Pep's spending is insane (£941m and counting at City)

fergiesarmy1

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Guardiola is a fantastic manager. Anybody that thinks a man employed by Barcelona and Barcelona, and then head hunted by City who changed the structure of the club to prepare for his vision, is some average manager who all these top clubs are just fooled by .. is being ridiculous. Managers in the past have had incredible resources at City but struggled to achieve anywhere close to what he's built there, and these managers were hardly complete nobody's.

Does he pick and choose his jobs carefully? Absolutely. Who wouldn't do that? It's not a game of football manager where you're doing it for fun, it's his reputation at stake at every job he goes for. One or two failures at clubs can lead to a collapse in his reputation ala Mourinho (one of the most successful managers of our generation) so it would be incredibly risky to 'take a challenge' when the only upside is proving people wrong, people I doubt he gives two shits about.

The resources he has at City are obviously insane, but that doesn't mean it's a doddle to build a side which completely dominates the domestic scene, particularly when you play in a league where all the top six have tremendous resources of their own. He keeps up a level of consistency in the league which is pretty remarkable in what people consider the most competitive around. The only question mark are the European performances, but the CL is an unpredictable beast at the best of times and whilst I'm sure it'll be a disappointment to Pep, going out in what is a knockout competition is no huge embarrassment. Anything can happen in these tournaments.
Also so he’s an obnoxious c..t who think Spanish lives matter more than more than other lives.
 

ThierryHenry14

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Guardiola is a fantastic manager. Anybody that thinks a man employed by Barcelona and Barcelona, and then head hunted by City who changed the structure of the club to prepare for his vision, is some average manager who all these top clubs are just fooled by .. is being ridiculous. Managers in the past have had incredible resources at City but struggled to achieve anywhere close to what he's built there, and these managers were hardly complete nobody's.

Does he pick and choose his jobs carefully? Absolutely. Who wouldn't do that? It's not a game of football manager where you're doing it for fun, it's his reputation at stake at every job he goes for. One or two failures at clubs can lead to a collapse in his reputation ala Mourinho (one of the most successful managers of our generation) so it would be incredibly risky to 'take a challenge' when the only upside is proving people wrong, people I doubt he gives two shits about.

The resources he has at City are obviously insane, but that doesn't mean it's a doddle to build a side which completely dominates the domestic scene, particularly when you play in a league where all the top six have tremendous resources of their own. He keeps up a level of consistency in the league which is pretty remarkable in what people consider the most competitive around. The only question mark are the European performances, but the CL is an unpredictable beast at the best of times and whilst I'm sure it'll be a disappointment to Pep, going out in what is a knockout competition is no huge embarrassment. Anything can happen in these tournaments.
From his interview he loves the haters. "I need enemies. I love when people hate me and hope I fail. It gives me fire and makes me think “OK, watch this.”
https://www.canofootball.com/articl...diola-part-1-enemies-bayern-and-burnley-away/

He won the league with over 100 points, and won back to back titles, and he probably will win the league this season too.
 

SquishyMcSquish

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From his interview he loves the haters. "I need enemies. I love when people hate me and hope I fail. It gives me fire and makes me think “OK, watch this.”
https://www.canofootball.com/articl...diola-part-1-enemies-bayern-and-burnley-away/

He won the league with over 100 points, and won back to back titles, and he probably will win the league this season too.
Fair enough. I imagine it was particularly satisfying for him when he was written off by the English media after a season.
 

RooneyLegend

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I think his work at Barca is underrated. He shipped out a lot of stars and promoted youth. His squad was class but he played a big part in developing them to another level. But yeah, he hasn't been the underdog and quit Barca when Real pipped them to the league.
The issue with Pep is players who are talented develop to ridiculous levels when managed by him that eventually he wont get credit for any of it cause apparently his players were 'too good'.
 

