Leicester City cannot afford to get their next managerial appointment wrong.
Having suffered a shock relegation to the Championship at the end of the 2022/23 season, Leicester City bounced back immediately by winning the second tier with 97 points.
Much of the credit for that goes to the manager who came in following the drop in divisions, with Enzo Maresca appointed to overhaul the playing style in only his second senior management job.
Having worked as Pep Guardiola’s assistant, the similarities in philosophies between the two coaches were clear to see when watching Leicester, but they now need to appoint a second manager in a year after Maresca left to join Chelsea.
One manager that has been linked with the vacant job at the King Power Stadium in recent days is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, however this appointment could be too big a risk for Leicester to take.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer too risky for Leicester City
Solskjaer has been out of work since being sacked as Manchester United manager in November 2021, having initially come in to steady the ship after Jose Mourinho.
Having secured second and third-placed finishes in his two full seasons, you could argue that how United have fared since showed he actually did a decent job in charge of the Red Devils.
However, the Norwegian only really got the job based on his playing career at the club and was often caught lacking tactically when it came to playing against inferior teams.
His counter-attacking style worked well for United against sides that would take the game to his side, and this could work for a side trying to stay in the league as Leicester will be.
However, the Foxes are now very familiar with a possession-based style and it may not be the best idea to tear this up ahead of such a crucial season.
Furthermore, Solskjaer does have a Premier League relegation on his CV, having failed to keep Cardiff City in the division in 2014 before being sacked a month into the following season with the Bluebirds struggling in the Championship.
Jamie Carragher does not believe Solskjaer will be top manager
With the likes of Steve Cooper, Carlos Corberan, Mauricio Sarri and Graham Potter all having been linked with taking over from Maresca, Solskjaer seems by far the riskiest of the lot.
Having failed at Cardiff and done a respectable job at United, Solskjaer has spent most of his time as a manager in charge of Molde in his native Norway.
With Leicester likely to need to be tactical excellent to give themselves the best chance of staying up next season, it may be wise to abandon talks with Solskjaer.
Pundit Jamie Carragher certainly does not feel the 51-year-old has what it takes to be a top manager, as he wrote in his Telegraph column in October 2021:
“He’s done a good job at Manchester United, I honestly believe that. He’s probably exceeded expectations.”
“There’s been entertainment you didn’t get under Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho. But he’s never going to be at the level of the three managers he’s got to beat.”
“He’s never going to be them. He’s never going to have that gravitas,”
“He hasn’t got the presence of [Jurgen] Klopp at Liverpool, he’s hasn’t got the trophies behind him that [Pep] Guardiola has at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and now Manchester City so that when he speaks the players hang off his every word.”
Whilst Leicester may not be able to attract the very top tier of manager, there are too many question marks over Solskjaer’s managerial ability to take such a huge risk this summer.
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