Liverpool are on the lookout for a new boss but their so-called shortlist seems to be getting shorter by the day, as bosses decide to shun the club. The latest to turn down talks with the Reds is Ajax boss Frank De Boer.
He’s the second boss to have turned down an interview with the Reds, after Swansea boss Brendan Rodgers also turned down the overtures of the Merseyside club.
There are however still a number of bosses on the clubs radar. Here are just a few of them:
Roberto Martinez (Wigan)
The 38 year-old Spaniard is highly-regarded in the game and has been mooted as one of the best up and coming bosses in British football. He has done a superb keeping the Latic’s in the Premier League the last few seasons, despite working on a shoestring budget.
His Wigan team also play good, attractive football. Martinez refused to change his style of play no matter the clubs position in the league, knowing that it would reap dividends in the end. His team looked doomed to relegation to the Championship for much of the season.
Their form turned around in the last few months of the campaign and the club survived with games to spare. The big question mark over Martinez is his relative lack of experience at the top level of the game.
Liverpool as a club would be a massive step up for the cool Spaniard and he may not be given much time to turn things around at the club. He has proven himself to be a cool character so far in his managerial career but he would be under far more pressure and scrutiny to get results at Anfield.
Martinez is however the current favourite with the bookmakers to take the job and FSG seem to like him. Bringing glory days back to Liverpool is a tough task. Is the Spaniard up to it?
Andre Villas-Boas (Unemployed)
The novice Portuguese boss was highly-rated when he took the reins of Chelsea last summer. His brief was simple, revolutionise the Blues squad. Unfortunately for the 34 year-old the Blues players didn’t like the idea of radical changes to the first team.
Villas-Boas’ naivety as a boss shone through as he tried to win a battle against the senior Chelsea players. He could never win that battle and the results showed that the majority of his players didn’t want to play for him in the end.
Prior to that nightmare spell at Chelsea he was regarded as one of the best young coaches in Europe. He had guided Porto to an unprecedented treble of Portuguese league and Cup and Europa League.
At 33 years of age Andre Villas-Boas was regarded as ‘the new Mourinho’. His managerial skills from his days at Porto can’t just have vanished. A move to Chelsea a such an early stage of his career was a step too far.
Liverpool is a club in similar need of regeneration. A big club, with a team that is not good enough. Villas-Boas would be under similar pressure to when he was at Chelsea. However, I don’t think the senior players at Liverpool have the same egos or power as the Chelsea players do.
Maybe the likes of Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard will realise that change is necessary and allow Villas-Boas to get on with the job of helping the club move forward.
Rafa Benitez (Unemployed)
The Spaniard is being linked with a return to Anfield. Benitez spent six years at Anfield winning numerous trophies, including the Champions League in 2005. However he left after a poor league campaign in the 2009/10 season.
Rafa was often criticised for not being able to guide Liverpool to the Premier League title. Some of those fans who criticised the Spaniard for his failure are the same fans who actually want him to return to the club, slightly ironic in my eyes.
Since leaving Liverpool Benitez has endured a poor short stint at Italian giants Inter and he has been out of the game since the Nerazzurri sacked him 18 months ago. Benitez still holds a residence near Liverpool and I’m sure a lot of Reds fans would welcome his return.
Vital
Whoever takes the job its vital for the clubs progressing that FSG make the right decision. Liverpool have never been a club with trigger happy owners. However if FSG get the next appointment wrong then the club could be looking for yet another manager.
That would do the team no end of harm. Liverpool are very much in a period of transition but with the right boss the club could challenging at the top again in a few years time. For now though the search continues for the right man to take the club forward.
Who should be Liverpool’s next boss?
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