Is Ralf the man for United? Which rivals have you got a soft spot for? Get your thoughts into theeditor@football365.com…
Man Utd and the American presidency
Bear with me on this one. The American Presidency is legendary for appointing someone who’s the complete opposite of the President before. Bill Clinton was a sleaze, so they got George W Bush – a devoted family man. Bush was an idiotic warmonger , so they voted in Obama – an intellectual liberal. Obama was replaced by Trump, who was ……not an intellectual liberal. You get the idea.
The principle behind this is that the incumbent has done the job wrong so only the complete opposite could do it right. Considering the USA have been doing this since JFK, you might think it’s a slightly flawed idea, but hey, Americans gonna do their thing.
Interestingly, this now appears to be the guiding thought behind United’s hiring process. Jose was a man with a spectacular CV who was difficult, a defined but horrible style of play and confrontational to the extreme. So they hired Ole, who was pleasant, harmless , no idea what his style of play was and had basically no CV at all.
Ole didn’t work out so they hire Rangnick. Again pretty much the opposite. Considered by some to be the father of ‘gegenpressing’, he’s famously influential – apparently. Although the first thing I did was text my son to ask who the hell he actually was.
Assuming the problem there is simply a gap in my football knowledge, he’s said to be super detailed in his coaching , extremely influential to the likes of Klopp and Nagelsmann, very vocal on the sidelines and extremely ordered and structured. In short the complete opposite of Ole.
You can’t help but wonder what has stopped him from getting jobs over here before though , but sometimes people just make stupid decisions. Apparently the England job once came down to himself and Allardyce and the FA hired Big Sam – not an all time classic choice.
However, Ole was given a super long contract at every opportunity and Ralf has been given 6 months. The American Presidential philosophy taken to the extreme there possibly.
I might be being snarky for no reason. On the surface this seems like a pretty decent appointment but I still think he’s been hired in large effect because he’s so different from Ole. Once upon a time tens of millions of people were convinced George W was an extremely good idea, just because he was so different to Clinton.
It isn’t always the most well thought out philosophy.
James, Liverpool
Not having Rangnick
The Man U media spin team need to take a bow and need a raise. Ralf Rangnick is now the messiah, a guy we didn’t know about, never heard of, is now the best thing since Pele hit the pig skin. A guy who was in nobody’s radar is now the godfather of German football. He works at Locomotive Moscow, not Spain, not England, not Italy, not Germany. At least we hope he manages somewhere in Netherlands, France or Portugal.
The spin around him is amazing. To play devil’s advocate, if he is that good, if he is the reason Klopp and Nagelsmann exist (let’s ignore mum and dad), has he never managed at this level? Man U are media(for the lack of a better term) whores. The team generally generates media traffic in almost everything they do. So it’s understandable Rangnick is now proper famous. The godfather of German football though? The first time I heard it, I thought, former Bayern Munich manager. No. Former Dortmund manager. No. Managed the German team? Nein. How is he godfather now? Leipzig. Tis one of the most hated teams in the Bundesliga?They bought success, just like Man City did, only difference is, City actually won stuff after the influx of cash. Leipzig have never won the Bundesliga, Europa, Champions league, they are exciting to watch but they haven’t won sh*t with all that Red Bull money.
Man U are cheapskates when it comes to some of the most crucial roles in football, it beggars belief. I don’t understand why they don’t hire the guy that they think suits their fit. If it’s Poch, they should have paid PSG up for Poch. If its Zidane or Erik ten Hag, just pay the money and get the manager they want. Why pay locomotive for Rangnick, to then have to pay another club, to get their manager. If I had a “consultant” role at Man U, and they needed a German, I’d suggest paying Hansi Flick, atleast he’s won sh*t.
Dave(Punditry is becoming a joke, how hard is it to call something out), Somewhere
Rio cracked it with Queiroz
I am surprised its getting no traction but Rio is onto something with the idea of hiring Carlos Queiroz as the interim manager. He will walk out of the Egypt job in a moment for Manchester United.
By all amount United have a “good bunch of lads” but are clueless tactically. Queiroz was one of the most tactically astute coaches United has ever had. Then there’s the Ronaldo connection.
I said a couple of months ago that Ronaldo will be the albatross around Ole’s neck and like it or not, the team will revolve around Ronaldo. It is also likely that United spoke to Conte and Conte told them what he thought of Ronaldo making Conte unemployable for the board.
None of the long term options are available. Zidane isn’t interested. Queiroz is not a bad shout at all as the Interim one.
Knows the club. Won’t rock the boat. Can work with the existing set up. Ronaldo will respect him. There’s the Portuguese connection with Bruno. Has experience of managing a huge club.
Will also instill some much needed tactical training. I am surprised Ole didn’t try getting him in as an assistant months ago.
If we are going to still be in Ferguson’s shadow, might as well embrace it.
Shehzad Ghias, MUFC, Karachi.
Not Poch
People were quick to comment on my mail a few days back regarding Pochettino & how i think he isnt the appointment United should make. I simply compared him to Ole in terms of his achievements and failures. And against City another similarity struck out as clear as day. He cannot for the life of him get his team to press, play as a team or a cohesive unit. How in the world is he expected to take United to the title even if given money and 2-3 years is beyond me. Other than a few good months, I have seen nothing in his career that portrays him as one of the top 5 managers in the world currently. And that’s what United need to be aiming at.
Also, keeping an Interim manager is one the the only smart things United have done since Fergie left. It’s a smart simple move to wait for your ideal manager rather than waste another 3-4 years with a manager who isn’t the right fit, spend 200-300m on players who aren’t the right fit and waste 3-4 years of our lives.
