Comolli: Giggs is a ‘short-term’ solution

In the afterglow of Ryan Giggs’ first game as Manchester United’s interim manager, many influential voices within football believe the Welsh man should be given the job on a full-time basis.

But, according to Damien Comolli, former director of football at Tottenham and Liverpool, it’s unfair to expect Giggs’ managerial involvement to be anything else but short-term.

“Think about business and the top five companies in the world. Do you think Mark Zuckerburg would appoint a new Facebook CEO who’s been in the company for 20 years but has never taken any responsibility at board level? No. He’ll give the job to a CEO from another company or to someone who was on his board already,” says Comolli.

“When people think it’s doable for someone who’s never managed before, never coached before, never signed a player before, to become Manchester United manager, it’s totally unrealistic.”

Comolli has substantial experience when it comes to the cutthroat business of Premier League HR.

He believes that before chasing prospective candidates, United should engage in plenty of self-reflection and investigation to determine how and why the David Moyes era descended into a mire of chaos.

“It’s the club’s failure as much as the manager’s. Something went wrong and the club knows it — whether it was the appointment process, the wrong individual or the right individual at the wrong time.

“If you want to move forward as a club, you need to review everything that’s been happening, draw conclusions and make sure you don’t make the same mistake again.”

The same mistake would be to bring in a relatively unproven manager on a long-term deal. When Moyes was appointed, much was made of the personal characteristics he shared with his predecessor. Many, even those in positions of authority at Manchester United, appeared satisfied to accept him as a ‘mini-Fergie’.

This time however, Comolli feels the appointment process surrounding the club’s next manager should be meticulously and exhaustively researched.

“Firstly, who has the personality and experience to take a job of that magnitude? Then you have to look at your organisation. What is your culture?

“What’s your tradition? What’s your way of playing football? Who’s going to come in and stick to your values and continue the philosophy?

“And, are you looking at a user or a developer of talent? Or both?”

Louis van Gaal is the favourite to become the next Manchester United manager. A serial winner in various countries, the Dutchman’s greatest philosophy is that age is unimportant. At Barcelona, he handed Xavi and Andres Iniesta club debuts when both were just 18. He excels at developing players — at Bayern, David Alaba was a central midfielder. Van Gaal turned him into a left back. Bastian Schweinsteiger was a left-winger. Van Gaal turned him into a deep-lying midfielder. Comolli feels that van Gaal’s coaching ideals compares favourably with what Manchester United is about.

“United know he’ll get the team playing the way they want. They know he gave Bayern first-team debuts to (Thomas) Muller, (Holger) Badstuber, (David) Alaba and with them, they’ve dominated Europe.

“If United make this appointment, they stick to their culture and their history of promoting young players — because that’s what van Gaal does.”

Alex Ferguson wants United to emulate the Bayern model of involving legendary former players in the running of the club.

But, for Comolli, the strength of the Bayern strategy is knowing when to change things, regardless of whether stakeholders are involved.

“Bayern appointed Christian Nerlinger, who used to play for the club, to a technical role. But, they felt they made the wrong appointment so they went and got Mattias Sammer, who won the Champions League with Dortmund, who won the league as a player and a manager with Dortmund and put him in charge as Bayern’s Director of Football.

“In terms of manager, they had (Jurgen) Klinsmann, who used to play there but it didn’t work. Then they had (Louis) van Gaal and Heynckes who never played there and now there’s Guardiola. So, they know when they need to bring in ideas from outside.

“I think that’s the correct model.”

Across the top flight, there is a handful of ex-United players who cut their teeth in coaching elsewhere, almost making a point of distancing themselves from Ferguson and the club. But Comolli feels Giggs will benefit enormously from staying put, absorbing the teachings and advice of another experienced winner.

“He’s in a very good place to learn his trade. United are probably thinking that if they get van Gaal, they can put Giggs in there with him and if van Gaal goes in two or three years, they can see where Giggs is at. That’s about as long-term as you can be in football.”