Tostao_80

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I like him, but he has nothing to show that's on the level of Ferguson when he took over, Mourinho with Porto or even Zidane's three successive CL.
The insanity in this post. Pep only created one of, if not the best club sides of all done.
I mean, anybody could have done that, with those players. Just remind us, where did Barcelona finish the season before he took over? 3rd behind the mighty Villarreal was it?
 

kaiser1

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To know how insane it is to judge his records by the CL after he has completely dominated the domestic scene like no one else?
In the past 2 seasons he played Spurs 6 times, he won 5, lost 1 game 1-0 And that will define his legacy as unable to beat top sides in Europe when he was eliminated by a team he beat 5 of 6 recent meetings. Without VAR the Sterling goal would have stood he would have made a CL final probably won it and we will still find excuses
Since that CL loss to Liverpool he has not lost another game to them
 

sparx99

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To know how insane it is to judge his records by the CL after he has completely dominated the domestic scene like no one else?
In the past 2 seasons he played Spurs 6 times, he won 5, lost 1 game 1-0 And that will define his legacy as unable to beat top sides in Europe when he was eliminated by a team he beat 5 of 6 recent meetings. Without VAR the Sterling goal would have stood he would have made a CL final probably won it and we will still find excuses
Since that CL loss to Liverpool he has not lost another game to them
He’s shit though
 

AaronRedDevil

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I get the feeling pep will overtake SAF in trophies by the end of his career or at least match it. Not as impressive, but still. He's easily got 10 more solid years in him and he's still got ligue 1 and the serie A to conquer. Which should be easy trophies for him and the odd CL.
 

cheeky_backheel

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The reason why he doesn't "take challenges" is because he doesn't have too. In any industry you will have to be a complete idiot to take jobs you're well overqualified for. If you had a successful business making you good money would you give that all up and take on evening shifts in Tesco?

The job he done at Barca (which was incredible regardless of who he had available in the books) has given him the pick of top jobs for life bar a Jose esque meltdown, the circumstances in how he got the Barca job may have been a lucky break, but everything since has been anything but.

Yes money can make you successful to a point, but to build the sheer domination and fear factor Pep does takes a lot more than just a wallet, he's had fellow top managers like Jose and Conte shitting themselves so badly at the thought of facing him they parked triple deckers (with expensively assembled teams themselves) and kept the bus there even after going behind, even a stubborn philosopher like Sarri altered his tactics to try and compete.
Lets take a closer look at his time at Barca
- Before Pep, Rijkaard was in charge for 5 seasons, winning 2 la liga and 1 CL
- Pep was in charge for 4 seasons, winning 3 la liga, 2 CdR and 2 CL. Left Barca once he lost his local dominance to Mourinho (Pep basically ran away from the challenge).
-Since Pep has left, Barcelona have won 5 of 7 la liga and a CL. In particular, Luis enrique in 3 seasons in charge, won 2 la liga,3 CdR and 1 CL and I dont see anyone touting him as the greatest manager. Nothing Pep did at Barca was so out of the norm that puts him in that conversation of greatest manager, instead its the kind of success a club like barcelona achieves with the quality of their squad and a good manager.

In 3 seasons at Bayern, all he had were the domestic success thats practically guaranteed for even a manager-less Bayern, while at Man Citeh, despite spending a huge fortune and getting his pick of players, he is yet to best the semi-final CL achieved by Pellegrini and can only point to domestic success that even a crap manager like Mancini could achieve.

For comparison, with lesser resources and a less talented squad, Klopp took Liverpool to two consecutive CL finals and won one, while giving Citeh a very good run for their money in the PL. With a deeper squad, Liverpool would have likely won the PL too

If Pep is a great manager, then Klopp must be the greatest manager ever (and even my dog knows that is an absurd notion)!!!
 

DoneDaDa

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Lets take a closer look at his time at Barca
- Before Pep, Rijkaard was in charge for 5 seasons, winning 2 la liga and 1 CL
- Pep was in charge for 4 seasons, winning 3 la liga, 2 CdR and 2 CL. Left Barca once he lost his local dominance to Mourinho (Pep basically ran away from the challenge).
-Since Pep has left, Barcelona have won 5 of 7 la liga and a CL. In particular, Luis enrique in 3 seasons in charge, won 2 la liga,3 CdR and 1 CL and I dont see anyone touting him as the greatest manager. Nothing Pep did at Barca was so out of the norm that puts him in that conversation of greatest manager, instead its the kind of success a club like barcelona achieves with the quality of their squad and a good manager.

In 3 seasons at Bayern, all he had were the domestic success thats practically guaranteed for even a manager-less Bayern, while at Man Citeh, despite spending a huge fortune and getting his pick of players, he is yet to best the semi-final CL achieved by Pellegrini and can only point to domestic success that even a crap manager like Mancini could achieve.

