True. I don’t think Pep is attainable anyway (actually certain of that) though.
Life after ETH — the next United manager
- Thread starter Red Star One
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I'm really not sure what Benitez would bring to the table.
Facts
Surprised Luis Enrique is not on the list. IIRC, he was also belatedly added to the list when the poll was up after Rangnik.
Reading this thread and media in general, you would think that we are already without manager.
The meals and a jug of water
Just wishful thinking, or we basically are as ineffective as ETH has been
It's going to be Xavi. I was surprised that not more noise was made of this given that Berrarda is our CEO. When he came in, that was my initial thought. If you've been in a club with a Pep led team for years, you would be attracted to similar patterns of play and have closer ties with Spanish managers.
ETH beat him handsomely in Feb 2023.
Which players? I feel like that's part of the issue - we want to impose a more proactive style but it doesn't work because the majority of the team are still more suited to counter attack football.
What is his playing style?
High paced, high intensity, high pressing, relatively high possession, combinative, attacking, very good on the eye.
Not for us then. We dont seem to have the players for that
Yep, not like the mighty Stuttgart
(I couldn't name more than 3 players from their team honestly)
One thing we’ve lacked for years is pace and stamina
Give it to Jose
Kind of sucks to think we could've gotten Flick had we acted earlier last season.
Not your fault. Before Hoeness Stuttgart was an almost totally unknown team on international level. Hoeness changed that, some players show serious development, a couple of them became german internationals (Mittelstadt, Lewelling, Frühling, Stiller and Undav i think) they could beat Juventus yesterday and played some brilliant football - i watched the match - so obviously he's doing a fantastic job. Even Bayern Munich contacted him when they were searching for a new manager but he refused them saying that hi hasn't finish his job in Stuttgart. Young, motivated and well and tactically well prepared. Just like ten Hag, innit?
Seeing that he's Uli Hoeness's nephew as well as the former Bayern II manager (their most successful one at that) it's not surprising he's on Bayern's list and he'll obviously manage them at some point. If Bayern continue to get embarrassed in CL, they might ask again next summer..
I wouldn't be totally against Xavi to be totally honest, but on a short term deal with an option to extend, maybe rose tinted spectacles because of how much I love him as a player, but he also won the league in his first season quite comfortably, and that against a strong Real team and with a team still coping with the loss of Messi.
Hmm I'm intrigued...
If the players can't do that now I don't see how they will magically do it for another manager.
Magic would have nothing to do with it. Better managing would.
So it seems Inzaghi has agreed to become the next manager?
https://www.interlive.it/2024/10/22...fferta-dopo-due-colloqui/#m2mfcve9bwpziyycg2b
https://www.interlive.it/2024/10/22...fferta-dopo-due-colloqui/#m2mfcve9bwpziyycg2b
I saw that earlier. If true, it would be absolutely awesome.
Now this I'd love to be the case, one of the best while more underrated tacticians in Europe.
Would be on board with a caretaker for the season if we meant to bring in Inzaghi in the summer.
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He ticks all the boxes but one for me but we know Ratcliffe admires him.
I would be shocked if there was any substance to this. I don't think Inzaghi would jeopardize his current role and agree to terms with another club at the start of the season.
However, he is the next best manager in the world outside of Pep/Klopp in my opinion and should be the first choice if we are looking at making a move. He has been on an upwards trajectory for most of the past 6-7 seasons and should be ready to step in to the highest level of the PL.
He has also been learning English.
"According to latest rumours coming from England.."
Nope.
But they mention 2 confirmed sources in England...
So what. One thing we learned in the past 10 years is superstars have zero correlation with success
I was just saying, a one game off (like us against Xavi's Barca) shouldn't be a deciding factor to see a manager's quality.
Basically what @FortunaUtd said. Slick possession football with one of the most intense high presses in Europe.
Of course we have the players for it. Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt and Martinez are all Ajax players and played exactly this style at Ajax. I also see no obvious reason why Dalot or Mainoo can't play it either - both certainly have the technical quality for it. Obviously Shaw is also a good fit stylistically but he's never fit. The club are going to sign a new left back anyway so not a big deal.
Eriksen also obviously has the technical quality for it but doesn't have the legs. At any rate, I expect Eriksen and Casemiro are high on the clubs replace list. Ugarte also I'd never seen play till he came to United and he's barely played for United so far, but I don't know enough about him to comment. Enrique obviously deemed him a bad fit for his style but Ruben Amorim absolutely adores him, so he's one-for-two on whether 'modern/progressive' managers rate him. We'll see about him. At any rate, I think the club need to sign a ball playing #6 anyway so this issue can be solved in the market. We might as well continue the signing managers ex-players trend and get him Angelo Stiller from Stuttgart, can't cost that much.
Further forward, I see no obvious reason Amad doesn't have the technical quality to play in a possession side. Hojlund came to United from Atalanta who also play this high pace, high intensity, high possession, high pressing style and while I can't claim to have seen much of him at Atalanta (and his first touch is definitely a bit suspect), he's thrived in such a system before. Zirkzee has struggled at United so far, but he's come here from Bologna who under Thiago Motta played an even more insane small space combinative style of play than Stuttgart, had the highest average possession in Serie A and also were among the most intense pressing teams in the league. You can deem him not good enough for the league but stylistically, he's a good fit.
