Zinedine Zidane - 3 time CL winning manager without a job

NewYorkRed said:
Just said in another thread that I would take Conte, but don’t want him.

Zidane I think would be an absolute hit here. You don’t win what he did by luck. He’ll command respect, and this squad it taylor made for him I feel. Not the best option long term, but this is modern day football. Lets get him in.
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You clearly didn't watch his CL runs then? Dodgy refs against Bayern and Juve. Gifts from Karius were bigger reasons for them winning 3 CLs than Zidane's non existent coaching.
 
Number of Spainish reports have said he has no interest in Utd job. Also his agent was quoted in 2018 that he has no interest in managing in England.
 
I feel like Conte would be an appointment which we would be looking back with hindsight and saying "ofcourse this didnt work, he's just not a good fit for United".

Many think all we need is a upgrade on Ole, which Conte is, but I think if Zidane wants to come here, its a no brainer. He is the manager on the market with the most pedigree.
 
Highfather_24 said:
I feel like Conte would be an appointment which we would be looking back with hindsight and saying "ofcourse this didnt work, he's just not a good fit for United".
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No manager offers you guaranteed success.
Ten Hag has no experience managing a big club and you can never know how it'd go with the big egos. We've seen champagne football managers absolutely collapsing at a big job in the past, Sampaoli,Unai Emery,Lopetegui come to mind
Conte is known for clashing with board and players alike, his CL record is also atrocious and he can walk out at any time if he feels unhappy.
Zidane doesn't speak English, neither does his staff, it could create an environment where he builds a strong bond Spanish/Italian/French speaking players and neglects the english speaking ones.

In any case, all three are miles ahead of Ole, and they aren't the only three options who'd be a massive upgrade on him.
 
BalanceUnAutreJoint said:
No manager offers you guaranteed success.
Ten Hag has no experience managing a big club and you can never know how it'd go with the big egos. We've seen champagne football managers absolutely collapsing at a big job in the past, Sampaoli,Unai Emery,Lopetegui come to mind
Conte is known for clashing with board and players alike, his CL record is also atrocious and he can walk out at any time if he feels unhappy.
Zidane doesn't speak English, neither does his staff, it could create an environment where he builds a strong bond Spanish/Italian/French speaking players and neglects the english speaking ones.

In any case, all three are miles ahead of Ole, and they aren't the only three options who'd be a massive upgrade on him.
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I'd add to this - if there was a sure appointment in football and a guaranteed success manager, then every club would be in for him, wouldn't they? Nobody can predict the future. Every coach, no matter how successful he is, is gonna be a gamble. Even Guardiola would be a gamble. There are plethora of circumstances that determine if a coach is successful or not. All we can do is shoot for a manager that the least likely chance to fail.
 
Has to be Zidane for me of the 2 obvious choices available right now. He also has a winning record and I think he would calm and shut up a lot of players in the dressing room. Can't imagine Pogba and co standing up to one of their idols - if Zidane tells them to jump they'll say how high

Conte is also fantastic but will rub so many of our players up the wrong way you imagine
 
Zidane does not speak English? Sounds quite unbelievable given he was a global football icon for a good portion of his career.
 
crappycraperson said:
Zidane does not speak English? Sounds quite unbelievable given he was a global football icon for a good portion of his career.
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I’ve read that for years too but it’s a bit hard to believe. No one would be shocked to learn that he’s not fluent, but not to speak a word of English? Not a chance.
 
dinostar77 said:
Number of Spainish reports have said he has no interest in Utd job. Also his agent was quoted in 2018 that he has no interest in managing in England.
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Hm this guy is surely smart, which makes me want him even more. Pep and Klopp refused us too ...

I don't know what the hell is wrong with us but why we always missed out on the good managers and ended up with the mediocre ones.
 
Strelok said:
Hm this guy is surely smart, which makes me want him even more. Pep and Klopp refused us too ...

I don't know what the hell is wrong with us but why we always missed out on the good managers and ended up with the mediocre ones.
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Well, I might object to that. When we approached Pep he was already going to Bayern. I don't know if we approached him afterwards, but doubtful. Klopp we approached in mid-season. He wasn't gonna leave Dortmund then. He and Dortmund agreed to part ways after his bad season, but I don't think we approached him then. Zidane would probably refuse us. I don't see him wanting to live in England.
 