For comparison, with lesser resources and a less talented squad, Klopp took Liverpool to two consecutive CL finals and won one, while giving Citeh a very good run for their money in the PL. With a deeper squad, Liverpool would have likely won the PL too

If Pep is a great manager, then Klopp must be the greatest manager ever (and even my dog knows that is an absurd notion)!!!
Where did Rijkaard, Machini, Enrique and Pelle career go from there? Pep can step down from City right now majority of the Europe top teams will be after him we aren't just talking about a guy who's the one of the highest paid manager and needs a ton of money to build his team if he's just achieving the norm then why are all these clubs after him? Just hire anybody who's cheaper and get the same results for them. He had Italy make a ton of noise when he was being linked hell it was more then the talk of CR when he joined.
 

kaiser1

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Lets take a closer look at his time at Barca
- Before Pep, Rijkaard was in charge for 5 seasons, winning 2 la liga and 1 CL
- Pep was in charge for 4 seasons, winning 3 la liga, 2 CdR and 2 CL. Left Barca once he lost his local dominance to Mourinho (Pep basically ran away from the challenge).
-Since Pep has left, Barcelona have won 5 of 7 la liga and a CL. In particular, Luis enrique in 3 seasons in charge, won 2 la liga,3 CdR and 1 CL and I dont see anyone touting him as the greatest manager. Nothing Pep did at Barca was so out of the norm that puts him in that conversation of greatest manager, instead its the kind of success a club like barcelona achieves with the quality of their squad and a good manager.

In 3 seasons at Bayern, all he had were the domestic success thats practically guaranteed for even a manager-less Bayern, while at Man Citeh, despite spending a huge fortune and getting his pick of players, he is yet to best the semi-final CL achieved by Pellegrini and can only point to domestic success that even a crap manager like Mancini could achieve.

For comparison, with lesser resources and a less talented squad, Klopp took Liverpool to two consecutive CL finals and won one, while giving Citeh a very good run for their money in the PL. With a deeper squad, Liverpool would have likely won the PL too

If Pep is a great manager, then Klopp must be the greatest manager ever (and even my dog knows that is an absurd notion)!!!
Let's take a real closer look. He joined Barcelona after they finished the season 3rd 18points off the winner. He joined Barcelona sold Ronaldinho and Deco, 2 of the team leaders. Introduced a style of play that was copied by everyone and he won the treble in style.

That season Bayern played Peps Barcelona and our management after seeing the game said I want to have a team like that playing in Munich.

He is the type of coach whose team you will see and you will immediately want to play like him.

All these coaches who you mentioned Pellegrini Mancini Enrique, Rijkaard why are top clubs not after them immediately they left these positions?

If your club has a lot of money, want to build a football dynasty and these coaches plus Pep are available, who will you pick?
 

cheeky_backheel

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Where did Rijkaard, Machini, Enrique and Pelle career go from there? Pep can step down from City right now majority of the Europe top teams will be after him we aren't just talking about a guy who's the one of the highest paid manager and needs a ton of money to build his team if he's just achieving the norm then why are all these clubs after him? Just hire anybody who's cheaper and get the same results for them. He had Italy make a ton of noise when he was being linked hell it was more then the talk of CR when he joined.
Forgive them for not being best buddies with Tixi. Getting good jobs on rep is not new. After all, Mourinho got some jobs based on historical perception than reality of recent accomplishments. Pep has only coached 3 clubs and still cant deliver another CL since he left Barcelona despite the quality of his squad at Bayern and Citeh.

You want to dub someone as one of the greatest coaches, then you talk about his body of work, and as I have described above, there is nothing that Pep has done that can be said cannot be achieved by any good manager (cos other managers have done same in similar circumstance)
 

cheeky_backheel

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Let's take a real closer look. He joined Barcelona after they finished the season 3rd 18points off the winner. He joined Barcelona sold Ronaldinho and Deco, 2 of the team leaders. Introduced a style of play that was copied by everyone and he won the treble in style.

That season Bayern played Peps Barcelona and our management after seeing the game said I want to have a team like that playing in Munich.

He is the type of coach whose team you will see and you will immediately want to play like him.

All these coaches who you mentioned Pellegrini Mancini Enrique, Rijkaard why are top clubs not after them immediately they left these positions?

If your club has a lot of money, want to build a football dynasty and these coaches plus Pep are available, who will you pick?
First, I suggest you read up on the history of Barcelona and their playing style cos Pep did not create or introduce it. (That credit goes to Michels and subsequently Cryuff). Pep like many managers that are belong to the Ajax 'total football' school of thought have simply added their own variation to it to suit their preferences and/or personnel.

