And so the Tottenham managerial merry go round picks up another passenger. This time the man taken for a spin will be Mauricio Pochettino, the highly rated manager of last season’s surprise package Southampton, who has agreed to a five-year deal. The former Argentine international turned manager comes with a reputation for high intensity, high pressing, attacking football which sounds eerily close to the mythical “Tottenham” way. On the other hand it also sounds very similar to the type of football that Andre Villas-Boas was supposedly trying to instill at the club. There are several things that Pochettino will have to do – and do quickly, given Chairman Daniel Levy’s impatience – if he wants to keep the job for longer than a season.

1)    Get the team to buy into his ideas – and quickly

First things first, Pochettino will have to get the team on his side quickly. Tottenham have a number of relatively high profile internationals on their books, some of whom have been brought in at great expense. Pochettino will have to prove to these players that his methods can work and that he can make the team play better. Given the relative youth of the team this task should be easier than it would be at say Chelsea or Manchester United, but Tottenham is still a big step up in terms of profile and expectation from Southampton. Pochettino will have to make the players believe that he is up to the task.

2)    Work out his best team

One of Tottenham’s big problems last season was that neither AVB nor Tim Sherwood ever seemed to be able to get a decent grip on what their best team was. In a sense, both were put in a tough position. AVB oversaw the arrival of seven new players with no Premier League experience alongside the departure of several players (not just Gareth Bale) who played key roles in the team the season before. Tim Sherwood had to take over half way through the season so he too had to work out his best team on the fly. In the end neither succeeded. Pochettino, by contrast, should have some time over the summer to work out who will fit into his tactical schemes. Spurs are unlikely to bring in a vast quantity of new names this summer after last summer’s debacle, so Pochettino should have the pre-season to plan what he wants to do. Of course he doesn’t necessarily have to stick to the team he chooses at the beginning but the team will probably benefit from at least a general idea of who will be playing where from week to week.

3)    Figure out Daniel Levy

This is perhaps the most difficult task, and one that arguably no Tottenham manager has ever succeeded in doing. Time and time again managers have fallen foul of Tottenham’s media-shy chairman. Pochettino will have to work out Levy’s foibles and  make sure he understands exactly what is expected of him and his team. He may also have to stand his ground when the chairman is being unreasonable, but do so in a way that does not antagonize the man in charge. It will be quite the tightrope that Pochettino must walk but if he is to have any success at White Hart Lane, he’ll have to make sure he doesn’t fall off.

4)    Choose a good captain

Due to the number of personnel changes that Tottenham has endured over the last season, most of the players have only been at the club for a couple of seasons. This has made it difficult for managers to choose a good captain. It’s tough to give the armband to somebody who has just arrived, even if they are the most suitable in terms of character. Last season the captain was Michael Dawson and he never quite seemed comfortable in the role. Dawson seems more of a very capable deputy rather than a team leader and at times, Spurs seemed to suffer from the lack of a player who could motivate the team and take the bull by the horns. My choice for captain would be Hugo Lloris, but there is a decent chance that the France captain may not be at the club next season. Pochettino will have to choose his captain wisely and make sure it is somebody who the players respect and can get behind.

5)    Help Erik Lamela

Poor old Erik Lamela. Tottenham’s record signing has been the butt of endless jokes this season from opposing fans and Tottenham fans alike. Tottenham’s record signing has had a season to forget, particularly as he has missed most of the season through injury. This does not mean, however, that he has suddenly become a bad player. There is a chance that his game will not adapt to the Premier League, but given the glowing reports he has received from every club he has played for thus far its probably worth waiting a little longer. As Pochettino is from the same country as Lamela, communication should not be an issue and one of new manager’s main tasks will be to get the best (or at least something!) out of the young star.

With David Moyes finally getting the chop at Manchester United, the search for Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor goes back to square one. Since taking over from Ferguson last summer, Moyes has never looked entirely comfortable at the helm and his sacking almost feels like an act of mercy. He always seemed to be a temporary manager mistakenly given a permanent position.

So now the candidates begin to line-up for this prestigious post, with Louis van Gaal the current favorite according to the bookies. The decidedly zany Dutchman has certainly made no secret of the fact that he is interested in taking the job but there are plenty of red flags, from his history of dressing rooms bust-ups to a track record of refusing to listen to his superiors at his former clubs. One supposedly strong plus for van Gaal, however, appears to be his experience.

