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The summer of 2013 is arguably the busiest in the world of football, ever. From Confederations Cup surprises to protests against FIFA and Brazilian FA, from the retirement of Alex Ferguson to the rise of the German game in Europe, it has surely been eventful in every sense.
Post season 2012-13, it was predicted there would be plenty of movement during the transfer window. While the player transfers are not new, be it their numbers or the amount of money splashed around, this transfer window has seen probably the biggest upheaval in managerial changes in most of the top European clubs.
The sudden rise of the Germans has alerted everyone, and while Bayern might still win almost everything in the new season (for obvious reasons), all the clubs are now planning to rethink and restart their respective campaigns to claim their stake of bragging rights over the next five years.
There is always one European champion every season. No matter how strong a team has been, the Champions League has never been retained by any team since its institution in 1992. Such kind of uncertainty has been fueling the top clubs across Europe to play football at the highest level and bestow us with unforgettable nights.
The changes that have taken place in European football this summer, both in managers and players, will contribute to a scintillating Champions League campaign. So, while we are on the point of UCL, lets take a peek into how the managing changes could fare and how could the club end up in Europe.
First up, Pep Guardiola.
Pep Guardiola to Bayern Munich
Guardiola in his new dressing room
After a year’s sabbatical, Guardiola returned to coaching, not to Barcelona, but to Germany.
Bayern’s very early announcement of Pep’s appointment has given enough time for the Spanish coach to prepare himself on all fronts before the early pre-season. Bayern Munich were among the first to kick off their pre-season campaign, with players getting only a month’s rest after their heroics at Wembley in May.
Even before entering the club, Pep made his influence felt by luring wonderkid Mario Goetze to Bavaria and allegedly trying to convince Lewandowski too.
His latest acquisition, Thiago Alacantara though, has to be the biggest coup of the decade. The hattrick hero in U21 Euro final was not convinced about his playing time at Barcelona, and thanks to an absurd clause in his contract, Bayern were able to get him for only 17 million pounds, probably half of his market value.
It has been reported that Guardiola’s training methods have been very demanding, and there is a sort of dislike for those tactics among some of the players. Whatever maybe the case, Pep still has a lot of time to assess the squad and tune it to his frequency.
Boasting the likes of Martinez, Schweinsteiger, Thiago, Gustavo, Kroos, and Gotze in midfield, which is unquestionably the best in the world at present, Bayern can dominate games with an all-round game of retaining possession and high tempo pressing with ruthless wingers and a robust defence.
There are very few teams that can contain such a combination of tactics, so expect Bayern to go all the way and maybe even become the first back to back UEFA Champions League winners. For more on Pep’s tactics and possible scenarios, follow the link.
Carlo Ancelotti to Real Madrid
Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid
Mourinho’s departure after a 3-year stint in the Spanish capital attracted mixed reaction from the Los Blancos faithful.
While, Jose made long strides in taking the club to league glory and bringing an end to the Barca dominance, the team’s defeats in the semis of the Champions League for 3 years didn’t go down well with the fans. So, Real had to appoint a high profile manager after having learned lessons from their Juande Ramos debacle.
In came Carlo Ancelotti from PSG. A call from Santiago Bernebau to coach the team is a rarity, and those usually can’t be turned down. A manager with UCL pedigree is exactly what president Florentino Perez needed, to reorganize and motivate an egoistic team.
Mourinho’s tussle with the players last season has left the squad in bad shape in terms of morale and Carlo is the right man to bring everyone onto the same boat.
While the manager’s appointment was a bit delayed, the club didn’t wait on transfers. Very highly rated Spaniard, Isco was signed from Malaga for 26.4 million pounds and Daniel Carvajal was signed back from Bayer Leverkusen for 5 million. The loan contract of Brazilian defensive mid Casemiro was made permanent with a transfer fee of 6 million pounds.
The biggest signing though, is of the midfielder Asier Illaramendi for 34 million pounds (including all clauses). This might look like a protracted move to prevent a future star playing for any other team, but nonetheless, it is a great signing.
The real problem Ancelotti will face is managing the large squad with a limited number of starting spots. Kaka becomes the instant talking point. The Brazil star became what he is today under the guidance of Carlo at Milan, but to how much extent will he be favoured over Mesut Ozil and Isco needs to be seen.
With Zenedine Zidane as the assistant coach, that minor communication gap between the player and manager will be well bridged. Gonzalo Higuain is expected to leave the club sooner or later, so a world class striker is very much likely to be signed. Luis Suarez would work wonders for Carlo and Madrid and might be the difference between Real Madrid and any sort of silverware next season.
Laurent Blanc to PSG
Laurent Blanc at PSG
Following Ancelotti and Leonardo’s departure, PSG’s wealthy owners were left gaping at a calamity waiting to happen. But what do Arab businessmen do? They splash the cash.
Splash they did and bamm! Cavani in the pocket. Napoli striker Cavani has been the center of a dragging transfer saga during which he was linked to practically every big club. But thanks to some shrewd wisdom from the Napoli owner and financial muscle of PSG, the Uruguayan hitman was able to complete his transfer to Paris for a record 56.3 million pounds fee.
Rafael Benitez will be smiling, somewhere in Naples. Such a signing pobviously brings about some morality issues in the squad. And when you have Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the competitor, it escalates to a whole new level. PSG president announced that Ibra didn’t want to play alongside Cavani and was on his way to another club. How much of that is true is out of our scope, but it surely establishes the fact of player egos.
