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While he’s in England and they
don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, Arsenal manager Unai Emery had nothing to
celebrate as he was sacked following the club’s worst run in 27 years.
Not entirely unexpected, but
what it does do is give another name for Inter Miami boss Jorge Mas to consider
as the new club has yet to name an official manager.
It did get me to start thinking about the inaugural Inter Miami manager.
There are rumblings that Nice,
and former NYCFC manager Patrick Vieira is the top choice for Inter’s new
manager. However, there are other names to consider here:
Vieira
While he is being considered as the “top choice” for Inter Miami, Vieira has already expressed his intention
to stay at Nice for the foreseeable future.
Of course, with Emery getting
the sack in London, Arsenal could be a potential landing ground, but it seems
highly unlikely considering Vieira’s experience.
I know he is a popular name
for Inter Miami, but the big question is whether he would actually want to
return to MLS?
He’s had his eye on Europe for
a long time and Ligue One is a great place to earn your spurs before making the
jump to the Premier League — which is where Vieira (and any other manager worth
anything) wants to be.
It’s entirely possible Vieira
comes to Miami, but it could also be seen as a setback to his career. With
Nice, he has 17 points from 15 matches in a league no one really cares about
outside of Paris-Saint Germain.
Mauricio Pochettino
Poch got the sack from
Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month after a disastrous start that found them
10th in the Premier League.
Not where the runners-up in
the Champions League expected to be — especially with the talent they put on
the field like Dele Alli, Harry Kane, etc.
While Pochettino won
160 of his 293 matches in charge of Tottenham, he seemed to have lost some
of his punch this season which apparently frustrated Tottenham fans and
management — of course getting knocked out of the third round of the EFL Cup by
Colchester United didn’t help his cause any.
He runs a mix of the 4-2-3-1
and the 4-1-4-1, but I would expect with what Inter Miami is bringing to the
table, they are going to want a manager with an attacking mentality, and I’m
not sure Poch is it.
Plus, I don’t know that, after
spending stints at Southampton and Espanyol that Pochettino will want to come
to South Florida to jumpstart his managerial career. It’s likely other clubs in
Europe will come calling soon.
Santiago Solari
Another manager getting
traction with Inter Miami rumors is former Real Madrid boss Santiago Solari.
Solari loves to attack with
the ball, but for some reason, he couldn’t resonate his style with Real Madrid
players or fans — seeing them eliminated from both the Champions League and the
Copa del Rey.
Of course, having Zidane make a return didn’t help his case to stay.
Currently, Solari has returned
to Real Madrid to serve as
a club ambassador — nine months after he was fired from the club.
But, Solari like Vieira has aspirations
of managing in the Premier League one day because, well, everyone wants to
manage in the Premier League.
However, in terms of attacking
style, Solari would bring a Jurgen Klopp-like mentality to Inter Miami which
could be just what the club needs during its inaugural season.
The question, like with Vieira
and Pochettino is would he be willing to sidestep into Major League Soccer as a
way to fulfill his dreams of England?
Robert Moreno
Moreno, like Solari, is young
with a bright future ahead of him.
He is another attacking Spanish
manager that would likely bring that same style to South Florida.
The biggest issue here is
experience. He’s been an assistant manager at AS Roma, Celta de Vigo and FC
Barcelona while only being a “manager” for the Spanish national team.
But, as an assistant manager,
he’s won the Champions League, three Spanish Cups, the Spanish Super Cup and a
FIFA Club World Cup.
And, he’s mentored under Luis
Enrique which isn’t a bad reference to have on your resume.
He’s been off the job since
earlier this month when Enrique returned to the position following a leave of absence
to deal with his daughter being diagnosed with cancer.
Since then, Enrique has
not been happy with Moreno because Moreno wanted to keep control of Spain through
the Euros, which wasn’t going to happen.
Anyway, this could be a good
fit for Inter Miami as Moreno is young and can certainly bring a lot of energy
to the South Florida football community.
Max Allegri
If you want a manager that
will bring instant credibility to your team, former Juventus manager Max
Allegri is your guy.
And, for what it’s worth, I think
he would be the best fit as Inter Miami’s first manager.
He led the Old Lady to six
Serie A titles — consecutively — four Coppa Italia’s, three Supercoppa Italia
titles among others.
I know his only experience is
in Italy — Juventus, AC Milan, Cagliari, Sassuolo, Lecco, Grosseto, SPAL and
Aglianese — but I think he could see himself in South Florida with Inter.
He would be the steady hand on
the field a new club like Inter Miami would need (see Bob Bradley at Los
Angeles FC).
He brings a 4-3-3 attacking
style, which would be perfect for Inter and I think he still has a lot of fight
left in him.
To me, his leaving Juventus
was because there was really nothing else left for him to do there, outside of
winning the Champions League.
I think he’s looking for a
challenge and building a club from the ground up would be perfect. Of course,
with his credentials, he’s
been linked to Arsenal, Real Madrid, PSG and Bayern Munich, but at Inter
Miami he could call the shots and do what he wants.
Perfect for someone of Allegri’s
pedigree.
Is he on the radar? Not likely, but I certainly think he should be.