Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League • England

Next Tottenham manager: Jamie Carragher urges Daniel Levy to avoid signing one candidate who lacks crucial skill Pep Guardiola possesses

Daniel Levy of Tottenham

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy

Jamie Carragher has given his verdict on the Tottenham search for a new boss, telling Daniel Levy to avoid appointing one coach because he is behind Pep Guardiola in an important department.

Tottenham have been hunting for a new head coach ever since Antonio Conte’s exit by mutual consent in late March. Club chiefs decided to appoint Conte’s assistant, Cristian Stellini, on an interim basis until the end of the season in order to give them time to identify the perfect next manager for the job.

But Stellini was sacked after just four games in charge. That followed the 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Newcastle, a result Levy described as ‘wholly unacceptable’.

Ryan Mason has replaced Stellini and will try to galvanise the players so Spurs can move up the Premier League table. It is the second time Mason has been named interim head coach, having done so following the departure of Jose Mourinho in April 2021.

Immediately after Conte’s exit, Spurs were linked with a move for former boss Mauricio Pochettino. But he is close to taking over at Chelsea instead.

Spurs are hoping to bring in former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann. While he is viewed as an ideal appointment, there is one potential stumbling block in the form of his cost.

READ MORE: Tottenham tipped to banish mediocre asset who no longer has a place in their plans

As Bayern only released the German, rather than sacking him, they will be due compensation from Spurs if Nagelsmann ends up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

A cheaper alternative for Spurs may be Manchester City legend Vincent Kompany. He has done an excellent job at Burnley this season, helping them to secure an immediate return to the Premier League while also creating a whole new style of play at the club.

Jamie Carragher discusses next Tottenham boss

But during an appearance on The Overlap, Carragher has cast doubt over whether Kompany is ready to take over at a club with as much pressure as there will be at Spurs. He pointed out Guardiola, who is one of the few managers who was able to be successful at a major side so soon after retiring.

“This talk about Tottenham’s type of manager, the managers you’ve [had] that ruined their reputation, I was talking before about them not being the right fit for how they play football but Tottenham have got to look at Liverpool and Arsenal and how they’ve gone about challenging,” Carragher said.

“Those teams have sort of been built through [Jurgen] Klopp, year on year getting better. Arsenal under [Mikel] Arteta four or five years. Think about what [Mauricio] Pochettino did. Jose Mourinho and [Antonio] Conte have to win right now. Tottenham are not a club who can win right now, it’s got to be a building process where they get closer each year.

“When you talk about what type of manager they need, there’s talk about Vincent Kompany and whether he could be that man, who knows, he might go on to be a great manager but I think it’s far too early for him in terms of talking like this.”

Kompany not yet capable of Guardiola masterstroke

The pundit continued: “The reason I say that, there’s two managers, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, who are two of the best players we’ve seen in the Premier League era. Kompany is the same, there’s almost this rush, I know [Pep] Guardiola goes against the grain, I get that, there’s a rush to get the top players into the top jobs.

“I don’t know if it would be too early for Kompany at Tottenham but what’s this rush, let him build his CV, his experience, his ups and down. It didn’t go that well for him in Belgium, let’s be honest. I just think for managers there’s no rush to get these big-name footballers in at the top.

“Once it doesn’t go well there, where do you go from there? The building process for a manager is to eventually be there competing for trophies, the Champions League. I think we’ve got to be careful with these top players and being desperate as the media, as a fanbase, saying ‘we want this manager in there’.

“I think it’d be far too early for Kompany.”

It is now up to Levy and the rest of the Spurs hierarchy to decide whether Kompany has the experience and knowhow to help the north London side get back among the elite.

What is clear, though, is that it would be a big risk for Kompany to leave Burnley at this stage. He could probably do with managing the Clarets in the top flight for a couple of seasons before taking up a role at one of the division’s big hitters.

Meanwhile, TEAMtalk understands Pochettino and Chelsea will rival Spurs for one of Levy’s key transfer targets this summer.