And so the tumult continues at AS Monaco. Robert Moreno was replaced by Niko Kovac over the weekend, having been in charge for just seven months and 13 matches. Kovac’s track record is unconvincing. He won the DFB Pokal with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2018, but stumbled badly with Croatia and had a mixed experience at Bayern Munich. The bigger question, though, is how have Monaco ended up appointing a fourth manager in less than two years – and will it work?
A few years ago Monaco achieved the seemingly perfect balance of remaining competitive on the pitch while also bossing the transfer market. Having enjoyed success under Leonardo Jardim with a side built around young players such as Anthony Martial, Bernardo Silva, Thomas Lemar and Fabinho, the club changed their transfer strategy and, subsequently, the team’s results.
Players such as Islam Slimani and Wissam Ben Yedder were a hit this season, their goals helping to keep Monaco away from a relegation scrap, but along with Cesc Fàbregas, Adrien Silva and others, they show a deviation from Monaco’s strategy of bringing in young players, improving them and then selling them on for a profit. By acquiring young talents from both within France and abroad, Monaco became successful on the pitch and financially, no mean feat given that the club had already been forced to abandon their previous approach of spending big sums on stars such as Falcao and James Rodríguez.
It’s not as if Monaco have exclusively signed veterans in recent windows. Fodé Ballo-Touré and Youssouf Fofana are very much in line with the club’s previous approach but, with some of these players struggling to bed in to the squad, the club’s hierarchy became desperate and changed their philosophy.
Now that Paul Mitchell – a footballer-turned-scout who has worked in player recruitment for MK Dons, Southampton, Tottenham and RB Leipzig – has joined Monaco as sporting director, the hope is that the club will get back to basics. The arrival of 19-year-old Dutch winger Anthony Musaba as well the club’s mooted interest in versatile Strasbourg defender Mohamed Simakan seems to be of apiece with the philosophy that drove their best campaigns of late.
The recent arrival of Mitchell may have been the writing on the wall for Moreno. Callow though the Spaniard may be – his short spell in charge of his country’s national team was his only experience as a head coach before he arrived – it is difficult to argue that he shoulders much of the blame. Thierry Henry and Leonardo Jardim had similar struggles, after all. However, Moreno’s dismissal and the appointment of Kovac is the biggest sign that the club will place complete faith in Mitchell’s acumen.
A former player in England’s lower leagues, Mitchell is only 38 but brings a diverse wealth of experience to his new role at Monaco. After starting out as head of recruitment at MK Dons, he soon became head scout at Southampton, where he brought in players such as Dusan Tadic, Nathaniel Clyne and, in one of his final moves, Sadio Mané. He enjoyed a close working relationship with Mauricio Pochettino, who replaced Nigel Adkins early in Mitchell’s tenure and who reportedly declined to join Monaco before the Englishman moved for Kovac instead.
From Southampton, Mitchell soon moved to Tottenham, where he again worked closely with Pochettino and helped to bring in players such as Dele Alli, Heung-min Son, Kieran Trippier and Toby Alderweireld. Not all of those players fit the Monaco model of youngsters who will have a high resale value, they were young enough, upon their arrival, to be building blocks upon which the club’s future could be moulded.
The Spurs team was going in the right direction but funds were limited – partly due to the construction of Tottenham’s new stadium – and Mitchell fell out with Daniel Levy and left in 2017. His next move took him to RB Leipzig, where he was involved in several canny signings, most notably those of Ibrahima Konaté, Nordi Mukiele and Christopher Nkunku. The trio of young Frenchmen were relatively unknown at the time; now they are preparing for a Champions League quarter-final, which is massive credit to Mitchell’s boldness and of his awareness of French football. This season was Nkunku’s first as a regular in the Leipzig team yet only two players in the Bundesliga – Jadon Sancho and Thomas Muller – finished the campaign with more assists, which is an impressive feather in Mitchell’s cap.
One of the hallmarks of Mitchell’s recruitment strategy has been a willingness to look at a variety of leagues and types of player, casting as wide a net as possible. There have been some obvious missteps (the signing of Pochettino favourite Dani Osvaldo at Southampton being one), but overall, the mandates at Leipzig and Tottenham are not dissimilar to those in place at Monaco, where the ambition is to remain financially sustainable while regularly finishing in a Champions League place.
A few of Monaco’s competitors for the Champions League places are not in great shape financially. By appointing Mitchell, they are positioning themselves well to take advantage of what may be an unpredictable season for most of France’s top clubs. Lille look likely to sell breakout star Victor Osimhen to Napoli. With Loïc Rémy also seeking pastures greener, the upcoming campaign may be Christophe Galtier’s toughest assignment yet, especially balancing the Europa League and domestic competition.
Marseille are not much better off. Playing in the Champions League will stretch their already threadbare threadbare. Lyon finished out of the European places but have done little to improve the team as yet, and the departures of Lucas Tousart and Martin Terrier will be of greater consequence than many would suspect given the duo’s ability to be flexible tactically. Rennes may be the strongest and most ambitious of Monaco’s competitors, but they are participating in the Champions League for the first time and Julien Stéphan may find the going harder than anticipated.
With so many of Monaco’s rivals in flux, Mitchell may be stepping into the ideal situation. His comprehensive, focused and ambitious vision is what the club has lacked in the last three seasons. With the none-too-inconsiderable resources of Dmitry Rybolovlev backing him, there may still be a third act in the Russian’s often-tumultuous time in charge.
• This is an article from Get French Football News
• Follow Eric Devin and GFFN on Twitter