We have ourselves another cracking Mailbox full of Man Utd and now Chelsea. Keep your mails coming to theeditor@football365.com…
United aren’t attractive to managers?
I was stunned by MM, India’s letter regarding Utd – especially as it looks like he is a Utd fan. I’m not and think he has completely underestimated his own club.
While I am not sure there is a ‘queue’ of elite managers waiting to join Utd, it would be fair to say, other than a couple of clubs worldwide, there is never a queue. There are never a queues’ worth of elite managers ready to move at any time and pretty disingenuous to make out that was what Ian Watson was saying.
One of the key factors of whether a top player or elite level manager will join a club these days is their ability to play in the Champions League. Lately Utd have been in and out and so that would play against them. But looking at the current table, only a massive meltdown or Fernandes getting hocked for the rest of the season, would prevent them qualifying for next year. (Unlike several other ‘top 6 clubs.)
With CL qualification all but assured let’s look at the next areas to consider. Do they have a decent squad that someone could work with? Yeah, not the best, not the worst, but in a way better position than a few years back. Ole has done a good job of gradually weeding out players. Do they have the funds to buy new players? No question about it, flagging financial fortunes due to the Coronavirus and recent missteps, may be, but still certainly a financial powerhouse compared to most. Can they pay elite level wages? Absolutely. Do they have a past stellar history, decent fans and stadium? Absolutely.
Look, there is plenty to attract an elite level or about to be elite level manager. Especially one that likes a bit of a project as opposed to walking into an already winning team and continuing the party.
Remember, not a fan, but have to respect what this club can do.
Be interesting to see what happens.
Paul McDevitt
Wednesday Mailbox: Why would any top manager want to come to Man Utd?
…I would love to know what managers MM was referring to. Is it Klopp or Pep (at our arch rivals?) or is it Flick (accidental success) or maybe Pirlo (sure)?
Allegri is available and seems interested. So was Pochettino before the PSG move. So was Zidane before he resigned. So was Ancellotti before he went to Everton. The list goes on. Have someone more competent than Ed Woodward and we may have gotten Klopp.
By your logic Everton are more attractive than Manchester United to the elite manager? How are their title/ trophy odds?
It seems like winning a title/European cup is the only actual qualification you made so that’s Pochettino out until the end of the year.
Not sure how it would be ‘career suicide’ mentioning it publicly either as generally all managers respect their current clubs and don’t speak of rumors and even without a club they keep fairly tight lipped.
Ole has changed the mood of the club, created a great team that can hopefully win something’s, has us competing against the more complete teams and has got us performing consistently. All of this with unusual transfers, The Pogba guff, injuries and the media on his back. Absolutely 0 reason to fire him unless you are Chelsea.
Also go look at the Barca, Bayern, Juve and Real managers and you will notice some uniquely unqualified picks and some who were formers players with great success.
Managing a club seen(arguably) by more fans than any other in the sport, with a sizable budget and board that can back you, state of the art facilities, a loyal fan base and following greats such as Busby and Ferguson all sound like appealing reasons. Add to the fact you could be the one to resurrect them to former glory and… no wait you right. No appeal there.
You know who it sounds like your talking about?
Roberto Matteo. He did it without transfers and won the champions league. Available too!
Calvino (Laurent Blanc is a title winning former United player who is interested and United didn’t approach him. Someone get MM on the board)
F365 Says: Tuchel has made a mockery of modern managerial excuses
Oh what a night!
I absolutely love this Chelsea side under Thomas Tuchel, when the draw was made if you had said to me that the tie would end 3-0 on aggregate, i would have sworn you meant to Atletico, but wow how the tables have turned in recent months, Atletico hitting a bad patch of form, Chelsea on an upturn in form and a defence that looks like it truly means business.
I cannot wait to see who we draw on Friday, I get a vibe it could just be Liverpool, reignite that good old fashioned rivalry from the 00’s in the European competition, but overall, fantastic night, great to see Ziyech, Havertz and Werner all combining for that first goal.
Mikey, CFC
…The one thing TT has managed to achieve in his brief time in charge is something Man City have perfected, and that is being able to change the line-up with the players coming in keeping the same style of play and maintaining the high standards. One gets the feeling that it doesn’t matter who he picks in his team at this point.
This is obviously helped by the fact we have a large strong squad, but it seems to be easier said than done. Our former manager (he who shall not be named) couldn’t achieve this. This is crucial in keeping everyone happy and feeling like they’re part of the success.
Loving life under Tuchel, but just waiting for the drama to start as it inevitably does at Chelsea…
Ed
…Chelsea vs ATM. Sh*thousery sh*t hosed.
Ian (CFC) Hugo
Timely intervention
Firstly, l will put my cards firmly on the timekeeping table…. I have written about this several times (nothing to put in brackets here) but again this most untimely (get it?) of beasts reared its head during the Real Madrid v Atalanta match. In the first half the ref blew up up on exactly 45 minutes with Atalanta through on goal….so please please help me and explain when do referees stop the clock…is it to discuss decisions?….is it to tell players to move back for free kicks? …is it to see if an “injured” player needs treatment?….apparently not as these all happened in the first half and not a second was added on…..so to finish( well after the extra time)……EVERY GAME SHOULD LAST THE SAME LENGTH OF TIME!!!
Imagine how much less feigning of injury, and substitutes walking off as though they had a ball and chain round their ankle we would have…now THAT is the beautiful game. Sorry the board has gone up stating that in spite of my tardy behaviour, endlessly swanning around …my time is (almost) up.
Phil (I think like the rest of the nation I need to get out more…) Liasides
P.S. Chelsea V Atletico tonight..5 mins added time for second half …Chelsea scored with 1.5 minutes left of injury time and the Chelsea boys (totally legitimately) took their time enjoying it.(well over a minute)….and yes the game STILL ended after 5 minutes!!!! By the way… we don’t have different rules depending on what the score is or whether the result will be affected etc..
OK …My time is up……
Luck of the draw
Since everyone seems to like to talk about ‘tough draws’ and ‘luck’, let’s talk about United’s since Solskjaer took over.
FA Cup –
2018/19 – Arsenal, Chelsea, Wolves
2019/20 – Wolves, Tranmere, Derby, Norwich, Chelsea
2020/21 – Watford, Brighton, Liverpool, Leicester
only three (THREE) out of twelve games were against non-EPL teams
EFL Cup
2019/20 (Solskjaer arrived after United were knocked out in 2018/19) – Rochdale, Chelsea, Colchester, Manchester City
2020/21 – Luton, Brighton, Everton, Manchester City
a little better, can’t really argue too much (3/8 games against non-EPL teams)
Europa League –
2019/20 – easy draws, I’d say, until Sevilla in the quarters, but that’s alright really
2020/21 – Real Sociedad and AC Milan (the two best teams in the competition tbh)
UCL –
2018/19 – Barca in the quarters
2020/21 – PSG, RB Leipzig and the Turkish Champions in our group
Not too good, let’s start a conversation which is a part of twenty mailboxes.
AF, Red Devil, Dubai
PS – It’s all in jest, don’t come at me
English bias
How can football in England be biased towards English folks (Big Sam / Steve Bruce getting jobs, young English player breaks into the PL and he’s instantly worth £20m etc.), and simultaneously biased against English people (Kaneinho not getting the respect he deserves, if his name was Allardici etc.)?
Also, how is this all possible when all PL clubs are English, and presumably the majority of football writers, pundits, and watchers / readers are also English? Who is biased against you? Are people biased against themselves? I don’t understand this superiority / inferiority complex – anyone able to explain?
Simon, formerly of London
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