This idea of an experienced hand as manager is one that has a fair bit of traction in soccer, as it does in other industries. The received wisdom goes that to right a ship (and a ship laden with superstar egos at that), an experienced and perhaps older manager is needed. A youngster, like Ryan Giggs, surely won’t be able to handle the pressure and expectation of such a big job, nor command the respect of his superstar players.

But a closer look at Europe’s top clubs show that increasingly, the best teams in Europe are taking on younger managers, perhaps trying to emulate the success of Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.

Of clubs currently in position to qualify for the Champions League, the average age of the manager is 50.3. The oldest of these managers is Arsene Wenger at 64 and the youngest, other than 40-year-old interim manager Ryan Giggs, is Brendan Rodgers at 41. Interestingly, the median age of the managers is also 50, suggesting that the average is not necessarily skewed by a few youngsters or veterans at either end.

France’s top clubs have the oldest managers with an average age of 56.7 and Germany’s the youngest with an average age of just 43.5. The Premier League’s top 4 have relatively older managers with an average age of 54.

If we look at just the league leaders of Europe’s top clubs, the average age drops considerably. Liverpool’s Brendan Rodgers, Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone, Juventus’ Antonio Conte, Bayern Munich’s Pep Guardiola and PSG’s Laurent Blanc are all under 50 and have an average age of 43.8. At the very top then, younger managers have become very much de rigueur.

The reasons for this trend towards younger managers at the top clubs are difficult determine and not necessarily the same across the board. Liverpool had been nowhere near the top of the league over recent seasons and last season, Brendan Rodgers appeared to have been given the job in the knowledge that it would be a long term project. Little could they have known that Rodgers would lead Liverpool to (potentially) the top of the pile in just his second season in charge.

It is a similar case with Diego Simeone. Given Atletico Madrid’s disastrous financial situation and constant need to sell their top players, Atletico couldn’t have thought that Simeone would make such a big difference in such a short amount of time. Simeone, however, has somehow managed to create a super motivated and clinical team from a few misfits, clever free transfers, and astute loans.

By contrast, Pep Guardiola was a very different appointment. Guardiola had made his name at Barcelona leading a Blaugrana side that will go down in history as one of the best ever. Despite his youth in managerial terms, his remarkable success at the Nou Camp made him a relatively safe appointment for Bayern Munich, although there was some concern at the time as to whether he would be able to replicate his success with Barcelona at Munich.

Antonio Conte’s situation was different again. The former Juventus midfielder began his managerial career at lower-profile clubs before working his way up to the Juventus job in 2011-12. The previous season, Juventus had finished 7^th, not a terrible result given the Calciopoli turmoil of previous years, but not ideal either. Within one season, Conte had returned them to the top of Serie A, quite an astonishing turnaround whatever mitigating factors there may have been.

Finally, Laurent Blanc’s situation has been quite different from all of the above and he is perhaps not quite at the same level as the other managers on this list. Blanc has done a decent job guiding PSG to the top of Ligue 1 but he was low down on the list of PSG’s possible managers when Carlo Ancelotti left in the summer of 2013 for Real Madrid. There is a general feeling that regardless of PSG’s league finish this season, Blanc may be let go in the summer. PSG’s nervy performance against Chelsea in the Champions League quarterfinals may have been the final nail in the coffin.

With the retirement of Jupp Heynckes and Alex Ferguson last season there is a sense that it may be the end of an era for the older manager. Of the managers over 60 on this list, only Rene Girard can be seen to have done a stellar job with Lille whilst the likes of Arsene Wenger, Manuel Pellegrini and Claudio Ranieri have seen their respective teams not quite live up to expectations.

Perhaps it is the youthful energy of the younger manager that is needed to inspire a team in an era when football seems to be played at a faster pace than ever before. Perhaps younger managers have fresher tactical ideas than older managers. Perhaps today’s players react better to managers closer to their own age. The reasons for this trend could be many and it is hard to determine exactly which reasons are important. Indeed, at the same time, it could just be an anomaly.

Of course there are plenty of younger managers in leagues across Europe and probably the world that don’t work out as well. David Moyes himself is not exactly old at 50. But the argument that top clubs should hire older, more experienced managers seems tenuous. Louis van Gaal may end up being the right choice for Manchester United, but vast experience and age should not be equated with some kind of guarantee of success. The younger generation of managers is making their voices heard and this season in particular, they seem to be having more success than their older counterparts. As they have often done with players, the time may have come for Manchester United to choose youth over experience.