While you may like that style of football, it is silly to assume everyone else does. For example, Klopp employs a far more direct approach to the game and has had his own success. I for one have never liked the possession style of football (and thus would never pick any of the coaches you listed)
 

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6th place after that kind of spending...Woodward is a cautionary tale in sports management. Students and executives will study what has happened since SAF retired as the go-to cautionary tale against throwing money at sporting problems without continuity of vision.
 

lysglimt

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Let's take a real closer look. He joined Barcelona after they finished the season 3rd 18points off the winner. He joined Barcelona sold Ronaldinho and Deco, 2 of the team leaders. Introduced a style of play that was copied by everyone and he won the treble in style.

That season Bayern played Peps Barcelona and our management after seeing the game said I want to have a team like that playing in Munich.

He is the type of coach whose team you will see and you will immediately want to play like him.

All these coaches who you mentioned Pellegrini Mancini Enrique, Rijkaard why are top clubs not after them immediately they left these positions?

If your club has a lot of money, want to build a football dynasty and these coaches plus Pep are available, who will you pick?

Of course Guardiola is a great manager - one of the greatest ever. But if you take charge of a Barcelona-team with the following players:
Messi (21), Etoo(28), Iniesta (25), Xavi (29), Puyol (31), Pique (21), Henry (31), Alves (26), Toure (26), Pedro (21), Busquets (20)

.. you will win the league

And besides Deco and Ronaldinho were peripheral players in the season Before - both playing less than half the matches in the League, and not impressing that much. Deco had a rather poor season.
 

Harry190

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The insanity in this post. Pep only created one of, if not the best club sides of all done.
I mean, anybody could have done that, with those players. Just remind us, where did Barcelona finish the season before he took over? 3rd behind the mighty Villarreal was it?
What happened with his successors? Treble. That team picked itself. Not denying he is very good at what he does, but it wasn't a plucky underdog, just a team that had been champions a year before, with Messi coming in at the beginning of a new cycle.
 

DoneDaDa

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Forgive them for not being best buddies with Tixi. Getting good jobs on rep is not new. After all, Mourinho got some jobs based on historical perception than reality of recent accomplishments. Pep has only coached 3 clubs and still cant deliver another CL since he left Barcelona despite the quality of his squad at Bayern and Citeh.

You want to dub someone as one of the greatest coaches, then you talk about his body of work, and as I have described above, there is nothing that Pep has done that can be said cannot be achieved by any good manager (cos other managers have done same in similar circumstance)
Tixi was bought to City in order to bring Pep in. Rep didn't help Rijkaard post Barca, it hasn't helped Enrique, it didn't help Zidane either who was sitting around this whole season till RM decided to come back for him, Rep didn't help Reneiri when he won the PL title with Leciester, nor Jardim with Monaco. Despite his failures in CL he's still the most sought after manager in the world at the moment.

There is your answer he's wanted solely do to his body of work at the clubs, you may look at it has not much but the top clubs and boards clearly don't. Despite his failures in the CL time and time again people want him. Rep can only get you so far. Juve had the entire Italian press lobby behind them to try to lure him.
 

He'sRaldo

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You should look at his big game record across all leagues. Because the point you're trying to make doesn't make any sense when you look beyond the CL. Not for Pep or any other manager.
In the same way the knockout nature of the CL elevates and plays to the strengths of managers like Klopp, IMO the points nature of league games helps Guardiola's style.

In that sense, comparisons with other league games is pointless, at least for the point I'm making.
 
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cheeky_backheel

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In the same way the knockout nature of the CL elevates and plays to the strengths of managers like Klopp, IMO the points nature of league games helps Guardiola's style.

In that sense, comparisons with other league games is pointless, at least for the point I'm making.
League performance tends to depend more on the quality depth and consistency of your squad while CL tends to rely more on your best XI.

The style of play is only mildly relevant if at all, as evidenced by the different style of play of past league winners
 

PepG

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But even if Pep wins CL 3 times in a row with City people will still be saying that he is in charge of an oil state funded club with an unlimited budget :lol: In the face of haters he can never win:smirk:
 

Classical Mechanic

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But even if Pep wins CL 3 times in a row with City people will still be saying that he is in charge of an oil state funded club with an unlimited budget :lol: In the face of haters he can never win:smirk:
Why wouldn't they state the truth? He's never not had the best conditions under which to manage. It's just a fact.
 