Sviken said:
Well, I might object to that. When we approached Pep he was already going to Bayern. I don't know if we approached him afterwards, but doubtful. Klopp we approached in mid-season. He wasn't gonna leave Dortmund then. He and Dortmund agreed to part ways after his bad season, but I don't think we approached him then. Zidane would probably refuse us. I don't see him wanting to live in England.
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SAF said this in his book:

"I asked Pep to phone me before he accepted an offer from another club but he didn't and wound up joining Bayern Munich in July 2013," Ferguson said in the book.
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And this about the so called Disneyland incident:
https://www.goal.com/en/amp/news/ma...d-red-devils-crazy-/6cb0l4ouw9y41byr0p01z7lfd
 
MrEleson said:
They had a great relationship. Zidane was one of the few coaches that was able to convince Ronaldo to rest more in lesser la liga games to preserve him for the bigger games in the latter half of the season which would explain why some of Ronaldo’s biggest and most iconic CL performances was under him.
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Thanks

That's enough for me
 
morbidsaint said:
He didn't win 3x CL, Ronaldo did. With a little help from his teammates. Jesus feck, this Zidane nonsense has to stop. He is just another OGS, probably worse since he knows feck all about this club and its fans. No, let's not yet again rush into something stupid. et


100% spot on. Zidane got carried by CR7 and a few other superstars. Mostly CR7. Sadly, our board might actually be dumb enough to hire him. Him and Conte.. YIKES, how we are in a free-fall with no safe land in site.
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So no to Conte, no to Zidane? What would you do then, stick with OGS after the worst defeat in our Premier League history?
 
Strelok said:
SAF said this in his book:

And this about the so called Disneyland incident:
https://www.goal.com/en/amp/news/ma...d-red-devils-crazy-/6cb0l4ouw9y41byr0p01z7lfd
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It's important to note when SAF told him that. By the time of his sabbatical, Pep already agreed a deal with Bayern. And I know of the Disneyland fiasco. The difference between when we approached Klopp and when Liverpool did was vastly different, though. As much as I dislike Woodward, I don't think he had a fault for that. Klopp was never coming here mid-season. For a quality manager to come mid-season, he'd have to be unemployed at the moment like Tuchel or Conte and Zidane. Klopp joined season after his failed Dortmund season, so it's safe to assume if we approached him at that that, he would have joined us. But we stuck with Van Gaal.
 
I really want Zidane, for multiple reasons. First and foremost he commands a lot of respect both as a legendary player and as a successful manager at a big club. He also has a good relationship with both Ronaldo and Pogba. The team has to be built to suit Ronaldo's strengths, and I think Zidane can finally unlock Pogba's true potential by motivating him & coaching him in a system that accounts for his strengths and weaknesses. I also think he'll make it easier to attract quality players from other leagues.

Another reason I wanted to bring him in overlaps with how I'd like to see the team line up. At Real he used a 4-3-3 that featured Casemiro at CDM, Kroos, and Modric, with Isco coming in to alternate or serve as the number 10 in a 4-2-3-1, which we've done with Bruno and 2 midfielders. Ronaldo also became more of a striker during this time alongside Benzema, and if we could find a way to effectively play both him and Cavani, it would be awesome.

I want to experiment with a 4-3-3 because Bruno and Pogba can play in the same team and drill patterns of play that break teams down, something that's proved challenging for United for years. It's risky given the defensive mistakes we've had, but with better coaching I think it's possible. In a 4-3-3 we'd need a specialist CDM, but for the time being, I think Van De Beek could potentially play there, with Matic backing him up (and in emergencies, Fred) until a specialist is brought in. (If not, a midfield 2 with Matic/VBD and Pogba would at least be functional.)

Another problem Zidane could solve is our defensive lapses, specifically the wingback issue. Shaw and Wan Bissaka are constantly out of position, which in turn creates chaos for the centrebacks as they don't know who to mark. Marcelo used to play an extremely attacking style and Carvajal joined the attack as well, yet the team managed to maintain control in difficult games. I also think that Zidane would commit to his wingers and focus on crosses, which are essential for Ronaldo & an effective attacking strategy overall.
 
Sviken said:
It's important to note when SAF told him that. By the time of his sabbatical, Pep already agreed a deal with Bayern. And I know of the Disneyland fiasco. The difference between when we approached Klopp and when Liverpool did was vastly different, though. As much as I dislike Woodward, I don't think he had a fault for that. Klopp was never coming here mid-season. For a quality manager to come mid-season, he'd have to be unemployed at the moment like Tuchel or Conte and Zidane. Klopp joined season after his failed Dortmund season, so it's safe to assume if we approached him at that that, he would have joined us. But we stuck with Van Gaal.
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SAF told Pep to phone him before accepting an offer from another club mate.

And you should read the article again:

The German turned down the chance to replace David Moyes at Old Trafford after apparently finding the club's pitch “a bit unsexy”
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And according to the upcoming biography on Klopp - Bring the Noise, written by Raphael Honigstein - United's executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward flew to see Klopp just weeks before Moyes' sacking.
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We sacked Moyes by Apr 22. It's not mid season.
 
Strelok said:
SAF told Pep to phone him before accepting an offer from another club mate.

