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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Frank Lampard, Duncan Ferguson, Freddie Ljungberg: these are the names of the managers of Manchester United, Chelsea, Everton and Arsenal respectively at the current stage of the 2019-20 Premier League season. In a quite bizarre turn of events over the last 18 months, the aforementioned clubs have made managerial changes and have resorted to appointing former club legends at the helm.
What is the reason behind the owners and board of directors making such appointments when managers like Massimiliano Allegri, Carlo Ancelotti and Mauricio Pochettino are currently without a job? One wonders why individuals with such massive portfolios and a history of managing the biggest clubs in the world, as well as a combined total of 36 trophies between them, have not been considered as candidates to manage clubs such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Everton.
The fact of the matter is that this trend of hiring club legends to be either interim or permanent managers is not going away anytime soon; instead, it is seen as the new step forward for most clubs.
This isn’t the first time that such a thing has happened. How could anyone forget Zinedine Zidane’s Champions League three-peat with Real Madrid, or the glory days of Barcelona under Pep Guardiola?
But former players managing the clubs that they were so successful at as players used to be a rarity at one point, and was seen only in cases such as that of the Catalonian tactician - where he played at Barcelona, completed his coaching badges at the club and rose through the ranks as a coach, by which time his blood was embedded with the DNA of Barcelona and the type of football that the club stood for.
Therefore, Guardiola's time at the helm of the Blaugrana was a seamless transition of the tiki-taka football played at the academy, translated onto the pitch by the senior team.
There have on the other hand been failures in this regard, such as Thierry Henry's stint as the coach of AS Monaco, Alan Shearer’s stint as coach of Newcastle United and Genaro Gattuso’s time as the coach of AC Milan. These players-turned-coaches had very little experience coaching clubs, and even lesser experience coaching big teams of which results and silverware are expected.
Yet, even with their lack of experience, many clubs are willing to take the risk of hiring them. And there are quite a few reasons for that.
There is a so-called ‘feel-good factor’ among the fans, players and staff of the club when a familiar face - one that they can associate with the club - is hired. These clubs legends were at their peak or were present at the height of the clubs powers as a whole. They’ve experienced the highs and lows of the club, and been through it all with the fans.
They’re not only ex-players but also fans, and so they only want what is best for the organization. They are viewed as valuable members of the community who do not seek any selfish gain from acquiring and performing the duties of a manager, other than guiding their respective clubs to where they once were.
These former players would be able to understand the expectations and the identity of the football played by the club much better than any of the managers available in the market. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who took over in December of 2018, was hired under the premise that he would be able to guide the Red Devils back to the attacking style of play of yesteryear - which had almost been forgotten by the fans.
Each team would ideally like to play with a certain style or a certain type of football philosophy. Most of the big Premier League clubs have a certain type of DNA, which is a part of the players' and fans' mentality.
It is a type of play that one can pinpoint from a mile away; it’s a football ID of sorts - such as the fluid passing nature of Arsenal, or the gung-ho attacking nature of Manchester United, or the defensive solidity of a Chelsea outfit coupled with flair and physicality.
The fans and hierarchy of these clubs are under the impression that former players are the ones who are most familiar with these philosophies, and that they are the people who will carry on the traditions of the club in the best possible manner.
Hiring an experienced manager who may come with his own set of tactics and ideas may not sit well with the players and the fans - such as Mourinho with Manchester United, where defence as a form of offence was unheard of and immediately rejected by the fans.
Therefore, the club legends are seen as individuals who can impart not only their knowledge but also pass down the traditions and culture of the club to the future crop of players.
The impact of these club legends on players is also a major factor taken into account while hiring them. When former coaches are sacked, it is normally due to a string of poor results, which would mean a lack of self-confidence and form among the players.
A change in management can sometimes be the catalyst required to ignite the flame in the players. When a club legend is hired, the players have even more drive to prove themselves, learn and get noticed.
Not only are they playing for someone that they look up to and in some cases idolize, but they are also turning out for a fan of the club. Club legends present themselves as leaders and persons who will be able to reach out to the minds and hearts of the players.
Nowadays, many players lack the motivation or respect for those above them. But these legends can command such respect because of their achievements in the sport. The youth level players will strive to perform better and get noticed by the player they once and always will idolize, just so that they may get to one day play under him.
This was very much the case with Zinedine Zidane during his three seasons at the helm at Real Madrid, before which he had no managerial experience. He was able to extract the best out of big-name stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, Gareth Bale and Luka Modric just to name a few; these are all players with huge egos and big personas.
The Frenchman was someone that everyone looked up to since he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. It was his transfer from Juventus to Real Madrid in 2001 that led the Los Blancos to Champions League and LaLiga triumphs.
It's not surprising then that with his team of stars, Zidane managed to win three Champions Leagues in a row.
Hiring former players who do not possess any experience managing teams at the top level comes with many risks, which many clubs are willing to take at this point just so that they can address a few key issues in the short term. Whether this is a permanent solution, and one that will be followed by many other clubs around Europe’s leagues, remains to be seen.
