As we draw closer to the finish line of the league the city of Manchester is becoming a very fertile ground for conspiracy theorists and creative minds.
The drama playing out between Manchester United FC and Manchester City FC in the EPL in preparation for the next season is really interesting.
Both teams appear to be strategizing for what is likely to turn out to be an epic season in the history of the EPL with prestige, money, and the league trophy all at stake.
Take the case of Manchester United FC for example.
Why is Luis van Gaal still in charge of Manchester United? Under normal circumstances, he should have been history by now following his monumental disappointment as the anticipated messianic successor to Sir Alex Ferguson.
He has turned out not to be the coach that Manchester United FC were looking for when they hired him to return the team to its old winning ways and playing style established under the legendary Sir Ferguson. Even the great man thought he could deliver and endorsed Van Gaal for the position.
Unfortunately, the experiment is a monumental failure. The old Manchester United is unrecognisable in the new team assembled by Van Gaal.
The old team was physical but skilful, playing football at a thousand miles per hour and making it look delightful with precise passing, movements, endless running and pressing.
Manchester United would fight till the very last second of every match with their deadly cargo of crosses raining endlessly from both flanks, never giving up, never backing down, and wearing down an opposition with grit, energy and fighting spirit! To defeat Manchester United anywhere was to pass through a crucible of fire!
What van Gaal has now concocted as the new Man U team does not have any resemblance to the old team in character, style or achievements. Yet the man is still left in charge. Why?
To confuse everyone, even more, the club flew a kite that Jose Mourinho, sacked by Chelsea FC, has been contacted and would take over the team. Then nothing happened after.
Why allow such a story to fester and take Van Gaal through the psychological trauma of thinking he was living on borrowed time in the middle of the season?
Meanwhile, Mourinho himself is kept waiting and is obviously becoming restless. He has not taken up any of the several other offers that must have come his way since his dismissal by Chelsea some months ago, yet he has not been officially offered the Man U job.
It all does not make sense.
I believe that Jose wants the Manchester United job very badly, even more than Manchester United wants him, that’s why he has been patiently waiting. He wants to make a point and settle some scores. He would not depart the EPL on a losing note so he wants a return to it but to a big team that will give him the best platform, resources and opportunity to win again, redeem his image and shame his critics.
Man U fans cannot seem to wait for that romance between Jose and United to take off, whilst the board may still need some convincing that his style and temperament are right for a team with the deep and rich traditions of Man U.
Undoubtedly it is going to be a battle of two massive egos between them – a very successful, traditionally grounded club, and a very loquacious, confident, proud and successful manager.
That relationship will surely be an interesting case study for the EPL next season if it happens.
Meanwhile, what are their city rivals, Manchester City FC, doing in response?
Until a few matches ago they were still looking as good as any team to win the league title they last won two seasons ago. They had invested in a great coach Manuel Pelligrini and some excellent players at the start of the season. The team could very easily have strolled through this season with its main contenders for the title (except Arsenal FC), in one organizational turmoil or the other, and not playing well.
They have started to stutter recently probably as a result of pressures brought upon the team by the club’s deliberate leakage of reports that Pep Guardiola, considered currently as the best coach in the world, would be moving to Manchester City at the end of this season.
What would happen to Pellegrini who has been working hard to steady the ship of the Manchester City team, take advantage of the shaky performances of its main rivals in the EPL, and reclaim the EPL trophy it lost last season?
Of course, the team must have been thrown into a psychological depression. It must be a spirit dampener for Pellegrini. This would affect not only his concentration but also disrupt the state of mind of the players!
It appears that either the excitement or the anticipation of having the best coach in the world come to Manchester City FC in response to Manchester United’s hiring of Mourinho for the next season has become more important than Pelligrini’s immediate ambition the league this season.
Manchester City and Manchester United have scores to settle next season.
As I am writing this I have just read that Manuel Pelligrini may actually be heading for Chelsea FC that sacked Mourinho. What unbelievable drama!
The entry of Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho into two of the biggest city rival clubs in the EPL will change the face of the EPL next season and set it on fire!
The money to be involved and the business this would generate would be mindboggling. The two club’s vaults will be emptied as both managers would have to bring with them some of Europe’s best players (particularly Pep) otherwise they would stand no chance of winning the EPL in the next season and guarding their huge reputations.
Add Leicester City’s, Claudio Ranieri. to the list of Jose, Pep, Klopp (of Liverpool FC) and Pellegrini, and glean a theatre of a great battle of coaches next season. Surely, a field of 5 or 6 of the most reputable coaches in Europe on one platform every week for an entire season would provide unprecedented spectacle and crown the EPL the greatest league in the world, flooded with the crème of the best and greatest players in Europe next season.
Just as the last thought.
Claudio Ranieri is running away with the title of best coach of the EPL this season. No matter what happens to Leicester City at the end of the league he has done enough already to earn that title.
Have you observed how his team, Leicester City FC have been playing? Does it not look like how Manchester United have been looking to their team to play? I mean the fast pace, full commitment and determination, the fighting spirit.
The coach Manchester United have been looking for is one grounded in the tradition of British football as defined by the team’s attitude and performances under Sir Alex. Such a coach should either be of English stock or has demonstrated he understands the tradition.
Think about it. The coach that Manchester United have been searching for in Sokoto (a town in northern Nigeria) has actually been right in their backyard, in the hem of their Sokoto (the Yoruba word for trousers) in the city of Leicester.
Claudio Ranieri may actually be Manchester United’s best option.
That‘s a crazy thought that would make the EPL next season a truly bizarre spectacle.
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