And you should read the article again:
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Here's Pep's comments about the proposition:

https://www.espn.com/soccer/manches...dont-remember-alex-ferguson-man-utd-job-offer
" "We spoke about life, about football of course, about the Premier League, but he never sent me a message under the table to say, 'you know, maybe United' or something like that "

There was never a concrete offer for him. SAF was testing grounds or something like that. Guardiola doesn't believe a job was ever offered to him or else he is lying.

As far as Klopp, you're absolutely wrong about it, I told you. We approached him mid-season when we were about to sack Moyes. Klopp thought about it, but ultimately declined because Dortmund were still in a good position. He continued with Dortmund until a catastrophe of a season and then they parted ways. That's when Liverpool approached him. It has nothing to do with Disneyland or whatever, we simply had a very bad timing.
 
Sviken said:
Here's Pep's comments about the proposition:

https://www.espn.com/soccer/manches...dont-remember-alex-ferguson-man-utd-job-offer
" "We spoke about life, about football of course, about the Premier League, but he never sent me a message under the table to say, 'you know, maybe United' or something like that "

There was never a concrete offer for him. SAF was testing grounds or something like that. Guardiola doesn't believe a job was ever offered to him or else he is lying.

As far as Klopp, you're absolutely wrong about it, I told you. We approached him mid-season when we were about to sack Moyes. Klopp thought about it, but ultimately declined because Dortmund were still in a good position. He continued with Dortmund until a catastrophe of a season and then they parted ways. That's when Liverpool approached him. It has nothing to do with Disneyland or whatever, we simply had a very bad timing.
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Maybe you're right about Pep. SAF with his Glaswegian accent is surely not easy to understand sometime. But I don't buy what he said, him saying he didn't understand imo was simply to cover the fact he didn't keep his words to SAF. He didn't phone him before accepting the Bayern offer.

For Klopp, we approached him weeks before we sacked Moyes so it's by April. It's already the end of the season by then. No manager would come by that time when there was nothing left to fight for. Giggs was appointed caretaker for the time being. So our offer must be for the next season. He refused us to stay at Dortmund. It's as simple as that.

Anyway we're a bit off topic here. We can agree to disagree then I think.
 
Strelok said:
Maybe you're right about Pep. SAF with his Glaswegian accent is surely not easy to understand sometime. But I don't buy what he said, him saying he didn't understand imo was simply to cover the fact he didn't keep his words to SAF. He didn't phone him before accepting the Bayern offer.

For Klopp, we approached him weeks before we sacked Moyes so it's by April. It's already the end of the season by then. No manager would come by that time when there was nothing left to fight for. Giggs was appointed caretaker for the time being. So our offer must be for the next season. He refused us to stay at Dortmund. It's as simple as that.

Anyway we're a bit off topic here. We can agree to disagree then I think.
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Ok, let's agree to disagree, but I'd have to correct you. We don't know when SAF called him. Presumably this was after the dinner. We have zero idea if he already accepted the Bayern job by the time the call was made, but Guardiola makes no mention of it. He specifically says that no offer of a job came to him when he was available. He may be lying, but what reason he would have to do so?

As far as Klopp goes, we don't know when we approached him. Moyes was a dead man walking by December, we were utter shambles for the entire season. Klopp says that he chose to stay at Dortmund which would imply that the offer was "you come here immediately". Either way, the approach was not done after the season was over. The situation with Klopp would be the same one if we've approached Ten Hag now. Do you think Ten Hag would accept a United offer right at this moment? He may at the end of the season, but the chances of him accepting the job right now are slim to none. I'd understand your argument if Klopp said we approached him when Liverpool approached him and he found Liverpool's offer to be more "sexy", but that didn't happen. We never even looked at him past Moyes.
 
Sviken said:
Ok, let's agree to disagree, but I'd have to correct you. We don't know when SAF called him. Presumably this was after the dinner. We have zero idea if he already accepted the Bayern job by the time the call was made, but Guardiola makes no mention of it. He specifically says that no offer of a job came to him when he was available. He may be lying, but what reason he would have to do so?

As far as Klopp goes, we don't know when we approached him. Moyes was a dead man walking by December, we were utter shambles for the entire season. Klopp says that he chose to stay at Dortmund which would imply that the offer was "you come here immediately". Either way, the approach was not done after the season was over. The situation with Klopp would be the same one if we've approached Ten Hag now. Do you think Ten Hag would accept a United offer right at this moment? He may at the end of the season, but the chances of him accepting the job right now are slim to none. I'd understand your argument if Klopp said we approached him when Liverpool approached him and he found Liverpool's offer to be more "sexy", but that didn't happen. We never even looked at him past Moyes.
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1. Pep. If he had accepted the Bayern offer by then he could have simply told SAF so when SAF asked him. So obviously he didn't accept the Bayern offer by then. But he didn't phone SAF before he accepted the Bayern offer. He of course doesn't want to be regarded as someone who doesn't keep his words. So he said he didn't understand what SAF said. It's quite simple.

