In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses why Man United are living in the past, why Phil Foden is a decent Ballon d’Or shout, why Arsenal can come back against Porto – and more!
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Everything at Man United is out of date and INEOS have to get to work quickly
I think the whole system at Man United is antiquated, probably 20 years out of date.
They’ve not really changed anything with the last regime and the regime before that, with personnel either stood down, resigned or left. Nothing’s changed, really.
If you look at Tottenham Hotspur, they are a really well run club in all departments.
The manager, I believe, should report into a sporting director or a technical director who reports to the board. Those nice, cosy, what used to be called ‘fireside chats’ between the manager and the owner is just not how it should be done anymore.
I absolutely think the heartbeat of a football club is the football people that work there.
It’s going to be a long haul. Changing Old Trafford, which needs huge attention, and so much more besides.
Their actual PR is pretty good. I think their social media is pretty good, but I just think that the way the club reports within and the way it’s structured is where Sir Jim Ratcliffe should be focussing his initial efforts.
I love Phil Foden and I hope he wins the Ballon d’Or
Thomas Frank made a lovely statement recently about Phil Foden being the closest English player to winning a Ballon d’Or and I hope it’s true because I love Phil Foden.
I think he’s a great English footballer with a brain that’s a lot more ‘international.’
The only thing I’d caution about such comments is when I think of players like Juan Mata, Alexis Sanchez and perhaps a more pertinent one, Dele Alli – who all missed out on the individual prize despite being deserving.
Foden’s 24, he’s maturing, he’s high energy and with a lot of trickery – and he had a good World Cup.
I think you should ask me that in three years time, and I hope my answer is yes because he is the complete package.
He just needs to keep his head in the right place.
FFP isn’t quite the level playing field we expected
Real Madrid are kind of a law unto themselves.
Apparently PSG didn’t quite get punished for their FFP issues and…
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