The winger has been undertaking his coaching badges, and will decide after Christmas whether this will be his last season as a player.
Given that he has been in charge at Manchester United for over 25 years, it’s not surprising that many of Alex Ferguson’s player have gone on to manage clubs. The results have been mixed, and there are suggestions that the best may still be to come, with one club men Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Giggs yet to start their management careers.
Neville in particular is praised as someone who could well turn out to be an excellent manager and Giggs currently undertaking his coaching badges with the former right back. It’s harder to know how successful Giggs would be as a coach as, much like Paul Scholes, the winger is a relatively shy media presence, and has so far focussed on his playing career with little mention of what he would go onto afterwards.
In a recent interview however, Giggs has spoken about his desire to become a manager. As he did last year, Giggs is waiting until after Christmas to evaluate whether he will retire from playing football at the end of the season, perhaps keen to avoid going too early, as Paul Scholes did before being coaxed back to playing.
Like Neville and Scholes, Giggs has spent his whole career under the tutelage of Ferguson, and watched at how the club has adapted to a huge amount of changes in the make up of English football. The three of them should have an enviable insight into how the very best clubs are run, but translating that into being a successful manager is a huge challenge. The most interesting aspect of how these players will fare is in how they would deal with perhaps not being at one of the top clubs. Being used to winning, as the three of them are, constantly struggling for wins would be a new challenge.
One thing Giggs should certainly have a high level of insight about is player longevity. The Welshman has embraced a huge variety of methods to maintain his performance levels over the years, from yoga to simply eating sensibly. Sports science has become a staple of the modern game, and few would understand the player’s perspectives on these ideas as well as Ryan Giggs.
Harder to predict is how much tactical nous Giggs will have. Playing under Ferguson is not the same as managing like him, as many ex players have shown. However one of these three players could be the man to truly take on the great manager’s mantle, and what would be really interesting would be if they ended up competing to succeed the Scot at Old Trafford.
image: © Paolo Camera
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