ThierryHenry14

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But even if Pep wins CL 3 times in a row with City people will still be saying that he is in charge of an oil state funded club with an unlimited budget :lol: In the face of haters he can never win:smirk:
Haters gonna hate, however no one in Man City cares. They have one of the best manager in charge and play the best football the club has never seen before. Their football is getting better and better, to the point I would say their near perfection football is getting bored to watch.
 

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isn’t the buy young and hungry with a preference for british based exactly this?
Yes absolutely. Gary neville nailed this in an interview the other day - we never signed the best players in the world. We always had a mix of academy graduates, signed the best possible players in the premier league (think back to carrick, berbatov, tevez, rooney, ferdinand), and emerging talent from home and abroad. I think over time the preference is for players proven in the PL regardless of nationality. We dont want any more expensive flops who dont settle. The worry for me is if Ole goes for some reason and we get another ‘big’ manager in - imagine an Ancelotti or Sarri type who wants to rip the squad up and play these certain players in a certain position and style
 

R'hllor

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Are people trying to say that bald cnut is not improving players there
 

Jezpeza

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Are people trying to say that bald cnut is not improving players there
I think the general thing is he spends money. The branch argument is can he win without it. He does improve players like sterling - but it was a 50m start point. I personally think he could transform any top 6 side into champions, given some cash and time. Mourinho and van gaal failed that here.

I dont buy into the idea hes a god though. Stick him in charge of crystal palace and theyd still be bottom 6 i reckon
 

Sandikan

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I think the general thing is he spends money. The branch argument is can he win without it. He does improve players like sterling - but it was a 50m start point. I personally think he could transform any top 6 side into champions, given some cash and time. Mourinho and van gaal failed that here.

I dont buy into the idea hes a god though. Stick him in charge of crystal palace and theyd still be bottom 6 i reckon
That's a key point with Sterling. That he was a 50m player before that was just a figure for a right back!
 

adexkola

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I think the general thing is he spends money. The branch argument is can he win without it. He does improve players like sterling - but it was a 50m start point. I personally think he could transform any top 6 side into champions, given some cash and time. Mourinho and van gaal failed that here.

I dont buy into the idea hes a god though. Stick him in charge of crystal palace and theyd still be bottom 6 i reckon
Crystal Palace are bottom 6?
 

He'sRaldo

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League performance tends to depend more on the quality depth and consistency of your squad while CL tends to rely more on your best XI.

The style of play is only mildly relevant if at all, as evidenced by the different style of play of past league winners
That's true as well, although ideally every competition is enhanced when you have more quality depth. However, I do think style of play is relevant.

Pep has had problems with away games against quality sides, and I think it's because he always wants to dominate possession and when the difference in quality between you and your opponent is miniscule, that style can be dangerous as it plays into the hands of many top teams.
 

Someone

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Money isn't enough. Pep, Klopp and Mourinho all took over around the same time, and city weren't better than us back then, look where we are now.

It's true that Pep goes for clubs that has higher chances of success, but that doesn't make him a bad manager. He's someone who's tactically brilliant and he improves his players.

I don't like comparing him to fergie, fergie was an incredible man manager, the best there ever was I think, but football has changed, it's all about quick impact now on all levels. Pep is a great modern manager who knows how to do that at big clubs. We'd kill to have someone like him right now.
 

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How can anyone not rate Pep Guardiola? He and Klopp are about the best managers out there today. On the all time list, he has to be on the top 6.
 

totaalvoetbal

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How can anyone not rate Pep Guardiola? He and Klopp are about the best managers out there today. On the all time list, he has to be on the top 6.
He is already regarded as one of the greatest coaches of all time by all the respected football journalists and magazines as well as his peers. Without a doubt the most influential coach on the modern game after Joahn Cruijff.

The current footballing environment is a direct result of his tactics in Barcelona.
 

VorZakone

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Lets take a closer look at his time at Barca
- Before Pep, Rijkaard was in charge for 5 seasons, winning 2 la liga and 1 CL
- Pep was in charge for 4 seasons, winning 3 la liga, 2 CdR and 2 CL. Left Barca once he lost his local dominance to Mourinho (Pep basically ran away from the challenge).
-Since Pep has left, Barcelona have won 5 of 7 la liga and a CL. In particular, Luis enrique in 3 seasons in charge, won 2 la liga,3 CdR and 1 CL and I dont see anyone touting him as the greatest manager. Nothing Pep did at Barca was so out of the norm that puts him in that conversation of greatest manager, instead its the kind of success a club like barcelona achieves with the quality of their squad and a good manager.

