With the domestic European football league season now in the books, there’s a clear theme at the close of the campaign: major coaching vacancies across European leagues. This volume of turnover in the dugouts, especially at this level, is something which almost never takes place.
Perhaps the most notable vacancy of all has already been filled. It’s already been confirmed that Arne Slot will leave Feyenoord to take over from Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool. Of course, it’ll be almost impossible for Slot to even come close to living up to the standard that his German predecessor set over a legendary nine-year stint; it’s close to certain that Liverpool will thus experience a significant decline next season.
Beyond Anfield, however, the carousel is at full speed. Recently, in a move that stunned the football world, Vincent Kompany accepted the job at Bayern Munich despite the fact that his time at Burnley had finished with the Belgian presiding over the Lancashire club’s relegation. On the surface, there appears to be no conceivable reason whatsoever as to why Bayern would hire someone like Kompany who’s achieved absolutely nothing of note over his brief coaching career thus far. There is, of course, a possibility that Kompany will end up defying the critics and putting together a solid season - but as of right now, let’s just say that no one would be surprised if he were to be fired by January or February 2025.
Next, we’ll look at Barcelona where Xavi has been fired after failing to defend the La Liga title. He will be replaced by Hansi Flick. Compared to Bayern’s hiring of Kompany, this, on the other hand, seems to be a much less questionable hire. Flick took Bayern to the Treble in 2020 for the only time in the club’s storied history. However, one blot on Flick’s résumé is his time in charge of the German national team during which Germany were knocked out of the World Cup’s group stage for the second tournament in succession. That being said, Die Mannschaft were at that point at their lowest ebb. Flick might very well be exactly who Barça need in order to reclaim the league title - and perhaps make a deep Champions League run as well.
How about Juventus? In a stunning turn of events, the Turin club fired Massimiliano Allegri despite victory in the Coppa Italia final - according to the club, Allegri was supposedly fired for his conduct throughout the course of the match. However, emphasis here has to be on the word “supposedly” - there’s been much speculation that the Bianconeri had already agreed to a deal with current Bologna head coach Thiago Motta who would be slated to take over at the beginning of next season. Though not confirmed, some view the incident during the Coppa final as nothing more than a convenient excuse for Juve to expedite the process.
Manchester United remain in a “will they or won’t they” state of limbo regarding the firing of Erik ten Hag. The Dutchman would almost certainly have lost his job had United lost the FA Cup final to Manchester City. Instead, ten Hag masterminded one of the most remarkable upset victories in the tournament’s recent history and potentially earned himself another chance by doing so. If that, however, ended up being insufficient to keep ten Hag around, he would likely be replaced by either Kieran McKenna of Ipswich Town or…
…the recently-fired Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentine’s ill-fated year at Chelsea ended with a whimper as the Blues could only watch while United snatched their Europa League spot by winning the FA Cup. In recent years, the Chelsea job has become borderline radioactive. That being said, three names have been mentioned regarding who’s taking over in the Stamford Bridge dugout - McKenna as well as Enzo Maresca of Leicester City or Brighton & Hove Albion’s Roberto De Zerbi. While none of these names will really be expected to move the needle by much, stranger things have happened.
When it comes to hiring a club’s next coach or firing the current one, so much has to be taken into account. The wrong call can stymie the club’s progress for years. All the clubs mentioned here now stand at a crossroads. The decision they each make will shape not just next season, but the next few after it as well.
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