Which leaves Garnacho, Bruno and Rashford - the three I think are the reason most people have decided we have to play counterattacking. I personally don't buy this argument that they can't thrive in a possession system. It's not like your entire starting XI needs to be Xavi or Iniesta for you to play 'modern' football. I think as long as you can get the ball to Bruno high up the pitch, he will thrive in this system and his risk taking is not a big deal. It seems like a big deal now because we don't move the ball up the pitch well enough so he often receives the ball quite deep. His touches in the defensive third are a lot higher under Ten Hag than they were under Ole, and touches in the attacking third are fewer than under Ole. He's also touching it in the penalty box less than before.
Similar for Rashford. I think if we could consistently get the ball in the final third so that his touches deeper were reduced, if we can consistently get him into shooting positions, I think he's still a top player. He's also touching the ball in deeper areas a lot more than before -
Garnacho is still young and has much to develop in his game. But having a player of his pace and carrying ability surely can't be a negative. On a side note, Mount also came to United having thrived in a possession side under Tuchel, but he's never fit so might as well not be in the squad.
I think our path to being a high press - high possession team is a lot shorter than we care to admit. And it's certainly shorter than trying to become a counterattacking or transition team. I do have question marks about our players defensively/physically, especially in midfield where I don't think either of Bruno or Mainoo are great players off the ball. But between academy players stepping up and the new signings, we can turn into a 'modern' team quite easily, I think.
I think you're being sarcastic but whenever an exciting young manager gets mentioned as a potential choice for United, lots of United fans do seem to have exactly this attitude. That everyone was also giving the same praise to Ten Hag at Ajax. Which is true, and the praise was absolutely well deserved. He just hasn't been able to translate that work to United. Which is fine. Potter did great work at Brighton but struggled at Chelsea. Imagine if Chelsea took the same tack. Potter and Poch did great with lesser sides, but failed at Chelsea. Therefore, any manager who is of the same stock of manager (impressive style of play at a lesser club) is also bound to fail. Just because it didn't work with one guy doesn't mean it will never work. Just because Ten Hag has been unsuccessful, doesn't automatically mean that Hoeness/Amorim/Iraolo etc. are write-offs. Even little things like communication skills, clarity and consistency in approach, just being a better fit personality wise with the squad etc. can make a massive difference in the team's development.
Addressed above but Stuttgart didn't have the players doing this either. They were literally bottom of the Bundesliga with 7 games to go when Hoeness took over. They weren't a side on the cusp of greatness. They survived, signed Stiller, Mittelstadt (again if we're looking for a new left back), Undav and Guirassy (who has since left), and transformed completely. Players like Ito (gone to Bayern) and Anton (gone to Dortmund) were languishing at the bottom of the Bundesliga, having finished 15th the year before, and with a change of manager, magically turned into one of the most exciting teams in Germany.
A change of manager can have a massive impact. I don't know why so many United fans insist on being so miserable about the future. It might be shit (and based on the past 10 years, may even be likely to be shit), but it could also be a lot better. Cheer up.
Just watching Stuttgart play and their full backs are big tall and strong and can actually dribble past players in wide areas and hold onto the ball. We do not have that ability at all, Maz and Dalot are great on the right but we have nothing on the left. For a system like that to work both flanks need to be able to relieve pressure and hold the ball.
Try for Inzaghi in the summer. Maybe Hoeneß. Amorim and Xabi Alonso are marked for other jobs, I think.
Xavi, Frank, McKenna, etc. are all nonsense as far as I'm concerned. Xavi is a decent coach, but his Barcelona was a dour thing more often than not. Not exactly wildly successful either. Frank belongs where he is. Not a top manager.
Xavi, Frank, McKenna, etc. are all nonsense as far as I'm concerned. Xavi is a decent coach, but his Barcelona was a dour thing more often than not. Not exactly wildly successful either. Frank belongs where he is. Not a top manager.
Alvaro Carreras fits this description pretty well.
Fantastic post overall. Just on this bit in particular, I think playing any one of Garnacho, Bruno or Rashford would be fine (Rashford depending on how hard he's willing to work). Playing two of them would make it questionable, and I highly doubt all three would be able to play together in that kind of system. There's just too much risk-taking and selfishness amongst the three. A new manager who comes in and really inspires them can change the mentality to some extent, but probably not enough for all three to coexist.
Scoring goals and winning.
I changed my ‘vote’ to Hoeneß. Some concerns here there are parallels with Ten Hag coming in, but it is a different situation.
The rebuild of the squad is close to completion and the club is being reorganized and revitalized.
The playing strategy has been modernized as well with high pressing, playing out the back and attacking in numbers.
Hoeneß doesn‘t have to start from scratch: basically he is a great fit to follow Ten Hag.
The rebuild of the squad is close to completion and the club is being reorganized and revitalized.
The playing strategy has been modernized as well with high pressing, playing out the back and attacking in numbers.
Hoeneß doesn‘t have to start from scratch: basically he is a great fit to follow Ten Hag.
He beat Pep in May.