Sky News have reported that current England manager Gareth Southgate is on Manchester United’s shortlist to become The Red Devils next permanent manager.

Southgate has impressed as The Three Lions boss since he got the job and he guided the side to a World Cup semi-final place last summer. That was a fine achievement and the boss was deservedly praised for organising the team and instilling confidence into his players.

Yet with saying that, I personally believe he’d be an odd choice for Man United.

Now every managerial appointment comes with a certain amount of risk. Both Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho arrived at Old Trafford with hugely successful CVs, yet neither could bring the Premier League title back to Old Trafford.

Southgate doesn’t have a club career as a manager that’s much to shout about.

He spent over three years as Middlesbrough’s boss and during that time he had a 29% win percent ratio and couldn’t save Boro from relegation in 2009.

The forty-eight year old coach has been working with The FA since 2013 and he’s known to be positive with younger players, helping the under-21s to win the Toulon Tournament in 2016. Which is an attribute that would catch the eye of Man United’s hierarchy and faithful.

He had that successful run in Russia last year. But when you really look at England’s run they lost twice during that World Cup and they were against the two best teams that they came up against in Croatia and Belgium. So when it really mattered Southgate couldn’t get the right result and he’s still got a point to prove.

Roberto Martinez managed to guide his Belgium side to the semis and also got that win over Gareth’s England team, plus he’s also got more out of Romelu Lukuka than Jose did. Yet I still wouldn’t say he’s got the right credentials to get the Man United job either.

Jurgen Klinsmann, Chris Coleman and Felipe Scolari all had very good records as international bosses but they couldn’t replicate those positive results at Bayern Munich, Sunderland and Chelsea.

Julen Lopetegui enjoyed a 70% winning ratio as the Spanish team manager and got his country to the Word Cup. Yet he decided to leave the post and become the next Real Madrid manager. He would boss Los Blancos for just fourteen games, winning less than half of those fixtures, before getting the sack.

International football is a different beast from the club game. You don’t work day in day out and sometimes that means players don’t get bored of you. It also gives you the chance to pick the best players and bring in the talent that’s in form. At clubs you’re often stuck with the same players for long periods of time.

I can’t see why United would be desperate to get Southgate over the likes of Diego Simeone or Mauricio Pochettino. Those guys have proved themselves at the highest level of club football. They can keep squads together over a season and have players that buy into their philosophies.

I’m also not sure Gareth Southgate will be in a rush to leave his current post. It’s all going well for him at England and he’s got a lot of exciting young players breaking through. Winning Euro 2020 is a real possibility and he could use that tournament to build a strong foundation for the next World Cup. Win something with England and he becomes an instant national legend!

Now if Southgate were to get the Manchester United job, I’m not saying he’d fail. Weirder things have happened.

I just don’t think he’s got the best CV and he’d be a greater risk than some of the others out there.

Posted on January 13th, 2019 by scott
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