Eh, you do realise that he was dumped into The Europa League for some of those seasons?
Nobody would have been upset with top 4 again this season and around 70 points and an improvement in the style of play. Neither happened.
It won’t happen because they won’t pay whatever compensation we want, and he wont walk unless he’s sacked and gets a payout. Bayerns interest is solely based on him being a free agent and them scraping the barrel after Rangnick rejected them.
Other than 18-19 the only knockout ties he won were against Lille and Young Boys, and was eliminated by Rosenborg, Nice, Getafe, Roma and Benfica in his other attempts.
Truly scraping the barrel. They’ve been rejected by De Zerbi, Rangnick and even tried to lure Nagelsmann back.
ETH gets CL football and a more realistic shot of a title next season, plus Bayern have no issue matching top PL club wages for players/managers (as opposed to transfer fees traditionally): a clean mutual consent with him then parachuted into the Bayern job makes sense from most, if not all sides (maybe Bayern the least, dependent on how much you rate him as a head coach, but that's another discussion).
De Zerbi wasn't confirmed to be a candidate. The club has confirmed their interest in Alonso, Nagelsmann and Rangnick. So those three definitely decided against Bayern. Everybody else is just a rumour (but still makes a fun list, as you can include also Emery, Hoeneß and Tuchel if you like)
I asked that same question when someone said De Zebri is a very good manager and it's all because of Brighton's injuries. How come everyone else gets a pass except ETH?
You’re comparing 8 seasons with a guy that’s not even finished 2 yet? Who’s to say if he was in charge next year we wouldn’t finish top 4? No one can predict the future.
Exactly. People was still wanting De Zerbi despite them getting battered of villa 6-1. He’s no different to ETH in the sense that when his team lose they can lose pretty ugly.
You didn't answer and moved the goalposts to top 6 instead (Because you know he's not better than VVD, Gabriel or City's options minimum).
Licha was better than Gabriel last season, and he's been injured all of this season.
Let’s be fair, Martinez is probably not even the 6th best CB in Manchester.
Bit in bold spoils what could be just a good contribution to discussion.
The Bayern lads won’t tolerate him. They threw Ancelotti under the bus because they thought his training was too light. Imagine what they’ll think of Ten Hag’s sessions and his tactics?
This is of course true but also begs the question.The reality is that we don't know if ETH is good enough to succeed at a well organised top club because he has only ever operated in England in a badly failing dysfunctional top club. You might argue we need a manager suitable to that environment but no such person exists because it is an impossible task. My hunch, and it is only that, is that he is good enough coach if he has the right club structure supporting him. That latter is the hard bit, not sacking the guy on the bench to appease the infant like screaming of the fans for goals and wins right now.
Yeah he definitely loses very ugly, that 4-0 defeat away at Luton was very concerning
I don’t think we need to use terms like infant to describe a section of fans fed up with this season
He really wasn't.
De Zerbi is a good coach but when Brighton lose they get hammered and that is not something a top coach can sustain and keep their job at the likes of United.
Yeah, he was. Last season Gabriel was very much the weak link in the center back partnership, with Arsenal effectively collapsing when Saliba got injured.
Akanji and Ake are definitely better, which is testament to the job City have done developing their defenders as neither of them came there with a very good reputation. Akanji in particular, even Dortmund fans were surprised to see them being interested.
If we were playing inconsistent football and were to narrowly miss out on top 4 this season we could be having these discussions taking injuries and other factors into account. I know a lot of people still wouldn't be happy with 5th, which is expected and understandable but still you could say there were mitigating circumstances and maybe there would be some merit in keeping a manager who failed to meet the minimum expectations for the first time. But we simply can't be having these discussions when we're consistently bad for over a year, cannot outplay and beat anyone convincingly and our 7th place on the table is extremely flattering. By most relevant metrics we should be worse because we are.
How else would you describe people who want instant gratification and scream at what they see in front of them, but seem to have no real willingness to engage with the behind the scenes realities of 15 years of Glazer mismanagement and how hard that is for one guy to unpick? It reminds me of when I told my kids they couldn't have ice cream.
Problem is we still think we are a top club and we just aren't. Entitlement won't get us back to the top. Football is littered with the shells of once great clubs.
You seem to be ignoring the very large midground.
So what you're actually saying is Saliba was better than Gabriel? Agree
No, what I'm saying is Martinez was a better CB than Gabriel last season. Gabriel made a fair amount of unforced errors himself, some of which he was fortunate not to lead to a goal.
Yeah, I never understood the overhyping of Martinez. He is okay, a Heinze-like CB who can do a good job in a title winning team as a deputy but not good enough to be a starter. As I said would he fifth-sixth choice at City, a team we should aspire to. He has some very good attributes (being vocal, passing) but also some serious weaknesses (aerial duels, being weak and slow and drinkable). The way how Caf was acting last year it was like he is the second coming of Baresi, when I though he was just an ok CB, for whom we overpaid significantly and won’t be a starter of a title-winning team.
He managed the reserve side for 2 seasons before moving back to Holland. If they saw anything remotely good in him he’d have been promoted to the main job or have gone back to manage them at some point in the last 10 years since he left.
So I'm making him guilty by association but when you say Arsenal 'collapsed' without Saliba it was because Gabriel is a 'weak link'?
Yeah I’m not disputing that but if you want to become a small club then start normalising massive defeats every time you lose, that’s the fast track to being a small time club. The difference between a big club and a small club is how much you’re willing to tolerate failure.
Yeah sounds silly but I would almost put myself between group 1 and group 2 as want him sacked, however not having a regular squad to choose from will have it's issues, only reason I say about excuses is because he will use it to defend himself.
No, I'm saying Gabriel was capable of more individual errors, and if you wanted to point to Licha in collapsing games I can do the same with Gabriel.
Yeah a case in point of this would be just brushing off 4-0 to Brentford, 6-3 to City and the Anfield abomination as just freak results
I think I'm in group 4. Injuries and the poor club structure have a big impact and any manager will have struggled to some extent. We could have done a lot better if the manager had compromised more than he did, but that would have come at the unacceptable price of backsliding on the core mission of insisting that we try to play a certain way. Even if we fail miserably.
I don't agree. It's whether you are willing and able to offer the characteristics that bring success. I don't tolerate my continued inability to date Dua Lipa but it has little bearing on how I actually spend my friday night. The Glazers have spend 20 years filling their pockets rather than seeking success and that will not be easy to fix.
I actually do think he is better than Gabriel and Ake (not Dias though)Top 6 is not a movement of goal posts since PL XI do not distinguish between rcb and lcb when picking the XI
