Tottenham Hotspur are on the hunt for a new manager after biting the bullet and getting rid of Antonio Conte following his press conference rants. The inevitable conclusion of this particular Spurs saga has opened the door to several top managers to take one of the plum jobs in the Premier League.
Tottenham boast the best stadium in the league, a decent squad and have ambitions of a top four finish this term - so why wouldn’t all the available managers in world football be on the next flight to London? The top two contenders in the betting so far are recently departed Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann and former favourite at White Hart Lane, Mauricio Pochettino.
Now, Poch has been tipped for a return every time the vacancy becomes available but, given he is now out of work, this could be time for the Argentine to have a second spell in charge. He led them to the Champions League final in 2019 and is hugely popular amongst the fans, while Nagelsmann is regarded as one of the finest coaches on the continent having taken Bayern Munich past PSG and into the last eight of Europe’s premier competition.
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However, the stumbling block for Spurs isn’t financial or even the fact that they may miss out of the Champions League this term. Instead, it comes from the capital of Spain, and the behemoth that is Real Madrid. The biggest club in the world, with 14 European Cups to their name are currently embarking on their quest for 15 under Carlo Ancelotti.
The irrepressibly cool Italian boss won the big-eared trophy against all odds last term, beating PSG, Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool on the way to glory. However, Ancelotti is being courted by the Brazilian Football Confederation and they would love him to be their next national team manager, starting in summer.
If Ancelotti was to move on in a few months, it would create a vacancy at the biggest club in the world. It would be a managerial job that both Pochettino and Nagelsmann would be desperate to land, and both of them would be serious contenders given the managers currently available.
If either of them jump into bed with Tottenham, they could miss out on a far better job available in the summer. Alternatively, Ancelotti could decide to stay on and the opportunity to manage Spurs would have been missed. It’s a difficult decision to make, but Daniel Levy and co. could miss out on managers waiting for bigger and better things.
Nagelsmann was unfairly sacked by many, and a manager of his quality won’t be on the market for long. He is still only 35, took RB Leipzig to the Champions League semi-finals and won every single game in this year’s European competition, conceding just twice. A win percentage of 71.4% speaks of his credentials and Bayern paid a world-record fee of €25 million to release him from his Leipzig contract. It has reportedly cost them upwards of €60m in total just to hire and fire the young boss.
You get the feeling they may come to regret that decision in the long-term, with the explosive Thomas Tuchel now in charge. For Madrid, despite his success and flexibility as Bayern manager in a 4-2-3-1 system, Nagelsmann may need one more job before he has proven his worth as an elite level manager. Meanwhile, Pochettino, having already been at Spurs and PSG, could be ready-made for that job.
Both managers have big decisions to make over the coming months. Will Spurs go back to what they know or will they explore an exciting option in Nagelsmann that could take them to new heights? More importantly, will they be able to bag either one of them before Real Madrid come calling? The next few weeks will be decisive in Tottenham’s future.
*18+ | BeGambleAware