In 3 seasons at Bayern, all he had were the domestic success thats practically guaranteed for even a manager-less Bayern, while at Man Citeh, despite spending a huge fortune and getting his pick of players, he is yet to best the semi-final CL achieved by Pellegrini and can only point to domestic success that even a crap manager like Mancini could achieve.

For comparison, with lesser resources and a less talented squad, Klopp took Liverpool to two consecutive CL finals and won one, while giving Citeh a very good run for their money in the PL. With a deeper squad, Liverpool would have likely won the PL too

If Pep is a great manager, then Klopp must be the greatest manager ever (and even my dog knows that is an absurd notion)!!!
Dude, what? Guardiola won back-to-back titles with 100 and 98 points and racked up a few domestic cups as well. Mancini couldn't achieve that.
 

matbezlima

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People complain that Guardiola only coaches the teams full of great players and that he also spends tons of money buying new great players all the time. This criticism is not entirely invalid, I understand it, but I will give my opinion.

Guardiola always tries to take football to its highest technical levels. He is perfectionist. His training and demands to all his players are extremely exhausting physically and mentally, requiring great concentration, intelligence and the players totally embracing together his philosophy. This is why he does train any club for more than a few years, his works burn out and the players can not maintain the necessary level of dedication and concentration for many years. It is exhausting physically and mentally not only for them, but for Guardiola himself.

The crazily high levels of technique and consistency that Guardiola wants his teams to play and to execute his philosophy to maximum efficience can not be satisfyingly reached in anything other than a top team, specially for someone as perfectionist as him.

Guardiola is a coach that you hire when you already have a great squad full of great players that you want to take to even higher levels. Guardiola is overall fantastic at improving players, making the best players in the world play even better individually and as a team, improving their qualities and masking their weaknesses masterfully. Sterling is a player who has evolved terrifically under Pep. This is his genius!
 

antihenry

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I think people who praise Pep or criticize him both have a point.

There's no question he's a brilliant manager and a winner. He was successful in every club he's worked at so far and his sides play a great style of football, which is not easy to implement, let alone harness to the point that you consistently dominate other sides. If you give him enough money and enough talent there's no better manager out there to deliver quality attacking football and trophies.

Having said that, the luck factor has definitely played a role in his managerial career. Due to his background and long time association with the club, Pep knew Barca's setup, hierarchy, playing system, academy etc very well before taking the job, and the array of talent he had available was incredible, not to mention they were willing to spend big, if needed, too. Doesn't take away from the job he's done there but that was near perfect start for him given the timing and circumstances. Then he moved to the easiest job in Bundesliga. Later, when he realized City needed to add more talent to build a side he had in mind they gave him a fortune to do just that.

My only argument vis-a-vis Guardiola is whether he's capable of implementing any other style. He was never in a situation where he had to make do with what he's got, so to speak, he either had the best talent available from the off (Barca, Bayern) or was getting top quality reenforcements soon after coming on the job (City). I remember Conte taking charge at Chelsea back in 2016, the side coming off the 10th place finish the season before, not getting any of the players in the summer he asked for and yet winning the title with what many would say, a limited side, which he inherited. Pep took over City the same summer and this was the squad Txiki was assembling for him for several years prior. He finished 3rd because he still hasn't assembled his dream team and needed the club to spend more and improve further. Hypothetically, would Pep have won the title with that Chelsea side in place of Conte? It's impossible to know for sure, but I doubt it. He has a certain playing philosophy in mind, he needs players with specific characteristics to implement it and I don't think he would even entertain the idea of sacrificing his principles to get the result, even if he thought he could pull it off, and I'm not sure he would be able to. Pep needs to have a near perfect situation for his magic to work and a combination of his talent and great timing of his career moves allowed him the kind of luxury most other managers simply don't have.
 

LilyWhiteSpur

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He is a world class cheque book manager, absolutely no doubt he delivers everywhere he goes and delivers in an effective and stylish way. Until he goes and preforms on a budget that's what he will be known as, not a bad thing really.
 

matbezlima

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I think people who praise Pep or criticize him both have a point.

