Hello Rank Squad!

Dougie's in for Dean today and with all the managerial news over the last few days it felt like a very good time to maybe take some stock of some of the biggest stories surrounding some of the biggest jobs in world football changing hands.

We start with the reports that Pep Guardiola is on his way out at Manchester City after one of the most successful eras we have ever seen in the Premier League, with Enzo Maresca lined up to replace him. It's been an incredible decade where Pep has won 20 trophies, including four-in-a-row Premier League titles for the first time ever and just the second treble ever achieved by an English club. Can anyone genuinely hope to succeed with the bar so high, and why have City gone for their former assistant at this moment?

Then in Part Two, we turn to Xabi Alonso's appointment at Chelsea. Perhaps the opposite question is being asked here from the football world - not why would Chelsea want him, but why would he say yes to a project that looks like it's currently on fire? We examine the rationale and what the assurances that he's been given are, as well as what he could do with a number of these Chelsea players, and whether an emotional detachment might just be something he's looking for after being burned by a 'home court' at Real Madrid.

Finally, we turn to Alonso's former employers, Real Madrid, who look set to reappoint Jose Mourinho as their man in the dugout, in what seemed an impossibility just months ago. There's plenty of discussion here too - which players benefit most, what Florentino's motive is in the appointment, whether this is a hard reset on the current project, and if anyone could succeed with this level of chaos against what seems like a very smooth Barcelona machine under Hansi Flick right now. Will bringing Jose back work? No idea. Will it provide drama? You bet.

It's Ranks!

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