da leao： We’re still a few weeks away from silly season hitting maximum audacity but the managerial merry-go-round is in full swing.
da esport bet： Indeed, we find ourselves in that magical time of year where one sacking or abrupt resignation triggers a chain reaction throughout the continent, leaving managers plummeting to the floor like a series of dominoes in search of their P45s and any signed club memorabilia they could quickly flog on ebay.
One club circling the merry-go-round but yet to put either foot on it are Liverpool, facing a crisis of confidence after finishing the season in sixth place. Brendan Rodgers is feeling the pressure after such an underwhelming campaign, but should the Reds commit to testing their luck on the proverbial roulette wheel this summer? We consider the potential outcomes.
STICK – BRENDAN RODGERS
It can’t all be Rodgers’ fault, can it? And the Reds could certainly do a lot worse than their current manager, as we’ll come on to in a moment.
After all, he’s lost four of his most important players from last season; Luis Suarez to Barcelona; Daniel Sturridge to injury; Steven Gerrard to age; and Raheem Sterling to the insidious rumour-mongering of his agent; yet still finished within touching distance of a Champions League spot and reached the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and the Capital One Cup.
Lesser talented managers would’ve faired considerably worse under the same circumstances. But of course, the predominant criticism Rodgers can’t shake regards his efforts in the transfer market.
Managers live and die by their signings, yet the Ulsterman doesn’t have much to show for the £220million spent since taking the Anfield helm three years ago. Acquisitions Mamadou Sakho, Dejan Lovren, Lazar Markovic, Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini and Simon Mignolet have all struggled to live up to their billing – and perhaps more importantly, their price-tags.
Transfer committee or not, Rodgers’ recruitment practices are stalling the club’s progress, whilst Liverpool’s late eliminations from the auxiliary tournaments have lead many to conclude he lacks the tactical nous and motivation skills required to win important fixtures.
Then again, Rodgers knows the club and the squad better than any manager on the market. And to date, with the exception of flopped loanster Nuri Sahin, nobody from the Anfield camp has had a bad word to say about the under-fire 42 year-old.
BOOBY PRIZE – SAM ALLARDYCE
Oh no, Liverpool! You’ve taken a swing on the merry-go-round and ended up with this summer’s booby prise – West Ham manager Sam Allardyce.
Attritional, physical, direct and dull, he’s the exact antithesis of Liverpool’s philosophy under Brendan Rodgers and would waste no time in bringing £35million flop Andy Carroll back to Merseyside – along with geriatric West Ham captain Kevin Nolan and Teeside’s answer to Angel Di Maria, Stewart Downing.
Think the short-lived Roy Hodgson era part II, except underwhelming football is the actual strategy and not just a by-product of the now-England gaffer’s all-round incompetence.
Of course, Sam Allardyce is the last manager Liverpool would appoint – it speaks volumes if you’re feeding off the scraps of a West Ham side that finished six places below you – and FSG would only sack Rodgers if they’d already guaranteed a superior replacement.
But that would ruin the whole stick-or-twist, merry-go-round analogy, wouldn’t it? And Big Sam Booby Prize does highlight the many dangers the managerial merry-go-round genuinely poses.
Look on the bright side, Reds fans. At least it’s not John Carver.
THIRD PRIZE – RAFA BENITEZ
He’s ‘99% certain’ to take over at Real Madrid but whoever felt the need to drape the words ‘Rodgers Out: Rafa In’ across the Mersey sky earlier this season will surely maintain their faith in Rafa Benitez turning down the most coveted job in world football to return to his beloved Liverpool.
The Spaniard is famous for masterminding the Reds’ way to the 2005 Champions League title – although how much of it can be put down to his tactical abilities rather than a ‘ghost goal’ against Chelsea and a miraculous night in Istanbul remains open to interpretation – and is arguably Liverpool’s most successful manager since their 1970s to 1980s dominance, also lifting the 2006 FA Cup and guiding them to a runner-up Premier League finish in 2008/09.
He hasn’t quite lived up to expectations since, however, lasting just a matter of months at Inter Milan despite inheriting a treble-winning side from Jose Mourinho and now leaving Napoli after failing to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Furthermore, the route to Liverpool’s future successes surely doesn’t lie in the club’s past.
JURGEN KLOPP – RUNNER UP
Despite Borussia Dortmund’s tribulations this season as they spent much of it audaciously flirting with the Bundesliga’s relegation zone, departing gaffer Jurgen Klopp will be one of the most in-demand managers on the market this summer.
Aside from his hilarious antics, not least including claiming he’d be a rockstar if he wasn’t a manager because he’s very good at karaoke, jumping higher than Michael Jordan to celebrate a goal against Wolfsburg, inadvertently bodyslamming one of his own substitutes and being a generally amicable, uber-cool guy with the facial expressions of a cartoon character, the 47 year-old is a very talented manager.
He took the Black-Yellows from the brink of bankruptcy to back-to-back Bundesliga titles and the 2013 Champions League final, creating an entire squad of exciting talents from the off-cuts of Germany’s other top clubs and high-performing youngsters from the lower divisions.
Klopp’s done it all through a philosophy that blends breakneck-paced counter-attacks, technically demanding build-up play and relentless industry off the ball. In other words, it’s the same kind of football Liverpool played last season, but with greater consistency over a longer period and more tangible success.
With the Madrid job going to Benitez and the majority of the content’s biggest clubs seemingly content with their respective gaffers for now, Klopp is a distinct possibility for the Reds.
But why stop there on the managerial merry-go-round? Like every idiotic contestant on every idiotic quiz show ever, we’re going to gamble!
JACKPOT – CARLO ANCELOTTI
Congratulations Liverpool! You’ve thrown caution to the wind on the managerial merry-go-round and come up top trumps with former Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti.
He’s one of the most decorated gaffers in the game today, boasting league titles in Serie A with AC Milan, the Premier League with Chelsea, Ligue 1 with PSG and La Liga with Los Blancos, and is the only manager to win the Champions League three times.
The most recent European title came with the La Liga giants last season, but even that’s not managed to spare the Italian from the ever-sensationalist wrath of the Bernabeu hierarchy who, as previously mentioned, have already lined up his replacement in Benitez.
Facing next season without Champions League football, one might assume Ancelotti, an equally decorated player who represented Italy on 26 occasions, might be just beyond Liverpool’s reach this summer.
But he’s already managed five of the biggest clubs in domestic football and barring an unlikely bumping of Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich, is quickly running out of challenges. Likewise, the Italy job, the Man United job, the Arsenal job and the Barcelona job are all fully booked, whilst Manuel Pellegrini seems surprisingly confident of staying at Manchester City for at least another season, so a downward step to some degree seems inevitable for the 55 year-old.
I have no doubts over his capability to take Liverpool to the next level. However, reports from The Daily Mail claim Ancelotti plans on taking a year out of the game to address an ongoing back problem.