As Liverpool edge towards an improbable league title and Tottenham fade away, many have taken the opportunity to compare the differing fortunes of the two clubs. Both teams started the season having finished outside the top four and were looking to break through this season. Both (initially) had young managers with much to prove. Tottenham have slipped up, unable to take advantage of Manchester United’s slide, whilst Liverpool have soared up the table and are now serious contenders, if not favorites, for the title. The obvious question is what did Spurs do wrong and what did Liverpool do right?

Some cite the impact of Liverpool sticking by their manager Brendan Rodgers despite a poor season last year. Others would point to Liverpool’s British base of talent and the rejuvenation of Steven Gerrard as both player and leader. Liverpool’s lack of European football has also been suggested as a factor. All these points may have their merits. But there is one oft-repeated point that is irksome: the Suarez-Bale debate.

The argument goes that Tottenham’s big mistake was selling Gareth Bale to Real Madrid while Liverpool stuck to their guns by refusing to sell Luis Suarez. Suarez has since become one of the world’s best footballers at Liverpool. Bale is still one of the world’s best but now plays for Real Madrid, not Tottenham. If only Spurs had held their nerve and not sold their talisman, they could be where Liverpool are now.

This view however, is seriously misguided.

This isn’t to say that Spurs are somehow a better team without Bale. They clearly aren’t this season. What is strange is this comparison between the two situations, as if both players and teams were in identical positions going into this season. There appears to have been a kind of collective amnesia amongst the media, pundits and the wider soccer-watching public. People seem to have forgotten about everything that happened with Suarez last season and the season before and they have also forgotten about Bale’s situation at Tottenham. So let’s call this article a mythbuster: Why the Suarez and Bale sagas shouldn’t be compared.

The Real Madrid Campaign

When most football fans think about Gareth Bale now, the main thing they remember is last season where Bale was scoring wonder goals every other day. After that, perhaps the month long transfer saga that was the prelude to Bale’s eventual move to Madrid. What seems to have been forgotten is that Real Madrid were strongly linked with Bale the season before. As it turned out, it was only Luka Modric who left that summer but the link was already made and Bale made no secret of his desire to play abroad. This was not, as it seems to have been remembered, a case of Real Madrid suddenly making a big play for Bale last summer. This was a move that was nurtured carefully, and consistently pushed along by the biggest club in the world. The culmination was last year’s saga, but this had been on the cards for much longer.

In contrast, Luis Suarez was more of an afterthought in the minds of the clubs that could afford to buy him. Real Madrid were focused on the Bale transfer, which dragged out over the whole summer, Barcelona were focused on signing Neymar. PSG had decided to spend their money on Edinson Cavani. Chelsea seemed focused on Wayne Rooney whilst Manchester City were busy buying a number of players who they felt would fit into their new system under manager Manuel Pellegrini. The only club that made a serious play for Luis Suarez was Arsenal, and even they only made a derisory offer to try and trigger the buyout clause. The only other team that may have had the money to buy Suarez was Bayern Munich but it seemed unlikely that Bayern Munich under Pep Guardiola would sign such a potentially divisive player. Which brings us neatly on to the next point.

Image and Reputation 

This season Luis Suarez has generally been well-behaved but last season and the season before, this was far from the case. First, there was the racism incident with Patrice Evra that saw Suarez face a substantial ban and Liverpool’s good name tarnished. Then last season there was of course the biting incident. Suarez was undeniably fantastic last season in a soccer sense, almost on a par with Bale in fact, but there were serious question marks about his character. Despite Arsenal’s glaring need for a striker last summer, plenty of Arsenal fans were not sold on buying Suarez largely because of his reputation and image, not because of any questions about his ability. For the global mega clubs that could afford to sign Suarez, this was always going to be a big drawback to any potential transfer.

Gareth Bale, aside from his penchant for diving (an activity that Suarez also seems to enjoy), was essentially a model footballer. Keen to stay out of limelight and never really associated with anything unsavory, from a reputational standpoint, Bale was essentially zero risk. This clean cut image combined with his remarkable talent made him extremely marketable and, over the course of last season, he became not only a Tottenham icon, but a poster boy for the Premier League as a whole. As a result, any club looking to purchase Bale would know that as long as his talent translated to a new team and, as it turned out a new league, there would be no issues with attitude, behavior and image.

The Money 

Gareth Bale moved to Real Madrid for a fee of somewhere between £80 million and £100 million, making him one of the top three transfers in soccer history alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and potentially Neymar (it’s still unclear how much he cost but it appears to be around £80 million). For a club like Tottenham that does not have the commercial revenue of the top four clubs (or in fact Liverpool), this was a serious amount of money. In fact, even for a club with big revenue’s like Manchester United, £80 million plus was considered too much to turn down when Real Madrid came after Ronaldo.

