Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jamie O’Hara believes the Premier League giants will now ‘miss out on a top manager’ as rivals Chelsea eye former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann.
If Monday’s 1-1 draw at Everton is anything to go by, Cristian Stellini’s Spurs and Antonio Conte’s Spurs are pretty much one and the same.
In their first outing following the Italian’s sacking, those old weaknesses were once again clear for all to see at Goodison Park. The final half hour was pretty much everything not to do against ten-men; Everton taking control of the game after Abdoulaye Doucoure was sent off for a clash with Harry Kane.
Then again, perhaps this was to be expected. Stellini was, after all, Conte’s assistant coach. Anyone expecting anything dramatically different, well, the phrase ‘wishful thinking’ comes to mind.
And O’Hara fears that, with Chelsea also in the mix for a new head coach, Julian Nagelsmann will soon be earning a living in West London rather than the North; Fabrizio Romano telling Caught Offside that the 2022 Bundesliga champion is a man with plenty of admirers behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge.
Tottenham Hotspur could miss out on Julian Nagelsmann to Chelsea
“Nagelsmann is going to go to Chelsea,” O’Hara tells talkSPORT (3 April, 10am).
“I don’t know what Spurs are thinking. I am not (chairman) Daniel Levy, but the dithering and the waiting around again from Spurs…
“We might miss out on a top manager!”
Nagelsmann was fired by Bayern late last month, despite their strong position in the Bundesliga table and their outstanding Champions League form. Thomas Tuchel, following his return to German football, overtook former employers Borussia Dortmund and into top spot with a 4-2 Der Klassiker victory on Saturday.
There are, meanwhile, already a few worrying similarities between Tottenham’s latest managerial search and the saga of 2021; Levy flip-flopping relentlessly in his pursuit of a Jose Mourinho replacement.
Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim has all-but rejected the job already. Oliver Glasner may be about to do the same. And O’Hara is not the only one fearing that Nagelsmann will be taking his remarkable attention to detail and his rather natty dress sense to Chelsea.
‘It could be a good match’
“I believe it is very difficult for Julian to coach any other German club. Where can you go from Bayern?,” says Lutz Pfannenstiel, who worked with Nagelsmann at Hoffenheim (talkSPORT, 28 March, 1pm).
“I think the future will be abroad. Spain or England? That is the big question. We all know that he loves football. He watches everything, the Premier League is the league you want to have that experience in.”
“If you’re thinking about the summer, then I think it could be a good match. Especially looking at the last few years at Tottenham, the attacking football somehow vanished.
“The last two mangers were based on a defensive set up. (Spurs fans want) a more attacking or entertaining style. For sure, they would get that with Julian Nagelsmann.”
Nagelsmann, Pfannenstiel adds, is a ‘Tottenham fan’
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
