Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly interested in Julian Nagelsmann, but what makes him different from Andre Villas-Boas?
It looks like Tottenham Hotspur have identified a surprise replacement for Mauricio Pochettino.
The Argentine is under increasing pressure in North London and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has earmarked Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann as a successor, according to Football Fancast.
If true, it would be somewhat of a surprise given the calibre of names that have been linked to the Tottenham job in recent weeks and months.
Massimiliano Allegri has reportedly already been to the North London club’s new stadium, where he watched a 7-2 defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League, while Jose Mourinho is also heavily speculated to want the job.
The thing about Nagelsmann is that he’s only 32 years of age and Levy has been down this route before.
In 2012, he hired a 34-year-old Andre Villas-Boas not on the basis of what he had achieved, but what he could achieve in the future. As it turns out, Villas-Boas was fired eighteen months later and didn’t achieve a great deal at White Hart Lane and it makes you wonder whether an appointment of Nagelsmann would be repeating that mistake.
The German is undeniably one of the most exciting young managers in professional football. Then again, so was Villas-Boas, who led Porto to a treble – which included a Europa League title – during the 2010-11 campaign. The Portuguese had a lot more experience of winning trophies under his belt than Nagelsmann, whose Leipzig side are challenging for the Bundesliga title this season.
Tottenham are a far bigger club than they were in 2012, evident by their place in the Champions League final in June. They have moved on from being the type of club that gambles on 32-year-old managers.
Nagelsmann might be the next Alex Ferguson, but as of right now he doesn’t carry more clout than Villas-Boas did at the same age and therefore the Lilywhites should focus on an Allegri or a Mourinho and let a smaller club with less to lose take gambles like this one.
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