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Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, David Moyes, Manuel Pellegrini and Carlo Ancelotti are the stars in the biggest coaching merry-go-round in living football memory which is stealing all the attention from the players. The changes at the helm involve no lesser clubs than treble winners Bayern Munich, Europa League winners Chelsea, English champions Manchester United and their predecessors Manchester City, French league winners Paris St Germain and Spanish giants Real Madrid. Italy is also involved, and it could depend on the health of Tito Vilanova whether Spanish champions Barcelona may need a new coach as well.
The players’ side, by contrast, has been rather quiet so far but the transfer window only opens on July 1 until August 31.
Brazilian star Neymar has been the biggest mover so far from Santos to Barca, but there is plenty of speculation around Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at Real Madrid and whether Gareth Bale will stay at Tottenham or leave for what could be a world record fee.
That will at least in part be decided by the coaches, and in this respect the big clubs have done well by establishing their new line-up quickly for what promises an exciting season.
“If it is true that coaches are influential figures in a club and that teams take a while until they look like their coach then Europe is facing an exciting season,” Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) said Monday.
Bayern started off on January when they announced the signing of Guardiola for next season, even before they won the first treble of Champions League, Bundesliga and German cup under Jupp Heynckes, who has retired.
The announcement came the same day as Guardiola was quoted in England as saying he would like to coach in the Premier League one day – and it caused bitter disappointment there as he was linked with effectively every top club.
Rumours never stopped that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovic originally wanted the Catalan who had won 14 titles, including two Champions League, during his remarkable four-year spell at Barca from 2008 until 2012. Some even suggested that Mourinho only returned to Chelsea because his allegedly preferred destination Manchester United chose Moyes rather than him to follow in the huge footsteps of Sir Alex Ferguson’s 27-year reign at Old Trafford.
Mourinho’s predecessor at Stamford Bridge, caretaker Rafael Benitez, moved on to Italian runners-up Napoli as Walter Mazzarri moved on to Inter Milan who want to relive the glory of the past which saw then win the treble in 2010 under Mourinho.
Mourinho’s departure from Madrid to the 2012 Champions League winners Chelsea, where he swiftly declared himself “The Happy One,” left a big vacancy in Spain but Ancelotti filled the void as expected Tuesday.
By doing so, the Italian erased a blank spot on his coaching map, after having won two Champions Leagues and the Serie A with AC Milan, a Premier League and FA Cup double with Chelsea and the French title with PSG.
Qatari-owned PSG, meanwhile, made almost a low-key change at the helm Tuesday in the form of former France player and coach Laurent Blanc, who now “has the mission to build on last season and to continue the club’s ascendency towards the summits of the European game.” The shrewd Chilean Pellegrini led unheralded Malaga into the Champions League quarterfinals last season and Villarreal even into the semis a few years ago, and is now to make the Citizens a competitive force on the continent as well after Roberto Mancini failed in this area.
“Everyone knows, if you arrive at a club like Manchester City, you must win titles,” Pellegrini said.
“Last season, they were not successful in winning a title, but I’m sure next year we are going to win maybe the Premier League, the Champions League. We’re going to try to win it all.”
That is a major ambition, while the ex-Everton manager Moyes and Guardiola will hope to get some time to settle into their new and highly successful environment.
“Please give me time,” Guardiola pleaded, and Moyes readily admitted “I know how hard it will be to follow the best manager ever.” — Sapa-AFP
Online Reporter