Spectacular return on the cards: Is Julian Nagelsmann now set to take charge of a global football giant?
With Manchester United once again deep in crisis, manager Michael Carrick faces the exit. Will Julian Nagelsmann step into the breach?
The former Germany coach has emerged as a possible successor to Carrick after the Red Devils' 4-1 thrashing by Italian surprise package Como 1907 in the Champions League. England's respected Telegraph reports that the club are considering the idea.
Since his crushing World Cup failure with the Germany national team in the summer, Nagelsmann has been without a club. Around two years after a successful European Championship on home soil, the 39-year-old failed to meet the high expectations at this year's World Cup. Germany went out in embarrassing fashion to underdogs Paraguay on penalties in the round of 32.
Shortly after his dismissal, speculation began over a return to club football for Nagelsmann. He had previously enjoyed great success at Bayern Munich, in Leipzig and at TSG Hoffenheim. A few weeks ago, rumours linked him with a return to Leipzig as a replacement for the under-pressure Martin Demichelis, but Jürgen Klopp's successor Roger Schmidt soon dampened that talk.
Following Klopp's appointment as Germany coach, Schmidt became Red Bull's new head of global soccer and made his position clear: "That's quite normal in this business nowadays. You have to keep dealing with these issues when you lose one or two games. We're a long way from that." Demichelis then bought himself time with a resounding 6-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, but a new door now appears to have opened for Nagelsmann at ManUnited.
Manchester United at rock bottom: "The kind of performance that costs a manager his job"
Nagelsmann had already been linked with a move to the Premier League after his rather surprising departure from Bayern Munich in March 2023. The defeat on the shores of Lake Como is likely to be the final nail in the coffin for Carrick. The Guardian called it a "shameful defeat". The Telegraph described it as "the kind of performance that costs a manager his job". The 20-time English champions and three-time Champions League winners have now gone seven competitive matches without a win and looked "fundamentally broken".
The alarming display in Lombardy prompted captain Bruno Fernandes to publicly criticise his manager's tactics afterwards. Como coach Cesc Fabregas also suggested he had spared ManUnited an even heavier defeat.
"I perhaps regret the last ten minutes, when I was the one who told the team to slow the tempo because there's another game coming up and, at 4-0, you might still be able to achieve something," the Spaniard said, adding: "I told Tassos Douvikas to stop running and stay in the middle, and perhaps that's exactly what I regret." The former world-class midfielder added: "I'm the one who always pushes to keep trying until the end, and conceding that goal left me with a bad feeling. It happened because we reduced our intensity and our defending, but that was my fault, and I take it to heart."
Carrick, meanwhile, kept his response brief after the final whistle. "There's a lot to do before the next game, and we have to prepare the team for it," he said, looking ahead to Sunday's league match against AFC Bournemouth. "Because tonight was a difficult night for everyone."
Manchester United: Alarmingly high managerial turnover
After seven matches, ManUnited have seven points and sit in a disappointing 13th place. Qualification for European competition is slowly slipping out of reach. In the Champions League, the Red Devils have at least managed one win alongside two defeats and remain on course for the play-offs.
That meagre return falls short of their high expectations. The club's managerial turnover in recent years tells its own story. Since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013, eight different managers have occupied the Old Trafford touchline, excluding interim appointments. They include big names such as Louis dann Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ralf Rangnick.
