🔴 Manchester United need to focus on hiring the right profile of coach to replace Ruben Amorim.
Below, I assess the linked candidates 👇
Fàbregas - De Zerbi-esque build-up ideas, positional play high with players dropping from high to low to overload the opposition's press. Elite with the ball. Less impressed defensively but still showcases smart tactics. Sometimes man-to-man, sometimes zonal. Flaws come from game to game i.e., defending man-to-man low (Maresca's flaw) or too passive with the zonal approach in the first lines of pressing (Slot's flaw). Personality-wise, has huge experience at the Elite level. Speaks well. Has an aura.
Iraola - similar to Klopp pre-Liverpool from a tactical perspective. Zonal turned man-to-man pressing via a diamond press. 4-3-3 with the ball. Doesn't use a positional play model high. Personality-wise, far from the aura Klopp exuded.
Xavi - with the ball, no doubts. Profiles as an elite coach in this moment. Defensively, often man-to-man but defends zonally too. Struggled at Barca in the long-run because he managed the club when they were cash-strapped. Squad building was awful (Alonso, Bellerin, Kessie, etc). Couldn't dominate the way he wanted to with aging players, a lack of physicality, and a lack of star quality (Messi left, Yamal was young). Still some question marks defensively, but tactically I always thought he belonged with the elites. Also a legend of the game who commands respect.
Maresca - Elite with the ball in every moment. No doubts here. Defensively, exclusively man-to-man. This is problematic when defending low as his Chelsea team often became too reactive to the opponent. However, PSG and Bayern often play like this. Biggest difference between PSG/Bayern and Chelsea, though, was the intensity and culture at the club. Enrique and Kompany's team ran like mad dogs. Not the case for Maresca and Chelsea. Culture was an issue for him that he never solved at Chelsea which is a red flag.
Glasner - back 3 rules him out for now. Him saying he adapts is theoretical - United need practical solutions riddled with evidence.
Southgate - crumbled under pressure at England towards the end. Plus, a basic tactician who often changes system.
Howe - not enough building out from the back or aggressive pressing from the mid-block. Questionable recruitment as the Newcastle project has tried to evolve into a proactive mindset over an underdog one.
McKenna - Excellent tactician both with and without the ball. 4-2-3-1 base system. Would like to see his in-possession model evolve with two wingers high and wide as opposed to always relying on a fullback overlapping on the left, but he is a phenomenal coach regardless. Excellent automatisms and strategies and positional play with the ball. Zonal turned man-to-man pressing of the highest level. Knows the club inside out. Calm and highly experienced character in the modern game.
Emery - doesn't press high in open play with reliability. Also often makes his wingers defend in the defensive line. Not aligned with Manchester United's traditions.
Hürzeler - Elite with the ball. Evolved upon De Zerbi's build-up ideas with smart inverted centre back solutions. Inconsistent defensively. Sometimes too passive in that moment, sometimes excellent in that moment. Primarily a zonal turned man-to-man idea which is a promising profile but oftentimes too passive which is a negative. Still very young at 32.
Based on these assessments, my shortlist would consist of Fàbregas, Xavi, and McKenna (no particular order). Maresca 4th choice.
Hürzeler an outside shout after further assessment of his defensive ideas - maybe a bit too early from him personality-wise.
Remember, it's a mammoth job. You have to be elite tactically and psychologically to excel in the role. Few are, but this list is strong relative to the rest of the links.
None a guarantee, but they are the right profile of coach to replace Ruben Amorim at Manchester United.
Ruben Amorim is extremely lucky that Manchester United aren’t a serious club. Otherwise, for all that he’s said about the academy and done on the pitch, he’d be fired mercilessly
It’s absolutely pathetic that the club & many fans have zero standards, morals or a backbone
I wonder if Thomas Tuchel will be on Manchester United’s radar come the summer.
Still profiles as an elite coach.
His tactics at England are clear and tick many of the stylistic principles of the elite teams (Arsenal, Bayern, PSG, etc).
Lots of good options out there…
Since Sir Alex left we’ve had less managers than:
- Chelsea
- Real Madrid
- Barcelona
- Bayern Munich
- Borussia Dortmund
- AC Milan
- Inter Milan
- Napoli
- Ajax
But we apparently sack managers too much. Get rid.
Maybe I’m just miserable but I feel nothing after that win, lol. Boring, crap, uninspiring football saved by individual brilliance.
It’s not sustainable.
Fans like this want us to be shit forever.
13 Premier League wins in a year would get you sacked at every football club bar United.
We’ve had a large enough sample size to know we’re going nowhere with this manager.
Winning games is prolonging the inevitable.
🚮
Wow this is elite controlling of the narrative from Ruben Amorim.
You have to applaud it - Mourinho influence quite clear in that regard.
Painting the performance as a lack of application from the group after getting bailed out by said players’ quality is objectively funny.
Xavi or Fàbregas would have this Manchester United squad playing liquid football from the first game.
The FIRST game.
Even if they only had 48 hours of preparation time.
And not just aesthetic football either.
Winning football.
United fans have no idea what it could be like.
Truly pathetic game of football. As I said at halftime we showed spurs way too much respect, second half was even worse.
In truth with the way we set up & the game-plan to be defensive we deserved to lose but spurs are inevitably too shite
🚨 NEW: Manchester United are considering Cesc Fabregas as a replacement for Ruben Amorim and they added him on the shortlist.
Fabregas is admired for his modern style of play and has earned respect for developing younger players.
#MUFC [Corriere Como, @FourFourTwo]