The numbers that appeared in rumors about Suarez were significantly lower. £60 million was probably the upper limit of figures that appeared in the media but the only serious offer appeared to be Arsenal’s £40,000,001. This was likely because of image and reputational issues as even last season, it was hard to doubt Suarez’ talent. In any case, the fact remains that unless there were seriously largely bids taking place outside of the media’s knowledge, the sums of money being discussed for Suarez did not come particularly close to those linked to Bale.

Time at the Club 

By the time Gareth Bale left Tottenham Hotspur he had been at White Hart Lane for six years, having first arrived in 2007. At first he struggled, but from around 2010 he became a genuine star and last season he became a superstar. He was a key player in Tottenham’s 2009/10 season that saw Spurs achieve Champions League qualification and burst on to the global scene a year later when he decimated Inter Milan in the Champions League quarterfinals. Tottenham fans obviously did not want Bale to leave but there was an understanding I think that Bale had been a good servant for Spurs for the last three or four seasons. Particularly as he had helped Spurs not only get into, but perform well in the Champions League.

Luis Suarez on the other hand arrived halfway through the 2010-11 season. After an impressive first half-season, his 2011-12 season was relatively disappointing as he ended up with just 11 league goals. Suarez was of course much much better in 2012-13 but still managed to get himself suspended for biting an opponent. Since Suarez signed for Liverpool, the Reds have never finished above 6th, a poor showing for a rich (if not mega-rich) club with a long history of success. Despite his brilliant goal scoring record last season, it could be argued that Suarez hadn’t really done enough to repay Liverpool for standing by him through all his troubles. Indeed there was plenty of talk last season that perhaps it was time to cut Suarez loose as he was too much of a liability.

Taking all these points into account, the only real similarity between the two players is that both had great season’s last year for teams that didn’t make the Champions League. In pretty much every other way, their situations leading into the summer of 2013 were different. To suggest that Tottenham and Liverpool basically had the same decision to make at the end of last season and went in different directions is not so much missing the wood for the trees but more like missing the wood for a couple of dead weeds.

It does of course make a compelling narrative and create a useful contrast to try and explain the differing fortunes of the two clubs, but it is a short sighted and shallow analysis. There are plenty of differences between the two clubs – their attitude towards their young managers, their willingness to promote young players and the presence of a true team captain, to name but a few. The sale of Bale and retention of Suarez however, were completely different situations and to equate them is to completely misunderstand their respective contexts.

It all started with such promise. A young Japanese attacking midfielder moves to one of the biggest clubs in the world after two impressive seasons under an up-and-coming manager at one of Europe’s most likeable teams. The time seemed right for Shinji Kagawa to begin the next chapter of his career learning the ins and outs of Premier League football under the tutelage of one Sir Alex Ferguson.

It goes without saying that things haven’t really gone to plan. Kagawa struggled with injuries and never really convinced in his first season (although he did show flashes like a hat trick against Norwich), and this season, under new manager David Moyes, he has been a peripheral figure with just a handful of starts and even fewer opportunities to play in his preferred number 10 position. Perhaps Moyes is unconvinced by Kagawa’s qualities. Perhaps Moyes just needs somebody stronger and more athletic for his style of play. Whatever the reason, following the signing of Juan Mata in the winter transfer window, it’s becoming increasingly likely that Kagawa will have to leave Old Trafford to get more regular playing time. But just where should he go?

To answer this question, it’s important to know what type of player Kagawa is. Although he considers himself a number 10, Kagawa is not in the same mold as most Premier League playmakers. Conventional number 10’s – your Mesut Ozil’s, Wayne Rooney’s and David Silva’s – are players that love to have the ball at their feet, pick out through balls, take on defenders, and generally be the center of attention. Kagawa is very different. Although he occupies a similar area of the pitch, he is all about quick one-two’s and darting runs, always there to help out and provide an option. His constant movement makes him hard to track and he generally likes to receive the ball on the move and shift it quickly. His value is not in his dribbling ability, strength, or pace but in his elusiveness, quick thinking, and selfless play.

This is not to say that Kagawa is just a helper. He scored 29 goals in two seasons for Borussia Dortmund and has scored 17 goals for the Japan national team. When his confidence is high, he can, in his own way, become the fulcrum of a side – like a moving wall drifting around the pitch as teammates bounce passes off his nimble feet, creating space and building attacking moves. With this in mind, there are three teams in the Premier League that I think would perfectly suit Kagawa, both in terms of playing style and his need for playing time.

