So did guardiola. Making the right signings after that initial 3 year spell is so crucial
'Pep' Guardiola sack watch
- Thread starter Classical Mechanic
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Pep made a mistake of thinking his team doesn't need any more upgrades and can just keep it for few more years with 1 or 2 signings. Don't think Klopp will make the same mistake after seeing it happening for another club, and also due to Klopp being ultimately better in building teams than Pep.
Can't really call them a contender this season can you? City will bring in a good replacement, a manager with a top CV and he is unlikely to leave his defence short on numbers and quality unlikely Pep this season.
None taken. I don't claim to be a connossieur of German football. I only go by the few articles I read and the few CL matches I watch. You're the second German person to tell me that Klopp's team did great but didn't get the points, so I take it that is indeed true.
In that case, we are pretty fecked if Pep leaves cause that means Liverpool will win the league for the next 10 years.
He will be fine next season with another 300m spending
It's going one of two ways.
1) He's going to throw the sovereign wealth of Qatar at the squad next year so he can leave on a high.
2) He'll rage quit and go find an easier job somewhere else.
1) He's going to throw the sovereign wealth of Qatar at the squad next year so he can leave on a high.
2) He'll rage quit and go find an easier job somewhere else.
After City, I feel like He will go to PSG.
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I think he’s already decided to go and I think the players know it.
xG says Liverpool are having a freak 18 months anyway. Expect them to correct either in the second half of this season or next. Klopp and Pool do not worry me as much as City going forward.
What are the xG numbers for Liverpool? How far out is expected goals / v goals are they?
https://understat.com/league/EPL/2019
Its their xPTS mostly and why they’ve had so many games where people have been saying ‘the were poor but still won’.
Time for sabbatical?
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Very interesting, I guess a combination of a ruthless edge (due to most of the squad being bang in their prime) and the sheer determination to win the title is contributing to such a statistical over performance.
Certainly gives some form of hope that this isn't how it's going to be for a few years and once they've been "fed" with their title they will revert to a still top quality but challengable side.
Some of these thread titles are a joke.
He’s still one of the best there ever was, if not the best already.
Liverpool are playing some unbelievable football at the moment. If I were a betting man, I’d expect him to stay for one final season and win the league again and only then leave. He is never going to get sacked this season. And he knows more than anyone that his managerial legacy will be tarnished forever if he runs away at the end of this season.
He’s still one of the best there ever was, if not the best already.
Liverpool are playing some unbelievable football at the moment. If I were a betting man, I’d expect him to stay for one final season and win the league again and only then leave. He is never going to get sacked this season. And he knows more than anyone that his managerial legacy will be tarnished forever if he runs away at the end of this season.
Before the season started a common opinion was that City have could field two XI good enough to challenge for the title.
There are very few managers in the world that guarantee you such point records, even with the best squads around. Every club Pep left learned that the hard way. Maybe not immediately, but a little bit down the road. He's simply the manager to go if you want to win your league.
Yes, he always had good squads at his disposal but it's no coincidence both Barca and Bayern degressed after he left.
I see where you are coming from but even if they are having a lucky season, in order to achieve what they have you still need to play on an incredible level.
And as much as I love the xG stat, it's not the perfect metric you can find. If a team constantly outperforms it's xG, this can stem from the system or the quality of the players.
Liverpool exemplarily very often scores from crosses. Statistically speaking, crosses are one of the worst attacking patterns (along with long shots) but they've found a way to make them work. Those crosses aren't desparate attempts because they've run out of ideas but first choice options. They obviously train them, arguably have the best crosser in the world and prepare them in their build up and run ways.
That's where xG has it's limits. For xG, it's all down to position in the box and way of finishing. All headers at the long post are the same to it. It doesn't consider a) how many opponent players are marking you (build up of the cross, run ways in the box), b) the quality of the cross (TAA) and c) how good the player is at finishing these crosses (training objective?).
All that can explain why Liverpool outperform their xG without the reason being luck.
Can’t blame Abdul Fard ... they had the CL in their hands last year but crashed out in the most absurd and heartbreaking manner... being many years he does not have a real sniff at that, he inherently sulked and downed tools. I would go as far ahead as saying he is damaged goods right now and will destroy the stability of his next club because of these underlying issues, so really hoping he ends at PSG (as rich and plastic as City, so chartered waters) instead of Juve (already at the very limit of our financial capabilities).
