As the average lifespan of a manager continues to dwindle, football’s astounding lack of foresight is creating more problems than it solves.
A feature of last season was a multitude of Premier League managers being thrown off the proverbial merry-go-round and hopping immediately back on somewhere else across the country. Top-flight club’s managerial appointments such as Roy Hodgson, Mark Hughes and Alan Pardew were received with disdain, due to club’s supposed lack of willingness to value any attribute bar experience.
The situation has been gradually filtering up to the tip of the managerial pyramid, though in the past elite managers have always been somewhat immune to its effects, meaning coaches with sparkling CVs have had no trouble finding another managerial job on equal footing to their last, until now.
Carlo Ancelotti’s latest appointment is the product of a growing trend across football management resulting from multiple short spells.
The former Italian international first gained acclaim with Parma in the late ’90s, the logical succession from there was Juventus, then a San Siro homecoming where he had been a successful player. After seven years his tenure with AC Milan reached its natural conclusion; trips abroad to Chelsea, PSG and Real Madrid followed. Last season at Bayern Munich is the possibly the only appointment of his illustrious career that can be considered a disappointment, and few Bavarians were sad to see him leave.
However, Ancelotti then faced a much more significant issue than the fact his most recent tenure hadn’t gone as planned. Serially short spells, aside from Milan, gave him few choices. When considering rivalries, projects elsewhere with established leaders and the finances to meet Ancelotti’s wage demands, the Italian was left virtually no club available to match his stature.
Eventually, an opportunity arose, as Maurizio Sarri made a last-minute departure to London, Ancelotti accepted Napoli’s offer. While the Stadio San Paolo represents an excellent opportunity to continue Napoli’s development, there can be no doubt the club is in its healthiest position this century. Equally, it’s impossible to escape that the side from Naples’ resources are scant relative to what Ancelotti has become accustomed to.
Nevertheless, after a summer profit of £18m, primarily due to the sale of influential playmaker Jorginho, Ancelotti has steered Napoli to second thus far. The same position they found themselves in at this stage last season, and eight points above Inter Milan in third. Perhaps proving all along that finances were mostly irrelevant, and he is still an exquisite tactician.
Although, one manager who has also persistently been beaten with the ‘money stick’ is Jose Mourinho. Once universally acclaimed, Mourinho now faces the same dilemma as his Italian counterpart, where next? Because the possibilities are becoming increasingly scarce.
The abrasive style of management adopted by Mourinho, coupled with a toxic atmosphere and drawn out ending to his tenure at Manchester United will make clubs question if he is the most suitable candidate to take the reins. One of the overwhelming issues is the Portuguese’s lack of longevity. The most sought-after coaches across Europe currently specialise in their ability to develop the squads at their disposal as part of a long-term project.
Never before has Mourinho displayed the trait of progressing talent for an extended period. The system he implements is the foundation for how his side plays, meaning that individuals have little opportunity to flourish due to the increase in responsibility. As well as this, the majority of teams Mourinho has taken charge of have had the resources available to select the exact player the tactician requires to fit the systems requirements. At his next role, he may not be quite so fortunate.
History suggests this may not be an overwhelming issue, as Mourinho’s Champions League triumphs have come with FC Porto and Inter Milan, neither of which were blessed with the finances he’s had available elsewhere. Rekindling the underdog mentality which left him revered in both of those cities, as well as organising the players at his disposal, rather than griping about what he hasn’t got, appears to get the best out of Mourinho’s squads.
A comeback at a club where Mourinho takes centre stage – as well as all the plaudits – may be the conditions he requires to succeed. But whether and where this takes place is anyone’s guess.
The overarching issue is that this isn’t just Mourinho and Ancelotti’s problem, increasingly elite managers are exhausting their options at club level and will in be forced to occupy lesser positions in the future. Unless managers can construct a convincing sales pitch that they can develop a squad, their job security only lasts as long as the on-pitch success. The former glass floor that some managers seemingly couldn’t fall through is beginning to open up.
This should be considered a positive, unlike at the bottom, more factors than experience are considered when making an appointment. However, this will only be effective as long the system works both ways, and others such as Eddie Howe are allowed to progress into the top roles naturally, through gradually increasing their stature. Whereas the Bournemouth manager is currently rarely considered for top six jobs and has reached a plateau in his evolution as a coach, circumstantially unable to take the next step.
If the process of relegating former great managers continues to occur without allowing for the progression of less established coaches, British managers will have to search further afield than the Premier League to bridge the gap to the top six. Although English managers have travelled notoriously poorly throughout recent history.
As well as this once cast aside, managers may struggle to return to the upper echelons of the table, similarly as has happened to Rafael Benitez and Manuel Pellegrini. Meaning more of those occupying the select positions may come from in-house, such as Pep Guardiola and Zinedine Zidane at Barcelona and Real Madrid had previously done.
While both of the aforementioned appointments were a success, as former employees of the respective clubs their circumstances were favourable, beginning with spells in charge of the B teams. There is not an equivalent system in place in the Football League. If the selection process for managers continues to transition in this direction, outstanding managers eventually become either disregarded or consistently rotated between clubs as seen last year in the Premier League’s lower half, while most British ones will become cut adrift from contention and an Englishman may never hold the Premier League trophy aloft.
