London - While last week’s announcement of Jose Mourinho as Manchester United’s new manager has rightly provoked discussion and interest on a global scale, I am also interested in what happens to Ryan Giggs, the club’s major link to the glory years under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Giggs appears now to have a choice between serving Mourinho on the coaching staff as he did Louis van Gaal, or to make a break from a club he’s known as boy and man, and find his own way in management.
I’ve got quite a clear view on this. If Ryan wants one day to be the manager of Manchester United, and we are led to believe that is his ambition, he will increase his prospects by going away to be a No1 at a Premier League or Championship club rather than stay and help Jose, no matter how instructive that would be.
Being an assistant manager is one thing, being the man in charge quite another. If he wants to be a coach for the rest of his career, that’s fine, I’m sure there will always be a job for him at United. But to be a manager in his own right, you have to choose a different strategy. I don’t even think being Van Gaal’s No2 was the best move, even though I could see the attraction of staying at a club you know so well.
Until you have been No1, you can’t really appreciate what it’s like to have every decision on your head. You have to go through it to learn it.
For Ryan to go away for a few years and be successful elsewhere, I really think that would put him in a better position.
The worst thing is to get over-promoted too soon. Go and cut your teeth, even in the Championship.
The thing that I understood quickly as a manager is the responsibility on your shoulders. You are not working for one person. You are making decisions for everyone; from the board of directors to the supporters, and every single one of your players and staff. There are a thousand things to do.
During games as well, you don’t advise, you have to act. You have to assess the balance of the team, how the game is going and whether changes are needed. You have to be very clear.
I believe Ryan is currently on holiday mulling over what to do next, with talks due on his return. But if he does leave United, don’t think that is the end of his ambitions. I think it is probably the start of the journey. As for Mourinho’s appointment, timing is everything in football. Three years ago, this wouldn’t have happened because it wasn’t the style of football Manchester United wanted.
But they have won one FA Cup in three years. If they want to be in with a shout of winning the Premier League and Champions League, they needed a change.
For most managers, that could take a long time, but United will hope Mourinho is a shortcut to that.
He has the power now to go and buy, and mould a team together. Ideally, United would have liked to have gone against the trend and built over time, as they wanted to under David Moyes and Van Gaal. Mourinho wanted to do that at Chelsea.
It didn’t work out for either of them and they will hope to bring each other success now. I don’t know Jose well, I’ve spoken to him a few times after matches, small chit-chat.
He’ll have learned more from last season than the rest of his career because something didn’t go right at Chelsea.
But we also have to remember what we’re good at and Jose has shown at Porto, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Chelsea that usually he is extremely good.
He worked under Van Gaal early in his career and been like a sponge in taking the best information out of people he’s worked with. But you feel that where Van Gaal was one kind of disciplinarian, Mourinho likes discipline but knows how to put an arm around a player’s shoulder as well.
It will be fascinating to see him and Pep Guardiola renew their well-documented rivalry.
They may even have similar transfer targets in mind and City probably have the edge given they were in the semi-finals of the Champions League and have qualified again for the competition, in contrast to United.
Mourinho has never shirked a challenge though. For Giggs, he should watch from afar, and gain his own managerial experience.
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