I wouldn't exactly call it "great", but good enough to get a place in the CL. The team did need an overhaul, though. And earlier or later this will happen with Liverpool as well.
I was more suggesting that their important attacking players are bang in form and that isn’t sustainable rather than it being luck. If you’ve watched them this season they had many flatter performances where they’ve taken their chances rather completely dominating play like City did in the previous two seasons. Personally I think they’re in a perfect place psychologically where they’re on point in the ‘clutch’ moments but those things can change quickly.
I don’t get hung up on these ideas of ‘invincible’ teams, Mourinho’s first Chelsea side and Pep’s recent City side looked more ominous than this Liverpool side but neither managed more than two titles in a row.
Well, we all saw this in the making, didn’t we? Statistics do not explain the “love” (passion for the game, inner belief, appreciation of heritage, history and the fans, respect for the community at large) going on in the Liverpool club right now but that is Klopp’s miracle and he did exactly the same with Dortmund, so it is not out of the blue. The only coach constantly doing the same is Conte but in that case it is not “love”, just ambition and inner lust for victory (he is so mentally in that pattern, he feels physically ill when he does not win a football game... he even called his daughter Vittoria
).Think he will walk at the end of this season and have a break. Thing is City were building his team for him long before he took over and he then spent an insane amount more. Not going to get that anywhere else. Spending has dried up though which suggests the plan is nearing the end point. Won loads domestically but no champions league final will be seen as a failure by the owners I think.
I'm not sure Pep looks like he has the appetite to continue with this.
Definitely a lot of body language/mental gauge experts on the Caf.
Interested to see if they break this individual spending fee limit. There's still some bargains to be had but we've moved out of the 50-60 million player and into the 80-120+ million.
This kind of stuff happens with most People in the public eye though. Mourinho gets it every week. It's a pretty common thing to discuss really never quite get the "body language experts" stuff personally.
I also don't get why some people get their backs up when anyone dares question him. Still don't buy the genius stuff personally. Did a great job at Barca, did a good job at Bayern and had 1 very good season at City with a massive budget
Well he was mentally broken before during his stint at Barca so we do have history to go on.
It's silly, at best. And that's me being holiday drunk and full of good tidings.
See? Mental health experts!
As a society we are more conscious of it, yes.
How has your frame of mind been after Peps performances this year? I see a lot of passive aggressive, bitchy posts from you since August. 4 months of that cant be healthy.. Maybe Pep can outgun little old Sheff Utd tomorrow. Cheer you up a little
Dig in my past friend, you'll see these bitchy posts going all the way back to 2014. This was when Moyes broke me, mentally of course.As a society we are more conscious of it, yes.
How has your frame of mind been after Peps performances this year? I see a lot of passive aggressive, bitchy posts from you since August. 4 months of that cant be healthy.. Maybe Pep can outgun little old Sheff Utd tomorrow. Cheer you up a little
He is making some very strange tactical decisions this season. The Fernandinho long term experiment hasn't worked yet he still persists with it. There have also been other weird decisions throughout the season. The decision to substitute KDB yesterday was bizarre. There best means of defence was to keep the ball away from Wolves. Pep decided to make a defensive substitution despite the fact that they can't defend as a coherent unit. They ceded possession & Wolves inevitably won.
It's down to a mixture of loosing a few in the dressing room & a cold war brewing with the board. In his eyes he hasn't been able to spend enough in the last 2 seasons. The wierd tactics & moaning pressers are his way of communicating to the board that he won't be able to keep ahead of the pack if he doesn't get everything he wants. Giving him huge amounts to spend & bending to his will was all good when he was winning the league at a canter. You now though have Klopp besting him on a fraction of the budget & the rest of us can't stay as crap as we have been. the Sheik must be having second thoughts on if there's enough fight in the dog.
Man City set to sign five new players in transfer overhaul because of Liverpool
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1221709/man-city-transfer-news-guardiola-liverpool
I'm trying to figure out why Pep insists on playing Fernandinho at central defense. He should play Walker there. He played the position with England well. Sure, it was a back 3 but I'm sure he could play central with a back 4 better than Fernandinho. As good as he's been as a DM, he's too slow for Pep's high line and pressing...
The rebuilding job at City suddenly looks daunting. Toure and Kompany have left, Silva will be gone at the end of this season, Aguero will leave in 2021, and Fernandinho probably has two or three seasons left in midfield. Stones hasn't cut it, and still question marks over Mendy and Walker.
