Jose saving his skin - yet again.. (Manager v Players blame game)

[fellaini's barber]

Pep walked into a side that finished on the same point as us the previous year but goal difference.

We could talk about x,y players but it wouldn't matter if their manager doesn't get them playing at a very high level or improve them which is something Pep did and Jose miserably failing so far.

The fact that I see Pep take those world class talent like KDB, Silva, Aguero and actually improve them while Mourinho has world class talent such as Pogba, Sanchez and has them playing rubbish is all one need to know if they're looking for what's up.

The likes of Sterling, Sane have massively improved under Pep while our own talents in the likes of Martial, Rashford as stagnating or going backward under Jose.

The mere fact that we're talking about a clearout and massive influx of players into a manager 3rd season is another telling thing to know. 2 years when most of the building should have been done and a 3rd year for some touch up and brushing off turned out to be another restart. How is that even possible?

Truth is Mourinho has failed to have top players perform, failed to improve talented youngsters at his disposal, failed to even get the best out of most of his OWN signings. It's incredibly worrisome and dissapointing how he's failing some of our best talents.

Listing a bunch of players that Pep or Mourinho inherited is pretty mute at this point given our manager can't even get his players playing to their potential regardless of whether they're world class talent or not.

Thanks for this post, couldn't have put it beter. This Pep got KDB and spent x million on fullbacks excuses do my head in. With Moyes it was 'he needs 3 years like Fergie'. With LVG it was 'he's rebuilding and will make us world beaters 5 years after he leaves like he did at Barca'. With Jose its 'Pep got a better team and spent $100 million on fullbacks'.

 

[Abhinav]

Well Moyes certainly did and LVG too to an extent yes, but isn't it the case that the squad today is not the same, or are we saying Jose 7 signings don't count?

Of course the 7 signings count, but we have also improved post those 7 signings. If we take out the intangible metric of quality of football (not saying its not important), the progress made by Jose in the league is undeniable. Some of the stats of our previous seasons in PL at this match week 30:
Season Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA GD Points
2017/18 30 20 5 5 58 23 35 65
2016/17 30 15 12 3 46 24 22 57
2015/16 30 14 8 8 38 27 11 50
2014/15 30 17 8 5 52 27 25 59
2013/14 30 15 6 9 48 34 14 51
2012/13 30 25 2 3 70 31 39 77
2011/12 30 23 4 3 74 27 47 73

Its clear to see Mourinho started by improving the defensive stability of the team in his first season. The last 2 seasons have been the best defensive seasons in the last 7 years. This year, we have been able to convert the draws into wins by improving our attacking output and that reflects in the goal scored. So in all visible metrics, we have made progress and are headed in the right direction. Whether we could have done better is a hypothetical question which none of us can answer. What is clear to see is improvement and progress.

* As an aside, Sir Alex genius is truly reflected in our 2012/13 season. His 2012/13 team would have been only 4 points behind this City team.That is an incredible statistic considering the difference in individual quality between that team and this city team.

 

[Cassidy]

Of course the 7 signings count, but we have also improved post those 7 signings. If we take out the intangible metric of quality of football (not saying its not important), the progress made by Jose in the league is undeniable. Some of the stats of our previous seasons in PL at this match week 30:
Season Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA GD Points
2017/18 30 20 5 5 58 23 35 65
2016/17 30 15 12 3 46 24 22 57
2015/16 30 14 8 8 38 27 11 50
2014/15 30 17 8 5 52 27 25 59
2013/14 30 15 6 9 48 34 14 51
2012/13 30 25 2 3 70 31 39 77
2011/12 30 23 4 3 74 27 47 73

Its clear to see Mourinho started by improving the defensive stability of the team in his first season. The last 2 seasons have been the best defensive seasons in the last 7 years. This year, we have been able to convert the draws into wins by improving our attacking output and that reflects in the goal scored. So in all visible metrics, we have made progress and are headed in the right direction. Whether we could have done better is a hypothetical question which none of us can answer. What is clear to see is improvement and progress.

* As an aside, Sir Alex genius is truly reflected in our 2012/13 season. His 2012/13 team would have been only 4 points behind this City team.That is an incredible statistic considering the difference in individual quality between that team and this city team.

Yes but that comes with spending the amount of money we have with Jose.
Also I take exception to improving our defensive stability, we don't concede as much because generally we sit back and play defensively against decent opposition.
Conceding 3 less goals over 30 games is hardly a sign of improved defensive stability in that light.

Now I am not saying there has not been progress, but my point was that the squad is underperforming what ever way you wish to slice it up and thats down to the manager.

 

[Santoryo]

Yes but that comes with spending the amount of money we have with Jose.
Also I take exception to improving our defensive stability, we don't concede as much because generally we sit back and play defensively against decent opposition.
Conceding 3 less goals over 30 games is hardly a sign of improved defensive stability in that light.

Now I am not saying there has not been progress, but my point was that the squad is underperforming what ever way you wish to slice it up and thats down to the manager.

Not to mention that even during Van Gaal time we still had one of the best defensive record in the league. Tied with Tottenham as best defense in the league in LVG last year.