Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs continues to bide his time in his bid to land the top managerial role at the club, but should he gain experience elsewhere?
According to The Mirror, Giggs will leave Old Trafford if Jose Mourinho is appointed manager ahead of him this summer as he will be forced to continue in an assistant role under the Portuguese tactician.
The 42-year-old began in a coaching capacity at United in 2013 as a player-assistant, and aside from a brief spell as interim player-manager, he became a full-time assistant a year later and has continued to work as part of Louis van Gaal’s backroom staff.
While the Welshman will naturally benefit from working with some of the top managers in European football, there comes a point when he must gain experience of standing on his own feet.
Lessons learned from Sir Alex Ferguson, Van Gaal and potentially Mourinho will set him up perfectly for his own managerial career, but as with many of his former teammates in Manchester who have gone on enjoy success on the bench, he needs to acquire experience of working as manager before he takes the Old Trafford hot seat.
Steve Bruce, Roy Keane, Laurent Blanc and Mark Hughes are just a few of the names that have gone on to establish themselves as reputable managers, although Gary Neville proved that it doesn’t always go perfectly following his short stint at Valencia.
Nevertheless, the former England international would have learned a lot from the experience which will arguably stand him in good stead moving forward, and that is something that Giggs needs before he can take up the mantle at United.
Having developed a winning mentality over two decades with Ferguson as his manager, there is no denying that Giggs would be a perfect appointment for United.
However, if they don’t feel the time is right this summer, then perhaps he should look elsewhere with a view of returning to Old Trafford as a coach capable of dealing with the pressures and various scenarios that will present themselves in such a big job.
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