Football Managers

My article today is on managers. Last night, Gary Neville's Valencia were humiliated and embarrassed at Nou Camp by Barcelona. He was already under pressure before this game and with this defeat, the pressure has well and truly intensified on him. There is lesser patience shown on managers in Europe but the saving grace for Neville is that the owner is not Spanish and is his friend. I would argue that Peter Lim, Valencia's owner is more of a businessman than a football fan so that works in Neville's favour in the sense that he would not make a hasty and abrupt decision a fan would make. In fact, if Peter Lim was a fan, he wouldn't even hire Neville as the manager of Valencia. It was a challenge from the start for the Red Devils legend as he would need to learn a new language, adapt to a new country, a new league and deliver results for the club in his first-ever managerial post, inheriting a squad in mid-season. It's a tough ask and from the start, the odds were stacked against him. He had done a great job previously as a pundit but punditry and football management are two different worlds. He has been assisting Roy Hodgson with the England national team too but being an assistant and a manager are two different things too. I just felt from the start that it was a wrong move to make and he should have cut his teeth in England in the lower divisions or at a Premier League club that doesn't have huge expectations. I feel his sacking is inevitable. It is only a matter of when rather than if. This experience should stand him in good stead for the future and if he does return to punditry after this experience, it would enlighten him to see things from a different perspective. Good luck to Gary Neville. It would be truly remarkable and much to his credit if he can turn things around quickly in the very near future.

On Monday, it was confirmed that Pep Guardiola would be the new Manchester City manager from the 2016-17 season onwards. The rumours linking him to City have been strong since he announced his intention to leave from his current position as Bayern Munich manager at the end of this season. There were reports linking him to other top English clubs but they weren't as strong which is why it wasn't a surprise to hear of the news. I had hope it would not be true and as a Manchester United fan, I dread the news. It would mean our arch-rivals and neighbours would be bolstered by one of the best managers presently available. Earlier this season, another of our arch-rivals, Liverpool hired Jurgen Klopp, a manager we would have loved to have at our club to replace Sir Alex Ferguson or David Moyes or Louis Van Gaal now. Unfortunately, he was not available when there was an availability at the club. Some fans are having a case of sour grapes by downplaying Guardiola's achievements at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. I don't feel that is fair. He took over a very good Barcelona team that had lost its way somewhat after winning the La Liga and Champions League in the 2005-06 season under Frank Rijkaard and made them one of the best ever club sides of all time. He achieved it having only had experience managing the Barcelona B side and guiding them to promotion to the Segunda Division in Spain. By doing so, he made it a trend for clubs to hire ex-players and legends with minimal coaching/management experience but no-one has even been able to achieve a quarter of what he has done proving my theory that he is one-off and Barcelona were lucky to get him. There were other external factors that aided to the success of the club too but I leave that for another day. He deserves all the plaudits, credit and respect in the world for what he did at Barcelona.

His achievements at Bayern Munich has paled in comparison. He took control of a side that were Treble winners and has maintained their status as one of Europe's best teams and Germany's dominant side. However, the Champions League has eluded him in his time at Germany despite domestic dominance. One might argue that to join City would be an easy move to make as the club can spend its way to glory and it would be a greater challenge if he had taken over Manchester United, Arsenal or even Chelsea. From a United fan's point of view using a Catalan metaphor, joining City is like joining Espanyol only that City is a wealthier version of Espanyol. Taking my United hat off and putting a subjective one on, I would ingest that managing in the English Premier League is quite unlike managing elsewhere. He can speak English so getting his ideas through to the players and speaking to the media shouldn't be a problem. However, it is a known fact that there are more matches played in English top flight football than any other country in Europe and teams play on during the Christmas and New Year. It would be interesting to see how he manages his squad in view of the increase in the number of matches played and having a season without a mid-season break. Next, he would need to contend with some bad weather conditions that can influence matches. English teams play at a frenetic pace and are aggressive which would be another challenge to contend with together with the increase in the number of matches played. With Barcelona and Bayern Munich, you get a feeling that teams lose the battle before playing and these teams won most matches easily. I doubt teams in England will just roll over to allow City to win, it goes against the English never-say-die attitude. Moreover with increased funds available to English teams, any of the English clubs in the Premier League can strengthen significantly to pose a serious challenge to the big teams. On paper, Guardiola's appointment is not good for United and other rivals for the title in England and it is something we got to be fearful of but reality is very different. His tiki-taka style might not work or might not always work when he plays teams that get into their faces and play direct long balls not allowing his team to settle and play the ball on the ground. It would be very interesting to see how he does. We would certainly hope he doesn't do well. :-)

Finally, over at United, it has been two wins out of two and both were achieved in a manner that is much like the "Manchester United way", fast, swashbuckling football with lots of goals and chances created. It might feel like the pressure has eased on Louis Van Gaal but I feel it is still looming around like a spirit that refuses to be exorcised. One draw or defeat is all that would take for the pressure and brickbats to be on the Dutchman and with it, rumours and "reports" from "sources" on his sacking and Ryan Giggs or Jose Mourinho's impending "arrival". This story pushed along by the media is like that of the boy who cries wolf. No-one should believe them if it happens again unless it is announced by the club officially. United's transformation in result has been sudden and unexpected but I feel it is still too soon to feel totally contented and pleased for they have achieved nothing but 2 wins. Van Gaal would need United to go on a great run of results in all competitions if he is to truly and fully win over the fans.