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I like Murat Yakin.
I like watching his teams play. I like that he's a young manager who came up through the Swiss lower divisions. I like pretty much anything that comes from FC Basel right now.
But Tottenham Hotspur should not hire Yakin.
Yakin has only been a first team manager since 2009 and all of his experience is in the Swiss Super League. He has had success since taking over Basel a year and a half ago, but no matter how well he fares, it's tough to get past his inexperience.
Inexperience. It seems to be the principle description of a couple Tottenham targets. Frank de Boer has been wildly successful at Ajax, but again, he's inexperienced. Thomas Tuchel hasn't been linked to Spurs, but if he was, inexperience would be what held him back. The problem for Yakin is that de Boer and Tuchel are both more experienced than him, the result of having managed for roughly the same amount of time, but having done so at a much higher level and, in de Boer's case, having played at the highest level.
De Boer and Tuchel have also been more successful than Yakin and appear better equipped for the job. In the Dutchman's case, he has three Eredivisie titles to his name, and may make it four titles in four years this season, while Tuchel has managed some of Germany's brightest young players, has youth team titles and turned little Mainz into a mid-table Bundesliga club. That trumps Yakin's solid three-competition run last season and a nice showing in the Champions League this year.
That speaks nothing to the styles and reputations of de Boer and Tuchel either. Both have drawn the praise of their players, have been called progressive and massively impressive by nearly everyone who has watched them and have been picked to take on much bigger jobs in the future. They are everything you would want a young manager. That's not to say Yakin is deficient there, but there isn't much of a way for the Swiss to trump the other two.
Yakin isn't the easy-to-get candidate either. He is contracted with Basel through the season and, if tapped, may not join Spurs until the summer. Right now, Yakin's biggest calling card is that because his contract is up, he will be free.
If Yakin gets the job, it should not be ahead of de Boer or Tuchel. It should be because the others declined Spurs' advances, something that would be tough to imagine if Levy is willing to pay them market value and not settle for the cheaper option, especially if he is willing to wait until the summer. Even if he is willing to take the job now, the appeal of him, de Boer or Tuchel is that they can lead the club for 10 or 20 years, so why take the lesser candidate for the next five months when the goal is a successful 2024 or 2034?
Levy is clearly eying a young manager that can be the face of the club for decades despite having tried that and failed with Andre Villas-Boas. That's fine and commendable. It may open the door for the next great manager, experience be damned. But if it is, de Boer and Tuchel are the men to call.
