managers lacking top-flight managerial experience now in line to follow those who have won domestic titles on the continent.
Kieran McKenna is on Manchester United’s radar, the club’s hierarchy reportedly meeting with his representatives this week, while the Ipswich Town boss is also said to be on a four-man Chelsea shortlist that includes Leicester City’s Enzo Maresca.
For both, or either, it would be some leap. Not quite the failing upwards that Vincent Kompany will enjoy from Burnley to Bayern Munich, but rather a reward for their respective successes, one that could lead to big decisions being made before they make their Premier League bows – stick or twist.
Like Kompany, 44-year-old Maresca is another disciple of Guardiola, who he assisted in 2022-23, that is understandably being coveted after steering Leicester to the Championship title. Squint and you could mistake him for the City boss, more so when the Italian talks inverted full-backs and occupying the right space.
McKenna’s is a more intriguing case. Back-to-back promotions with Ipswich have put the 38-year-old firmly in the spotlight, while his ties with United – a boyhood fan and U18 coach there from 2016 to 2018 – adds romance to a potential return.
But isn’t this all too soon? Has Xabi’s Alonso’s success at Bayer Leverkusen blinded us all? The fast pace with which football moves has pushed recent failings into the realms of long-forgotten memories.
For one, Frank Lampard, whose decision to jump from Derby to Chelsea in 2019 at the age of 41 was awfully ill-judged.
There was no real need for Lampard to rush, he could have worked his way up for another decade before returning to the club he loved, but he was blinded by the promise of riches he had achieved there as a player, without realising his inexperience would take his reputation backwards.
Out went Lampard, in came a highly-regarded coach that delivered the Champions League to Chelsea within months, but after the new owners fell out with Thomas Tuchel, they then didn’t have the tenacity to back their own judgement and find out what direction Graham Potter or Pochettino could steer this project in.
And so, just like a merry-go-round, we’re back where we started. Will Chelsea or United ever be content with their managers while Guardiola remains at City? More to the point, will they stick by their choices – like Arsenal with Arteta – while they wait for this reign to end?
It seems unlikely. There are only two trophies that truly appease boards, and while United and Chelsea are some way off competing for the Premier League, it will be another year at least before they are competing in the Champions League again.
With that in mind, Maresca and McKenna would be wise to ignore the advances of their confused suitors – for now. If they truly are talented coaches, if they truly believe that the cream really does rise to the top, then they should also know that rushing the process is futile and could lead to spoiled goods.
Instead, they should see value in experiencing the Premier League away from the pressure-cooker of Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford, and see where it takes them.
Succeed, which in Leicester’s or Ipswich’s cases would be staying up, then their stock will continue to rise, all before Guardiola vacates the comfier City seat.
Stutter, and hey, maybe they’ll end up managing Bayern Munich next summer.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/JTal7x5
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