Thiago Silva too might be reluctant to stay in Paris, with Barcelona waiting to jump in whenever the opportunity presents itself.
The signing of Cavani alone won’t solve the problems for the new manger, Frenchman, Laurent Blanc. Blanc hasn’t had much of a career in terms of managing and is relatively very young in the arena. Nevertheless, he being French outweighs many other shortcomings as he has a decent squad to compete both in domestic and European leagues.
The latest signing, Lucas Digne and a possible coup for Roma’s Marquinhos show Blanc’s intent of building a team for the future. For more insight into what could PSG possibly look like in the next season, click this link.
David Moyes to Manchester United
David Moyes at Manchester United
Alex Ferguson’s retirement from coaching duties might have come a tad early for the Manchester United supporters. The 25-year reign of arguably the best coach came to an end on a winning note, thanks to a stable season courtesy of Robin van Persie.
The departing manager himself chose his replacement, and it wasn’t a surprise that David Moyes was the man to be handed the baton.
The new Scotsman started working right from the end of last season and has an uphill task of maintaining the trophy inflow into the cabinets. Ferguson was a kind of manager who could get a win with a mediocre team using his tactical brain. David Moyes has never won a major trophy and has managed a mediocre team in Everton.
Manchester United have many problems to address in many positions on the pitch. The wingers especially weren’t in the best shape last term and the ever present midfield problem keeps irritating the Reds’ faithful every season.
The latest attempt to sign Fabregas from Barcelona might not end in their favour, but it points to the fact that the need for a world class midfielder has been felt. Also,the frustrating situation with Wayne Rooney will be the source of extra headache for Moyes as he clearly appears to be desperate to hold on to his ’2nd’ striker.
With Chelsea making a public bid for the English striker, Moyes must be in the market searching for his replacement despite the presence of Hernandez and Welbeck in the ranks. The transition of the club from the Giggs’ and the Scholes’ into a new young team is almost at its final stages, and Ferguson should be praised for achieving that.
While some tactical issues linger, a couple of signings could put the Red Devils back on track and aiming for titles once again. However, their advancement in the European front might be a bit over-ambitious for Moyes right now, but we can still expect some fireworks.
Manuel Pellegrini to Manchester City
Manuel Pellegrini at Manchester City
Manchester City managed to win only the Community Shield last term and were a centre of constant scrutiny from all corners, thanks to the team dynamics on and off the field.
When you assemble some of the brightest talents in world football, there ought to be morale and ego issues. Mancini seemed to have pulled off a blinder when his team went on to clinch a dramatic league title from their neighbors, but the Italian knew that the real test would be to retain the thing.
A turmoil dressing room coupled with unhappy players and finally a defeat in the FA cup final in the hands of Wigan were too much for the sheikh to take. Out went Mancini and after some thoughts later, Pellegrini came in to fill the managers role.
The signings of Fernandinho and Jesus Navas surely point to the intent of getting the team back on track and challenge for top honours. The owner’s ambition of winning the Champions League might have taken a turn in the right direction with these quality businesses, but still the new Chilean manager has a lot of work to do.
The offloading of Tevez to Juventus is a good start. With Aguero and Dzeko already in the ranks, a third striker is on the cards and Alvaro Negredo is touted to be that player.
Man City had a few defensive issues last season, but their major fault lies in the midfield and wings. Those are almost taken care of with the influx of Fernandinho and Navas, but in order to survive the grueling 11 months of competitive football, you need depth.
While the domestic ball is in Chelsea’s court, thanks to a certain ‘Happy one’ returning to the bridge, Pellegrini will be viewing this season as a rebuilding one, with a possibility of ‘small’ silverware and a successful European campaign. Successful, he might be, in reaching the quarters or semis in UCL.
Jose Mourinho to Chelsea
Jose Mourinho at Chelsea
This has to be the blockbuster managerial transfers of all. Jose’s first term a the Bridge had shaken the very foundations of football principles and English football as a whole.
From then on Chelsea managed to stay at the top, attracting world class talent and winning trophies almost every season. While the last season might have been on the dull side of the coin in terms of results, Chelsea fans must be happy that whatever happened, happened for a good reason.
The team was undergoing a transition from the base of the Mourinho-I era, and before the completion of that phase we have Mourinho-II.
Jose’s return was on cards for a long time, and the latest term comes with not so much power to the manager, as he had enjoyed in his last term. The club has developed a sustainable and successful youth model and Mourinho, who is not famous for his use of youth prospects in the first team, had to take a step down and accept that the world has changed and he needs to adapt.
No manager should have any problem working with the current Chelsea squad, which is packed with young talent and experienced personnel. New signings, Andre Schurrle, Wallace and Christian Cuevas have been on the Blues radar from a long time and can be put in the ‘club signing’ category.
Other recruits, Marco van Ginkel and Mark Schwarzer came into the blue light recently, so they must be the picks of Jose. The club is still pursuing talent to fill in the weak spots in midfield and attack.
Wayne Rooney has emerged as Mourinho’s major target,and a possible deal is not very far. Also,there are rumours about Luis Gustavo of Bayern and De Rossi of Roma for the midfield role.
Chelsea had a good second half of the season last term with Benitez in-charge and were strong enough to compete on many fronts.
This time around, with some more influx of players adding to the depth, and Blues favorite Mourinho in the dugout, there is every reason for Chelsea to challenge for titles across all fronts.
Europe might provide Jose with a much tougher challenge, but if he captures Rooney from Man Utd, there is every chance of Chelsea reaching the Champions League finals.