There's no question he's a brilliant manager and a winner. He was successful in every club he's worked at so far and his sides play a great style of football, which is not easy to implement, let alone harness to the point that you consistently dominate other sides. If you give him enough money and enough talent there's no better manager out there to deliver quality attacking football and trophies.

Having said that, the luck factor has definitely played a role in his managerial career. Due to his background and long time association with the club, Pep knew Barca's setup, hierarchy, playing system, academy etc very well before taking the job, and the array of talent he had available was incredible, not to mention they were willing to spend big, if needed, too. Doesn't take away from the job he's done there but that was near perfect start for him given the timing and circumstances. Then he moved to the easiest job in Bundesliga. Later, when he realized City needed to add more talent to build a side he had in mind they gave him a fortune to do just that.

My only argument vis-a-vis Guardiola is whether he's capable of implementing any other style. He was never in a situation where he had to make do with what he's got, so to speak, he either had the best talent available from the off (Barca, Bayern) or was getting top quality reenforcements soon after coming on the job (City). I remember Conte taking charge at Chelsea back in 2016, the side coming off the 10th place finish the season before, not getting any of the players in the summer he asked for and yet winning the title with what many would say, a limited side, which he inherited. Pep took over City the same summer and this was the squad Txiki was assembling for him for several years prior. He finished 3rd because he still hasn't assembled his dream team and needed the club to spend more and improve further. Hypothetically, would Pep have won the title with that Chelsea side in place of Conte? It's impossible to know for sure, but I doubt it. He has a certain playing philosophy in mind, he needs players with specific characteristics to implement it and I don't think he would even entertain the idea of sacrificing his principles to get the result, even if he thought he could pull it off, and I'm not sure he would be able to. Pep needs to have a near perfect situation for his magic to work and a combination of his talent and great timing of his career moves allowed him the kind of luxury most other managers simply don't have.
Guardiola does not want to implement any other style, he does not want to change his core philosophy of highly technical and sophisticated possession, attacking football. He is not as stubborn as Cruyff in this matter, but he is still stubborn. He is not satisfied with titles, he is only satisfied with titles that he won playing fantastic football in the level that he wants. This is the reason why he will never train a smaller team: you can mot make a Leicester City play fantastic football, at least not on the level that Guardiola wants.
 
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matbezlima

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Man City have the first billion-euro squad...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49635625

What manager wouldn't succeed with the Worlds most expensively assembled squad in history?

Bought with dirty money, while financially doping to avoid FFP. Tut tut. Pep should wear a ribbon for that. :lol:
Countless managers would not succeed, history has plenty examples.

Guardiola always tries to take football to its highest technical levels. He is perfectionist. His training and demands to all his players are extremely exhausting physically and mentally, requiring great concentration, intelligence and the players totally embracing together his philosophy. This is why he does train any club for more than a few years, his works burn out and the players can not maintain the necessary level of dedication and concentration for many years. It is exhausting physically and mentally not only for them, but for Guardiola himself.

The crazily high levels of technique and consistency that Guardiola wants his teams to play and to execute his philosophy to maximum efficience can not be satisfyingly reached in anything other than a top team, specially for someone as perfectionist as him.

Guardiola is a coach that you hire when you already have a great squad full of great players that you want to take to even higher levels. Guardiola is overall fantastic at improving players, making the best players in the world play even better individually and as a team, improving their qualities and masking their weaknesses masterfully. Sterling is a player who has evolved terrifically under Pep. This is his genius! Don't you get anything that I say?
 

Raw

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Countless managers would not succeed, history has plenty examples.

Guardiola always tries to take football to its highest technical levels. He is perfectionist. His training and demands to all his players are extremely exhausting physically and mentally, requiring great concentration, intelligence and the players totally embracing together his philosophy. This is why he does train any club for more than a few years, his works burn out and the players can not maintain the necessary level of dedication and concentration for many years. It is exhausting physically and mentally not only for them, but for Guardiola himself.

The crazily high levels of technique and consistency that Guardiola wants his teams to play and to execute his philosophy to maximum efficience can not be satisfyingly reached in anything other than a top team, specially for someone as perfectionist as him.

Guardiola is a coach that you hire when you already have a great squad full of great players that you want to take to even higher levels. Guardiola is overall fantastic at improving players, making the best players in the world play even better individually and as a team, improving their qualities and masking their weaknesses masterfully. Sterling is a player who has evolved terrifically under Pep. This is his genius! Don't you get anything that I say?
Why did you just copy and paste your previous post :lol: