Why United Need To Just Get Allegri

Credit: Wikipedia

The speculation surrounding Massimiliano Allegri and Manchester United has started to really pick up over the last few days. This comes as no surprise as United are looking pretty poor through the first 8 games. There have been some good arguments as to why United should not go this route. Chief among them is that Allegri is not too much unlike Mourinho in that he plays a very defensive style which can be seen as boring. True, but at this stage United may have to just except boring because boring beats dreadful, which is what they are right now.

The one thing United have going for them through the first 8 rounds is that their defense has actually only allowed more goals than Liverpool, Leicester, and Sheffield United (Kudos to Leicester and Sheffield in particular on this) having allowed just 8. You can be almost certain that the defense would stay the same if not get even better if they had Allegri. But really it's the offense that is the achilles of this team. Without Anthony Martial, they have left themselves very exposed at the front. It's surprising more papers aren't mentioning just how important Martial has become as Rashford is clearly nowhere near as good at the CF position than he is as a wife forward. Rashford doesn't thrive being the main guy. Jury is really out on whether he ever will. And Mason Greenwood is too young to rely on to save them when the going gets really tough. This is actually where I have some sympathy for Solskjaer. But what we don't know for certain is whether it was Solskjaer's call or the board's to get rid of Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez knowing there was no depth up front. If it were Solskjaer's, he should be fired immediately. But let's be real. It was likely the board's.

Another reason United need to move on is because it looks like these players have lost interest in playing for Solskjaer. It can't be just a coincidence that the second he got the interim tag removed that the team's performances fell apart. This is pretty much the same team that finished 2nd and won the Europa League in 2017/18. This is even more so the same team that started so brilliantly when Solskjaer became the interim manager. The team had clearly just stopped playing for Mourinho the same way his Chelsea team had a few seasons prior. He lost the team. Now, Solskjaer has lost the team. This does say a few things about the players though that they've stopped playing for two coaches in a row. There needs to be a coach that they respect. So let's say Mourinho was right and Pogba is "A Virus". Well he's a virus that played the best club football of his career for Allegri. So, it's possible Allegri is the cure to this virus. I would suspect that Allegri would have the respect of the players from the start and maybe Pogba would even stop sulking a little.

Second is Allegri's track record. He has one. Solskjaer does not. If the players were a little shocked that Solskjaer was appointed on a full time basis, they had every reason to be. Solskjaer has no track record in a top league as a manager other than leading Cardiff to relegation. There were much better options than Solskjaer and they at the very least should have waited until the season was over to have done it. Allegri did a very good job with a very limited team at Cagliari to get his Serie A career going which got him the AC Milan job. He led AC Milan to a scudetto. His work with AC Milan then earned him the Juventus job where he made winning Serie A just a formality. The premier league is a much different beast than Serie A though and it would be delusional to think that he will get United back to the top quickly. But he would at least stabilize them from this free fall they appear to be in.

Most of all I like Allegri because he seems interested in the job and would give the team a stabilizing manager for a few seasons while they sort out who could be the next manager after him. If United for example have identified Julian Nagelsmann (Which has been mentioned) as who they want long term, you know that he is only beginning his Leipzig project. But he is just 32. It could align perfectly that when his Leipzig project is complete, so will Allegri's with United and there could be a seamless transition. Allegri has made it clear in the past he wanted to retire from coaching at a younger age than most. He once said 55. He is 52 now. A 3-5 year project would give Allegri the time needed to right this ship and if all went perfectly, Nagelsmann will have continued to progress at Leipzig. He is just 32. In perfect world for United fans, Allegri will have stabilized the team and gotten them back where they belong, and a 37 year old Nagelsmann would be waiting. Wishful thinking probably.