Honestly, I find it hard to believe that we have won a title as recently as 2013, it feels like decades now. Let’s not get all Arsenal about hiring pretenders and do as Chelsea, City & Liverpool did. Hired the top of the top and got rewarded for it. All serial winners and league winners. That’s all I ask.
Regards
Aman (I know he is a better manager than Ole in general, but i don’t think Poch will be able to win a cup or come even 2nd with United within 3 years)
Soft spots
Fantastic question posed by EL GAUCHO on Thursday morning about “Which player who played/plays for your most hated rivals would you say you have the biggest soft spot for?”, as a Chelsea supporter this would mean it is someone who has played for Spurs, but how about i then throw in the fact he played for both Spurs and Manchester United, the one and only Dimitar Berbatov, that guy made football look easy, i cannot remember a single moment where i saw Dimitar bust a gut to run up the pitch but who cares because he could produce a moment of brilliance in each game and usually on multiple occasions throughout the 90 minutes.
His standout moments for me are the world class Berba-Spin assist against West Ham, oofft i could watch that on repeat for hours, the overhead kick against Sunderland, that day back in 2010 when he single-handedly beat Liverpool with a hat trick and one final moment was when he was playing for Fulham and he plucked the ball out of the air against Aston Villa that was a first touch as beautiful and delicate as anything you could see.
What a player on and off the field.
The Admin @ At The Bridge Pod
…Just in response to El Gaucho’s question about players you had/have a soft spot for from your biggest rivals….
As a middle aged Liverpool I got to witness the full rise of Man U under Fergie.
Along this journey there were 2 players I struggled to harbour negative thoughts about – Paul McGrath and Paul Scholes – both phenomenal footballers.
I strongly recommend people to read McGrath’s autobiography – one of the best books by a footballer that is out there and will serve to give you a clearer insight into the real challenges he had growing up that defined him in some way. His class on the pitch was obvious. Despite all the knee problems that curtailed his appearances he was probably the standout out CB on these shores of the 80’s for me (Hansen a close second).. the VVD of his time. Wonderful footballer.
Then there is Scholes – always gave me the impression that he was one step ahead of everyone else in terms of reading the game / seeing options and for me was the most important player of that batch of youth team graduates that shaped the 90’s for Man U. Scorer of phenomenal goals mainly due to his brilliant technique. In his mind the terms ‘tackle’ and ‘assault’ were somewhat blurred but that doesn’t tarnish him for me. Just a great, great player.
Sparky,LFC
…Denis Irwin – quality, Irish, and not Roy Keane.
Aidan, Lfc (the single ‘n’ thing is pretty cool too)
…Every single Arsenal player ever has been a c***.
Bergkamp was quite good but only for Holland
Dan
Winners and losers
Wow, so United limping to a 2-0 CL win merits nothing just three, count them, three entries in the Winners & Losers section but the top three. This is indicative of the hype driven roller coaster ride that is a rudderless team.
Ronaldo I can kind of get. Although the idea he is not a problem for United overall is glossing over the whole team dysfunction. But placing Carrick at the top…is stunning. They were lucky. Fernandes is clearly tired. He has been the force behind United for two years, played in the Euro finals and puts everything he has into every game. So giving him a break was not a tactical master plan by Carrick, simply a reflection of what has been obvious throughout the season. Sancho scoring was nice but again, he should be able to pop one in eventually. Let’s face it, Ole had one-off wins in the CL during his time, like against PSG. So to laud Carrick after one win against a lesser team…
Talking about PSG, watching City beat them, now that was a master plan. PSG showed what a team with ‘galactico’ forwards can do while City showed what a well drilled team of very good players can do. While they went behind, City dominated PSG. Moving them all over the place, you knew a goal would come and perhaps more.
And then there was Chelsea dominating Juventus – without some of their ‘star’ players. Tuchel really does get the most out of ALL of his players. But hey, only one slot in the winners.
I guess it’s more ‘impressive’ if you play by the seat of your pants than win through excellent coaching, teamwork and nous.
Just don’t get why City were not topping the winners unless it’s because F365 wants to use the clickbaity hype around United in the same way F365 bashes others in the mediawatch column.
Paul McDevitt
…Belated City v PSG comment. A great game even for the neutrals (I hope). Couple of random points on it:
No getting around it, we battered ‘em. They really are a team in two parts. Arguably the best front three in club football but who would rather stick sh*tty twigs in their own eyes than track back and help defend when needed.
Gabriel Jesus. Along with Bernardo, one of our most underrated players for me (Clive). Not sure why Pep doesn’t play him more, but he certainly excels in CL games.
The atmosphere against Everton at the Etihad was underwhelming. Wednesday night was quite the opposite which is surprising given our opposition to all things CL. Especially the anthem. Maybe we’re warming to CL games?
Poch, with Messi, Mbappe, and Neymar couldn’t top the group. ‘Nuff said. Would he do any better with the current Utd squad?
Comfortable wins yet again for Liverpool, Chelsea, and City. Is there any consensus that opposes the possibility of yet another all-English CL final? What does that say about the standard of European football leagues?
Mark (If you think a new manager will change anything at Man Utd then God bless you and don’t forget to renew your medication) MCFC.
Fan-led review must not be diluted for apex predators
Interference on the play
I see that former Sports Minister Tracey Crouch has now published her review into football and laid out a wide ranging set of recommendations.
I haven’t read them in full yet, but I’ve seen the headlines, including a new independent regulator. My question is less about the review and more around how FIFA will view this and choose to proceed.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t FIFA usually very much frown upon Government interference in the running of football in any country???
Just as recently as April this year, Pakistan and Chad were given bans for this.
Are they just going to turn a blind eye this time because England are one of the Big 10 footballing countries in the world??? Would reek of double standards if they do!?!
Or is what this Government has done genuinely different to what those before who received bans have done??
Paul (Spurs), T.Wells
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