Why Zidane is the right manager for Manchester United – Spanish football expert explains

Alan Feehely, editor of Football Espana, has explained why former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane is the right man for Manchester United.

“Zinedine Zidane is underrated as a coach,” Feehely told CaughtOffside. “Despite winning the Champions League three times, the Frenchman isn’t considered to be amongst the elite of the coaching elite.

“The perception is that he’s a horse-whisperer – a man supremely talented in getting the best out of an already highly-talented squad but not one who can produce a cohesive unit that’s greater than the sum of their parts like Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp.

“Zidane isn’t a Guardiola or a Klopp, but neither is he Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. I’d argue the coach he’s closest to would be his mentor, Carlo Ancelotti.”

“Zidane is the polar opposite to Solskjaer temperamentally,” he added. “He’d never apologise for rambling on in a press conference, and isn’t as smiley as the Norwegian. He can be quite cold in many ways regarding his public demeanour, but one thing he doesn’t lack is respect.

“There’s not a single footballer in the game that doesn’t admire him – he carries gravitas.

“Zidane would bring a winning mentality to Old Trafford, and a pedigree in European football few can match.

“He’s never, however, turned a challenger into a winner during his time in coaching. Whether he could do that at Old Trafford is unknown, but it would certainly be fascinating to find out. Clear-eyed and unbowing to sentimentality, Zidane’s Manchester United would be a different proposition entirely from Solskjaer’s.”