Save a thought for Manchester United fans. It’s one thing to be dumped out of the Champions League while forcibly witnessing your rivals fighting for every single major trophy to be won this season. But another, when you know that the climb back to the top will be a long and grueling journey.
To make matters worse, it looks unlikely that Manchester United will also make the top four, meaning another season without Champions League football awaits the club’s supporters – their third in five years. And for the seventh time since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, the club is once again looking for a new man to take the helm.
Surprised by instability and lack of structure, it is no surprise that not many of the candidates are willing to take on the role. Especially based on the fate of those who have taken on the burden.
One man who certainly will not arrive at Old Trafford is Julian Nagelsmann, according to Sky Sports News. The report says Nagelsmann is not interested in the United job and will be holding out for Liverpool and Manchester City when those roles become vacant in the future.
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The fact that Nagelsmann would prefer the club’s two arch-enemies over United is a grim accusation of where Liverpool’s rivals are at the moment. It is also an encouraging sign for FSG. After all, Jürgen Klopp’s future remains uncertain at Anfield following his current contract, which expires in 2024, with Klopp himself admitting he has not yet decided whether to continue.
Finding the right successor to the Liverpool boss would be a difficult task. Manchester United have highlighted how difficult it can be to replace a club legend. But if anyone could do it, then maybe it’s just Nagelsmann.
The 34-year-old is a bit of a prodigy in management. When he started in Hoffenheim when he was only 29 years old, Nagelsmann has made steady progress, taking Hoffenheim into Europe before switching to RB Leipzig.
In Leipzig, Nagelsmann did well in stabilizing the ship and offering competition to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. He is still the only manager who has helped qualify RB Leipzig out of the Champions League group stage in the club’s history and reached the semi-finals with them back in 2020. As a result, in the 2019/20 season, he was voted in third place by UEFA’s Coach of the Year-pris.
Last summer he switched to Bayern Munich and has made the German giants a strong force that comfortably leads the Bundesliga table while playing fast and attractive football.
Bayern have scored an average of 3.62 goals per game. 90 minutes in the Champions League this season and has scored 14 more goals than the second-best Bundesliga team in the league. At the same time, they have also conceded the fewest in the Bundesliga (28) and the fewest goals in the Champions League (5).
Based on these statistics, Nagelsmann would be an impeccable heir to Klopp’s throne at Anfield, and one who might just ensure a long life at the club to help FSG avoid a repeat of the disaster that has occurred at Manchester United.