Manchester United will be on the search for a new manager this summer, though if the recent speculation is anything to go by, they’re no closer to working out who their preferred candidate is.
The Red Devils have been on quite a journey since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, with David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and current interim manager Ralf Rangnick having little in common.
Whether it’s Mauricio Pochettino, Erik ten Hag, or perhaps outsiders like Luis Enrique or Julen Lopetegui coming in next, that trend seems likely to continue, but the club themselves don’t seem sure about which direction to take.
In such uncertain times, could Man Utd do well to simply go for someone with a pretty straightforward and successful strategy? A no-thrills philosophy of simply working hard, and winning at all costs?
Look no further than Antonio Conte, who currently seems to be at precisely the wrong club to meet his demands in Tottenham Hotspur.
The Italian tactician was a surprise appointment for the north Londoners earlier this season, not least because he’d already rejected them in the summer due to being unconvinced by their project (as per the Metro), and he’s made pretty similar noises since being in the job as well.
“At the end of the season, everyone has to speak about their own vision,” Conte was recently quoted by the Evening Standard. “I speak about my vision, and I think also the club will speak about their vision, and Paratici will speak about his vision, and then we will see.”
Conte clause to pave the way for Man Utd?
According to a recent report from Calciomercato, Conte actually has a clause that could allow him to leave Spurs at the end of this season, and United surely need to take advantage, or else he’ll be heading to Paris Saint-Germain or another major European club.
The former Chelsea and Inter Milan boss has won silverware pretty much everywhere he’s been, though he seems aware he’s not going to do that at Tottenham, but United can surely give him a more tempting offer.
As much as the Red Devils have become a bit of a faded force, there is at least a big desire to get back to the top, and that has been reflected in an ambitious, if somewhat poorly-thought-through, transfer strategy in recent times.
With Conte at the helm, one imagines signings like Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku in particular would have worked out a lot better for United, as evidenced for just how good they looked under the 52-year-old when they played for him at Juventus and Inter, respectively.
More than just individual players, however, Conte could improve the general mood inside United. As Paul Scholes recently put it, it seems clear this group of players “need a manager that strikes fear into players”, as he was quoted by the Daily Mirror.
See the video above as Conte gives a glimpse to Sky Sports about just how serious he is about demanding respect from his players. As good as the likes of Pochettino and Ten Hag are, there are few in the game who can talk about wanting to “kill” a player for not putting in enough effort and make it sound genuine.
It’s obvious why Conte seems to get almost all players he’s worked with to raise their game. Remember that he took over a Chelsea side that had downed tools under Jose Mourinho, finishing 10th in 2015/16, and instantly turned them into runaway Premier League champions.
If it’s a cultural reset that United are after, it’s the mentality within the squad that is the biggest barrier to success right now. Pochettino and Ten Hag have their qualities as tacticians, but Conte brings that and more, and can turn United into the ruthless killers they were under Sir Alex Ferguson again.