Are Man Utd in need of a stronger No.2?
The assistant coach at Manchester United has become almost as famous a position as managers across the rest of the league. Walter Smith, Steve McClaren and Brian Kidd have all been elevated to media attention that very few assistants reach. A great deal of this is down to Sir Alex Ferguson’s abstinence from BBC interviews, and so the role of regurgitating clichés in the way that only those associated with football can do, is thrust upon the No.2. The man currently in the position is Mike Phelan.
First team coach since 2001, Phelan was promoted to assistant manager after Carlos Queiroz heard the calling of his very own FA and took up the post as Portugal’s coach. There has since been rumblings that Phelan is not up to the task he has been given. Queiroz himself, is under pressure in his current position, and parts of the Old Trafford faithful are calling for Queiroz to return.
What must be said, is that we can never be really sure what goes on behind closed doors, and if Ferguson thinks Phelan is up to the job, the chances are he probably is. It is also difficult to determine what Ferguson wants exactly from his assistant: There must be issues surrounding how much input they have in the running of day-to-day training sessions, whether they are vocal in their opinion or a yes-man, and how they conduct themselves in the spotlight of the media.
Both Phelan and Queiroz, as we can expect from anyone who has spent any amount of time at Old Trafford, have enjoyed success. Phelan has won the Premiership once, as well as adding two League Cups and a World Club Cup. During his five years at the club, Queiroz helped the side win three PL titles, the Champions League and a League Cup (I should point out I’m not including Community Shield wins, because frankly I shouldn’t, and neither should anybody else when considering trophies). Queiroz looks to have a more impressive CV, although he has had a longer time to achieve his success, and he was also at the club during two years of Mourinho dominance at Chelsea.
In my opinion, Manchester United are fractionally behind Chelsea at the moment, in terms of the quality that they have within their entire squad, and the fact that the Londoner’s first eleven is so much more settled. Certainly Manchester United didn’t miss out on the Premier League last season simply because of Mike Phelan; any number of things could have contributed to that. Ferguson may want more of an input on the training ground, but allegedly one of the reasons Roy Keane left United was his disapproval over the significant role Queiroz was having in the training sessions each day, and even aimed heavy criticism at the Portuguese coach during an interview with MUTV.
When Queiroz has been the main coach, he hasn’t covered himself in glory; his stints at both Real Madrid and Portugal spring to mind, but he also left his post as coach of South Africa just before the 2002 World Cup after a bust-up with their FA. He clashed with the Real Madrid hierarchy (although most would) over team tactics, and so the man is clearly strong willed. Had Portugal not come calling, it is easy to imagine Queiroz still in his position as Ferguson’s understudy, and perhaps that continuity would have served the club better – but like I said, it is an extremely difficult judgment to make due to lack of inside knowledge.
Phelan may or may not be out of his depth, but then again, why should we question Ferguson’s judgement? The relationship that Ferguson had with Queiroz was certainly a close one, and the latter’s nurturing of Cristiano Ronaldo is commendable. The role of assistant cannot be underrated, and maybe Phelan is better suited to his role as coach, rather than assistant. Perhaps Ferguson himself, and Manchester United, would benefit from a return to that close bond that Ferguson and Queiroz had.
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