Tottenham Hotspur hope to appoint Julian Nagelsmann as Antonio Conte’s replacement but former England boss Fabio Capello is not a fan of a man recently fired by Bayern Munich.
Say what you want about Nagelsmann’s Allianz Arena tenure, his record in the Champions League was not to be sniffed at. Bayern had won eight out of eight in the competition this season under the Bavaria-born 35-year-old.
Would Tuesday’s 3-0 hammering at Manchester City have turned out differently if it was Nagelsmann still in the dugout, presumably wearing some kind of salmon pink smoking jacket, rather than a sodden Thomas Tuchel? Possibly not. But it’s a debate worth having; the timing of Nagelsmann’s dismissal raising eyebrows.
It was Nagelsmann’s underwhelming domestic record which put pay to his Allianz Arena dreams; Chelsea and Tottenham among those offering the former RB Leipzig coach a fresh start in a new league.
Capello, never a man afraid to speak his mind, is clearly not a paid-up member of the Nagelsmann fanclub, however. A man who began his coaching career at Hoffenheim at the age of 28, Capello says, still has a lot to learn, even if he might not believe that himself.
Tottenham and Chelsea like former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann
“I didn’t like Nagelsmann very much,” the ex-Real Madrid, Roma and AC Milan tactician tells Sky Italia.
“He gave the impression of already knowing everything at 35. But he was doing well.”
A man who knows Nagelsmann better than most, however, insists that reports of a somewhat prickly demeanour are greatly overblown.
The German’s preference for an attack-minded, high-pressing style, meanwhile, would be well received by a Spurs fanbase starved of entertainment after a year of Catenaccio and counter-attacking under Antonio Conte.
“I believe there was an approach before (from Tottenham). But there were many approaches from many other clubs!,” former Hoffenheim chief Lutz Pfannenstiel explains, via talkSPORT.
“I personally think it would be not a good choice to go there right now. (But) a very good choice in the summer.
“If you just leave a big job, you need a few weeks or months to reflect. And, then, you move forward
“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. People at Tottenham are used to more of an attacking or entertaining style. For sure, they would get that with Julian Nagelsmann.”
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