Manchester United, Chelsea and Brighton
Chelsea and Brighton are looking for new head coaches after Mauricio Pochettino and Roberto De Zerbi left by mutual agreement. Manchester United have spoken to potential test applicants, while starter Erik ten Hag is still in his post. A review of United’s season will take place this week. Ten Hag’s position is still not secure despite Saturday’s FA Cup final triumph.
With clubs browsing the same store shelf, maintaining anonymity is almost unimaginable, with representatives from each coach satisfied that teams are playing against each other to ensure the most productive opportunity imaginable for their client.
Several head coaches, such as Kieran McKenna at Ipswich Town or Enzo Maresca at Leicester City, both promoted this season, are appealing despite being under contract with another club. For them, selection is not limited to a single individual. club or other openings in Europe: it’s all about taking the right step in their careers.
Advertising
They may simply turn to Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso, who announced he will remain with the German champions next season, turning down the chance to scout vacancies at Liverpool, Bayern Munich and more. Vincent Kompany was on other clubs’ radars last summer after bringing Burnley back to the Premier League, but he stayed in Lancashire for another 12 months and has now agreed to sign for Bayern Munich, despite Burnley’s relegation.
Candidates have full force in this managerial market and the most promising features will likely have a selection of jobs. Clubs, even when interviewing candidates, will be well aware that they are in fact being interviewed themselves.
GO FURTHER
“In fact, they now publish brochures about themselves”: what happens in a job interview for a football coach?
How can they simply pay to sell their projects?
Athletic has reviewed the categories that these coaches will consider. The challenge they will be most willing to face (and how much money they will have). . .
At the grassroots level, Chelsea and Manchester United have the highest value teams. According to Transfermarkt figures, Chelsea’s is around £795 million ($1,010 million at the current exchange rate), Ten Hag’s £625 million and Brighton’s £432 million.
But this is too simplistic: evaluating a team carries an enormous amount of subjectivity. Of course, at the grassroots level, some coaches will compare some players more than others; However, the real key is how they are compatible on a preferred system. .
McKenna, for example, prefers a 4-2-3-1, which, by the way, all these teams have played this season. The question is which one he thinks could fit best, and in the competitive Brighton plenary. -backs and the close use of his double pivots in the build-up, De Zerbi’s former team is potentially better suited to him, and Chelsea are not expected to be his destination.
For a coach who would perhaps prefer 3 centre-backs, Brighton and Chelsea have the maximum flexibility to adapt quickly.
Advertising
Another thing is the age profile. Chelsea’s team is the youngest in the league; Part of the appeal of the position lies in the prospectiveness of this group.
However, this also brings with it its own pressures. Finishing sixth last year and still being Pochettino shows that Chelsea are in winning mode now but, individually, their players are still in the progression phase.
Others might prefer to work with veterans. The Manchester United squad features an attractive age profile made up of several interesting teenagers (led by teenagers Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho), but parts of the squad, such as the centre-back and midfielder, are in need of an update.
The Brighton team has some caveats. The club draft (more on this later) is one of the league’s. Coaches know they will have talent, however, the business style is based on promoting those players, a limitation of the position that applicants will have to accept.
Chelsea have spent the most cash over the past two seasons, but this pipeline will most likely start to run out. With benefits and sustainability (PSR) regulations restricting how much a club can spend from season to season, and a ‘team load control’ rule set to be implemented from 2025-2026 – Chelsea appear to be at a point where they will want departures to fund arrivals.
The west London club have been publicly positive about their monetary scenario and, in their defence, the promotion of players has been one of their strengths.
Manchester United are in a strong position as far as PSR are concerned, at least compared to Chelsea, and will get a boost after winning the FA Cup and securing a Europa League position. With minority investors INEOS now in the rhythm of football. Operations, United will also be something of a blank page in the recruitment before Sir Jim Ratcliffe and company’s first summer window at Old Trafford.
Advertising
But what influence will the coach or head coach have on the transfers of those 3 clubs?Manchester United will be hoping to have Dan Ashworth at the helm once they manage to reach an agreement with Newcastle United, assisted by Jason Wilcox and Darren Fletcher, and Ten Hag. , or his replacement, will be comfortable under the guidance of a sporting director.