2. Klopp: Come on, the article says weeks not months.

Anyway, I'm done with this.
 
RepardReece said:
Any reason why?

It's hard to put him ahead of Zidane when ZZ is the only manager to lead the club to back-to-back champions leagues, never mind 3.
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Achievements by Real Madrid staff or players are rarely acknowledged on the CAF. Many times it gets reduced by some to luck or Franco with them. No different with Zidane.
 
Strelok said:
1. Pep. If he had accepted the Bayern offer by then he could have simply told SAF so when SAF asked him. So obviously he didn't accept the Bayern offer by then. But he didn't phone SAF before he accepted the Bayern offer. He of course doesn't want to be regarded as someone who doesn't keep his words. So he said he didn't understand what SAF said. It's quite simple.

2. Klopp: Come on, the article says weeks not months.

Anyway, I'm done with this.
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Pep is talking about the dinner, there is no phone call mentioned on his part. Is this what you're talking about:


“I took Pep Guardiola for dinner in York in September before I knew I was going to retire.

“I said ‘give me a call if you want a job [after Munich]’.

“But I never got a call and I don’t think we made a mistake at all with Moyes.

If it is so, it seems SAF knew he already accepted the job at Munich. Why he never got the call afterwards, who knows. Might be City enticed him with Txiki and the entire set-up they set specifically for him. Might be he didn't want to look impudent asking for a job at United. But per Guardiola he was never offered a job. Even per Fergie's words, he wasn't. He was just tapped, same as Klopp

2. In regards to Klopp, there are weeks in a month. Depending on how its worded, weeks could be months. Suffice to say it was a very long way from the end of the season and it didn't appear to be that Klopp was asked to take over AFTER the season, it seems Woodward wanted him to takeover Moyes immediately. Klopp went to the CEO of Dortmund and said he declined. End of story. It doesn't appear we ever approached him afterwards. My point is - you're trying to argue that he didn't want to join us specifically because we're a club run as a joke (and that is partly true), but the reality is he didn't want to join us because it wasn't the right moment. Same way he wouldn't have joined Liverpool at that point, either. Remember that Tottenham and City were also in for him at the time, but he doesn't appear to have wanted to go there, either.

And now i'm done. You can retort back with whatever you want, but the reality is that the offers were made at the wrong time and that's it. There's nothing more to it. And that's the final thing I'm going to say on this subject matter.
 
Well, Txiki was in talks to become Pool's DoF in 2011 or 2012 and Pep promised him before that they'll work together in PL. One of the reasons why City hired Soriano, Berrada, Txiki and co.
 
Seems to be far more traction with the Conte rumours. All quiet on the Zidane front, unless I’m looking in the wrong places?
 
I feel the players would suit him better, but I think Conte is the better coach out of the two. And he has the added benefit if knowing the PL and competing with Klopp and Pep.

All the reports seem to indicate Zidane has no interest in managing United anyway. Don't want someone who is not completely convinced in joining us.
 
lex talionis said:
I’ve read that for years too but it’s a bit hard to believe. No one would be shocked to learn that he’s not fluent, but not to speak a word of English? Not a chance.
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Speaking enough to get by for a weekend somewhere is very different to a communication job where you have to transmit your ideas daily.
I don't think his spanish is anywhere near bilingual either even though he spent many years there playing and living. That CL locker room video, he's not using any complicated phrasing/words. It is an issue that can be managed just like Bielsa who doesn't seem to even be trying (granted he's a lot older). I just don't think he cares about England at all and would rather take the NT or Juve job.
 
Pink Moon said:
Vinicius, Rodrygo, Asensio, Hazard > Rashford, Greenwood, Sancho, Martial/Lingard. This one will probably be controversial because Rashford and Greenwood are United fans who came through the ranks and Sancho is the big money signing after years of chasing him.
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Definitely not. Setting aside quality, Asensio was out for most of the 19/20 season (played 300 min) and Hazard was out for a lot of the 20/21 season (played 896 min). And considering quality, Hazard has not been very good (especially since the injuries became reocurring), neither has Asensio, and Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr. were "promising" but had minimal output.
 
RepardReece said:
Any reason why?

It's hard to put him ahead of Zidane when ZZ is the only manager to lead the club to back-to-back champions leagues, never mind 3.
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True but the team he done it with was incredible and he had a lucky enough run at times.
Ten Hag has Ajax playing some great football and could be what the board were hoping for with Ole, a manager that can build something great for the long term.
 
lex talionis said:
In the middle of the season? If Ten Hag is willing to do that to Ajax then of course, but I doubt he would do such a thing. Very much worth exploring, however.
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If we offer to give him 20 a year over the next 3 years and tell him it's a limited time offer he'd here in a jiffy.
 
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