Be interesting to see if Pep will 'promote' a few of the academy grads.
Be interesting to see if Pep will 'promote' a few of the academy grads.
The bad thing for a plastic club like City is that if they let go of Guardiola, they can’t really top him in the current market. And the PL is too tough to keep on going on institutional momentum like the likes of Juventus, Barsa or Real Madrid can do in their respective leagues.
Didn't Pep himself allude to such after he left?
I dont get the talks about a rebuild or Pep not getting proper backing.
He did spend an insane amount of money since joining City despite being stacked with quality players. Stones, Sane, Jesus, Gündogan, Laporte, Mendy, Walker, Bernado Silva, Ederson, Danilo, Mahrez, Rodri, Cancelo + some squadys and talents. Thats a whole new team on top of a quality squad.
City did spend big on Sterling, kdB and Otamendi the year before that. They constantly added top players (at least players that cost top $$$) to their squad without having to sell any key players. Thats more or less the wet dream of everybody here. Its impressive that they managed to invested so much money and their defense looks still very suspect. That said, a lot of people would have liked to see Mendy, Laporte or Cancelo at United. Pep has no excuses for the current season. It would be mental if they start a major rebuild considering what they have.
Sane - Aguero - Sterling // +Mahrez, Jesus,
KdB - Bernado Silva //+Gündogan, Foden ()
Rodri/Fernandinho
x - Laporte - Otamendi/Walker - Walker/Cancelo //Zinchenko
Ederson // Bravo
They'll spend another £50m on another overrated fullback/CB. Its not easy to find a midfielder/forward who is going to improve their starting 11. They'll replace Silva, but who are they going to buy who is better than Bernado Silva or KdB? There are very few realistic options, that are going to improve them. Same goes with forwards: They'll probably sell one (Sane/Jesus?), but who are they going to buy who is going to improve their starting 11? That hardly a rebuild. Maybe they add some depth, but I am not sure how much of a difference that makes. They have to fix motivation/concentration or need another manager.
He did spend an insane amount of money since joining City despite being stacked with quality players. Stones, Sane, Jesus, Gündogan, Laporte, Mendy, Walker, Bernado Silva, Ederson, Danilo, Mahrez, Rodri, Cancelo + some squadys and talents. Thats a whole new team on top of a quality squad.
City did spend big on Sterling, kdB and Otamendi the year before that. They constantly added top players (at least players that cost top $$$) to their squad without having to sell any key players. Thats more or less the wet dream of everybody here. Its impressive that they managed to invested so much money and their defense looks still very suspect. That said, a lot of people would have liked to see Mendy, Laporte or Cancelo at United. Pep has no excuses for the current season. It would be mental if they start a major rebuild considering what they have.
Sane - Aguero - Sterling // +Mahrez, Jesus,
KdB - Bernado Silva //+Gündogan, Foden (
)Rodri/Fernandinho
x - Laporte - Otamendi/Walker - Walker/Cancelo //Zinchenko
Ederson // Bravo
They'll spend another £50m on another overrated fullback/CB. Its not easy to find a midfielder/forward who is going to improve their starting 11. They'll replace Silva, but who are they going to buy who is better than Bernado Silva or KdB? There are very few realistic options, that are going to improve them. Same goes with forwards: They'll probably sell one (Sane/Jesus?), but who are they going to buy who is going to improve their starting 11? That hardly a rebuild. Maybe they add some depth, but I am not sure how much of a difference that makes. They have to fix motivation/concentration or need another manager.
To being mentally broken? I mean, I could use a break from work every now and then but I wouldn't say I was mentally broken
The truth is somewhere in-between in reality.
"I'm drained."
"I rise each day and don't feel the same."
"I don't want to manage at the moment."
Maybe not 'broken' but he was clearly worn down, more so than just needing a break, like you suggest.
Yeah xg for points is a bit stupid. You only need to score one more than the opponent to win. If you concede a few chances when 2-0 up without conceding it might not matter much even if it increase xg against you.
Liverpool have had luck with VAR a few times, but them being efficient and not blowing teams away all games is not luck. You get the same points for 2-1 as you get for 5-0.
If teams looked for scoring the most goals in total it would be a different game and Liverpool would have to change then in order to win. As it is goaldifference is not that important.