Chelsea also have good sporting administrators Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley and, at Brighton, owner Tony Bloom’s knowledge models and contribution to recruitment are the very essence of the club. Brighton spends less than their rivals, but spends well. that the head coach has a say and a vote.
This is where Brighton has a clear advantage. With CEO Paul Barber, manager David Weir and owner Bloom, the club has shown strength in recruitment since its promotion to the Premier League.
Their first-half finishes on a shoestring budget are proof of this, as are the progression of Moises Caicedo, Leandro Trossard, Alexis Mac Allister, Yves Bissouma, Ben White, Kaoru Mitoma and Evan Ferguson. The role of the coach is obviously defined and its scope is more limited than that of other jobs, this is not necessarily negative and can set them up for success.
Manchester United’s infrastructure is somewhat unfamiliar – new co-owner INEOS has been recruiting aggressively in an attempt to lure leaders off the field. The signing of Omar Berrada from neighbouring Manchester City was an impressive, if unexpected, appointment, but he is still in the gardening. is leaving, while Ashworth has been the oldest club after technical administrators for several years. Wilcox, who started racing last month after joining Southampton, has extensive experience within City’s academy, with his role related to recruitment and performance.
The evidence, however, will be in the way those three more sensible personalities combine: Chelsea is proof of how temporary conflicts can arise between new colleagues.
Former RB Leipzig boss Christopher Vivell left the club last July after less than a year, with the day-to-day jobs assigned to co-sports players Winstanley and Stewart, who played a central role in the resolution to appoint Pochettino. Less than 12 months later, he left.
Manchester United represents the greatest opportunity for an individual to write their call on the fabric of a club. Fans have showered the managers with love whenever they have shown symptoms of rebuilding the club after the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson. The popularity of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, at times, and the help given to Ten Hag for the confusing divorce with Cristiano Ronaldo attest to this.
Chelsea managers, even when successful, are rarely received in the same way at the club centre. They do not last more than two seasons and are more disposable entities. Since Jose Mourinho’s (first) departure, only top scorer Frank Lampard has been the subject of unwavering determination: players like Antonio Conte, Carlo Ancelotti and Thomas Tuchel elicit a warmer sense of respect.
In Brighton, with a smaller fan base and less media exposure, the emotional connection is perhaps more palpable. Each of their last three coaches (Chris Hughton, Graham Potter and De Zerbi) were temporarily taken seriously.
The jobs at Manchester United and Chelsea come with a lot of backgrounds. These are wonderful clubs where the immediate expectation will be to finish in the four most sensible. If you can do that, expectations will only increase. With Manchester City and Arsenal, two elite teams and Liverpool in the race for the name until the final weeks, it is a daunting task.
Advertising
In all cases, degrees of interest mean that those clubs have vicious news cycles; These are jobs that devour those who are not prepared, and even those who are. At Chelsea, for example, the last coach who coached Mourinho for 3 full seasons in his first spell in 2004-07. He needed this figure from Ferguson.
While Brighton have continuously shown that they are in a position to build a task and the manager’s daily lifestyle is more discreet, the opposite is true at United and Chelsea. It would possibly not be an attractive proposal, despite the prestige of the clubs. But the rewards are by far the greatest.
To better understand this, The Athletic spoke to an experienced Premier League agent who has worked extensively with all three clubs and asked him what advice he would give to a user who would attract the interest of managers.
“It depends on where they are in their careers,” the agent said, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect relationships. “If he was an emerging manager, looking to make a decision for himself, I would tell him not to approach Chelsea. There is a lot of external influence and oversight by the media. Financially, yes, it’s great, and if your contract is right, you’ll probably never want to work again. But what effect would that have on your reputation?
“In that case, Brighton would obviously be the best option: you have some room for manoeuvre, the pressure is low, you can paint with undiscovered skills and put your tactics into practice.
“Manchester United are somewhere in between. With all the adjustments he’s made, you don’t know which way they’re going to go. I would probably only put it up to an established coach who is definitely in a position to meet those expectations: you have to be strong.
(Top photo: Robin Jones/Getty Images)