Manchester City have been very clever. Whilst we sit here crying about the money they have spent - that was already going to happen no matter who the manager is.
However, what they have done is hire arguably the best coach in the world who has an open, flexible mind who wants to try something new, make football entertaining, successful as well as attract young players as well as fans. Just the utilisation of mendy this season is stunning as an occasional inverted fullback to break deep lying defences. You have that type of coach and you give him the opportunity to buy who ever he wants, who ever he can afford spending billions.
Jose described himself perfectly when he said that he is regarded more as a coach than a manager at United; in that regards we have a very weak coach in comparison - whilst we have a good short term manager. He is not here to be open minded, flexible, try something new and make football entertaining whilst attracting young players - he is here to merely manage his choice of players to success - maybe winning one significant trophy in his life time here at old trafford.
Good players or not, technical players or not - he needs his players to be successful. His coaching ability revolves around pure hard work and physicality over anything else. Players consistently fail under him to later success with others due to the inability of him bending a teams pattern slightly to adopt a new player with a new technique and capability.
There are gaps in this team not because the board has avoided Jose- its because Jose has created gaps by his mismanagement/mis-coaching. He continues to use players in positions and formations that does not bode well with the squad at his disposal, favouring players with physicality over technique and so on.
Whilst alot of fans talk about City having the likes of silva, de bryune, aguero at the start of pep's career - Jose would have struggled to utilise them nearly as much never mind players like Sterling, Sane, Mahrez (why not him and willian instead? Is it work rate
), Stones whilst he would prefer a target man more like dzeko up front and de bryune & Silva would definitely not be allowed to play together as alternative AM's consecutively on the pitch - that was the role Jose gave to Oscar due to work rate too. Players like Zabaleta, Toure, Kolorov, Fernando, Nolito would still be in and around the first team plus plenty more.
The point is - Money that City has is an issue. However that is the second problem; our first being a lack of a proper coach as witnessed by a severe lack of a core understanding/gameplan of how we should play football.
We get a coach who is willing to manage the club with an open mind and give everyone in the squad an equal shot by assessing the best way to get out of a squad of 25 - then giving all the money we have to him is not as problematic & I'm sure we can spend alot as we spend alot more on an a individual player.
Instead we have a coach whose formation, tactics, players who would struggle, players who would succeed, preferred age, time he would last and have backing of team etc could be guessed before hand because he fundamentally is trying to create a short term plan that has previously led to short term success; so much so that he goes back to buy ex-players or buys players that are made to play like his ex players.
Get a better coach, give them more money. Jose has taken this squad as far as he can & willian + alderweireld would have made us scuff a title win at pure maximum without any pure long lasting footballing capability - because he simply does not focus on it.