1)    Everton – Since Roberto Martinez took over the Toffees last summer, the Catalan manager has quickly instilled his preferred quick passing, possession-based style of play. Utilizing the passing ability of Gareth Barry and James McCarthy in the middle of park with two skillful players – Steven Pienaar and Kevin Mirallas – on the wings, Everton play a bit like an Arsenal-lite; plenty of possession and nice combinations but at times lacking a bit of bite. The number 10 position has tended to be filled by Ross Barkley when healthy but there are some who feel that the youngster’s future may lie further back in central midfield to make best use of his size and strength. If Kagawa were to move to Goodison Park, he could play in his preferred second striker/number 10 position, linking central midfield with attack and helping to bring the likes of Mirallas and Pienaar into play. Everton’s style of play should suit Kagawa to a T and, given the Toffees limited squad depth, the Japanese midfielder should have plenty of chances to play. The big question would be wages. Kagawa is unlikely to be on superstar wages at Manchester United but he may still command more than Everton can afford. Kagawa may also be unwilling to move to a “smaller club,” though given Manchester United’s performances this season, there is every chance that Everton will finish above them.

2)    Southampton – Much like Everton, Southampton play a possession-based game that relies on good teamwork and player rotations to fashion chances. At their best, Southampton combine quick short passing with high pressing, a style somewhat similar to Borussia Dortmund though without quite the same quality of personnel. Naturally, this would be a good fit for Kagawa. At present, Southampton’s playmaking duties tend to fall to Lallana as a kind of drifting number 10 or Gaston Ramirez. However, Lallana seems more comfortable drifting in from the wing whilst Ramirez has consistency problems. As such, Kagawa should be able to slot in fairly comfortably with Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana on either side. In fact, given all the praise that has been showered on Lallana this season, he may even find himself at a bigger club next season. The presence of another Japanese player, Maya Yoshida, would also be a plus as Yoshida should be able to help Kagawa settle into a new environment. The big question mark here is whether Kagawa would be willing to accept moving to Southampton, a club that is much smaller than Manchester United, both in terms of profile and size. Kagawa is a superstar in Japan, in the same way that Wayne Rooney is in England. Moving from Manchester United to Southampton would be considered a significant step down. Wages could also be an issue; though if the Saints are able to pay Pablo Osvaldo £60,000 per week (according to some reports), they should be able to pay Kagawa enough to keep him happy.

3)    Arsenal – This would probably be Kagawa’s preferred destination but given the presence of players like Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky, he could have a tough time making it into the first team. On the plus side,  it’s hard to imagine a better fit in terms of playing style. Arsenal like to play fast-flowing, one-touch football and their midfielders have the technique and intelligence to make it work. Although Kagawa may not get the same first team opportunities that he would get at clubs like Everton and Southampton, Arsenal’s stature means he might be more willing to accept being a squad player as long as there was enough squad rotation to get him a decent number of games. Given Arsenal’s well-documented injury troubles, that may not be an issue.  Between that and his seemingly great fit for Arsenal’s system, Kagawa should get more opportunities to play at Arsenal than he does presently at Manchester United. Arsene Wenger also seems to have a bit of a soft spot for Japanese players, probably due to the fact that he spent some time in Japan as manager of Nagoya Grampus Eight. His Japanese acquisitions at Arsenal – Junichi Inamoto and Ryo Miyaichi – haven’t exactly worked out but Wenger is on the record as saying he believes Japan is an interesting market for talent. The big question may be whether Arsenal would feel the need to buy a player like Kagawa. They have no shortage of attacking midfielders and have much bigger needs up front and in the center of defense.

In essence, Kagawa should thrive at any club that likes to play possession-based passing soccer, but if he decides to move to another club in the Premier League he may have to accept that he will have to take a step down. Kagawa seems like a hard worker and is not considered particularly arrogant by the Japanese media, so he may be willing to do this. Otherwise, he may have to look for opportunities abroad and in truth, this may be a better fit for his skills.

If he does move away from the Premier League, I for one will consider it a shame as I think he is a relatively unique player and can make a difference when played in the right system. The continued calls for his inclusion from a vocal group of Manchester United fans suggest that they too believe he can make an impact. However, with the immense pressure on David Moyes and Kagawa’s understated style of play, it is no big surprise that he is struggling for playing time. Unless Moyes drastically changes his opinion of Kagawa in the coming weeks, one thing seems clear: for the benefit of both club and player, it’s probably time for Kagawa to move on.

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