It's just the nature of football these days that half a day after a manager has vacated his office, everyone wants to speculate on where the man will go next. Mauricio Pochettino's sacking will surely divide opinion but the fact is he's gone. But where will the equally likable and intense Argentine end up next? There are good reasons to think he may not take another job before the summer as we'll discuss in due course but the early bird catches the worm when it comes to value.
Bayern Munich (6/4)
Only Poch will know if the Bundesliga is the league for him, not to mention the slightly strange situation you're always in at Bayern, where winning the league is expected but where dominating it can actually make Champions League success that bit harder.
Caretaker Hansi Flick has started well and Bayern may just decide that he deserves a chance to show what he can do rather than further disrupting proceedings by appointing a third manager or the season. But anything less than a semi-final appearance in the Champions League and they may start inquiring about Pochettino's interest come the summer.
Manchester United (7/2)
When Jose Mourinho (ironically) was struggling so badly at Old Trafford just under a year ago, it was Pochettino that the Old Trafford hierarchy arguably wanted more than anyone. Most will point to such things as the end of a cycle or a failure by Spurs to buy and sell the players Pochettino wanted in and out respectively as reasons for Spurs' poor results, rather than a failure by the man himself.
So a year or so later, nothing has changed: at United they still hold him in high regard, respect his experience in Premier League management and his knowledge of United's players. The fly in the ointment is that having taken a gamble on Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer, they may decide he deserves a little more time. But if United don't meet their targets come May, appointing Pochettino in the summer is very much a possibility.
Real Madrid (7/2)
Another team who have been very vocal about how highly they rate the former Southampton manager.
Zinedine Zidane started the season badly but they'll surely qualify for the last 16 in the Champions League and have benefited from Barcelona's own sluggish start to the domestic campaign, which has allowed them to keep pace with the Catalans despite a relatively poor return of 25 points from 12 matches.
His knowledge of the league from his time as a player and manager (he coached Espanyol for three years) and the fact Spanish is his mother tongue certainly help when making a case for Real being his next destination.
The slight problem for Pochettino may be the lack of influence the manager has on transfer policy at Real, something that visibly frustrated him at White Hart Lane. But that alone shouldn't be enough to stop him wanting to go to what is probably still the biggest job in the world in club football.
PSG (7/1)
In many ways a similar story to Bayern where domestic dominance is expected rather than hoped for, making Champions League performances the yardstick for success.
None of Laurent Blanc, Unai Emery or Tomas Tuchel have been able to get within touching distance of the CL title and PSG will have been impressed by Spurs' runners-up spot last year with a squad considerably weaker to what PSG normally have, at least in attack.
But Pochettino may decide he doesn't want to inherit an ego-filled dressing room where Neymar in particular is a right handful at the best of times and where one or two knockout games in the Champions League determine the success of the whole season.
Man City (20/1)
Let's picture the following scenario. Manchester City, favourites no less, go on to win the Champions League this season and with little or nothing left to do at the Etihad, Pep Guardiola decides to call time on his Man City career. Or having failed to win the CL, he decides it's just not meant to be at City and leaves for that reason before taking another sabbatical or accepting another top job in a different European league.
Pochettino is articulate, with great attention to detail, strong man-management skills, very intense and easy to work with as far as the club's hierarchy are concerned. Sound like anyone else? The former defender and Pep have plenty in common and appointing him would be as close to continuity as you could get if you're the City decision-makers. Poch in turn would surely welcome the chance to work with a squad a few notches above what he had at Spurs. It obviously all depends on what Guardiola's intentions are but at 20/1, it may just be worth a punt.
0 nhận xét Blogger 0 Facebook
Post a Comment