Pep on the way to England

Bounty Hunter

Andersonisgod wrote: »

So that's it, as I said, in my opinion he would do better to avoid England. As you can even see from some comments on this thread, Britain (and Ireland) is its own little bubble, cut off from the rest of Europe. Most haven't followed his career closely, they don't understand what he does or why he does it, they don't understand his significance to football in the 21st century. It's a pointless battle that, in my opinion, is unwinnable. In Spain, in Germany, it's about the project, it's about coaching and developing the collective, in England it's about plugging gaps in the squad by spending 30 million pound and playing the media game off the field. To steal a quote that I believe will apply to Pep's time in England, "don't argue with idiots because they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. "

seriously, people not agreeing with you and your response is, we just don't understand.

Strange how most seem to actually agree with what they are saying here (except you that is). Pep is very good and did very good at Barca & Bayern but then again those two aren't exactly the toughest jobs in the world so imo it's laughable to call him the best of his generation.

Most think he will go to City including yourself. They are set up pretty well for him and have so much money that he would no doubt be a success there but England being more competitive means it won't be easy.

Andersonisgod

ronjo wrote: »

Thanks for the detailed reply.

Personally I would love him to go to Arsenal.
If Arsenal do win the league this year there is always a chance Wenger may decide to go out on a high and retire one year early and while I thought Klopp would have been ideal, I think Pep could be great too. It would be great to see him do it at a club without pretty much unlimited spending resources.

My pleasure.

I will just say that his Bayern squad isn't the most expensive in Europe, no doubt it's costly but considering they are one of the top 3 clubs in Europe they punch above their weight slightly in terms of squad spend.

His Barcelona squad too wasn't the most expensive compared to other top teams in Europe.

To us mere mortals the figures spent on assembling squads is eye-watering, almost other wordly amounts of money so it is important to place these things in context. Before everyone loses their rag, I'm not saying that Barça and Bayern Munich don't spend money or have incredible financial clout, I'm simply saying it must be compared to their European rivals.

Andersonisgod

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

seriously, people not agreeing with you and your response is, we just don't understand.

Strange how most seem to actually agree with what they are saying here (except you that is). Pep is very good and did very good at Barca & Bayern but then again those two aren't exactly the toughest jobs in the world so imo it's laughable to call him the best of his generation.

Most think he will go to City including yourself. They are set up pretty well for him and have so much money that he would no doubt be a success there but England being more competitive means it won't be easy.

I don't want to sound arrogant or condescending but yes, when it comes to Pep I believe most don't understand and that's been reflected in comments like "Arsenal play the most like Barça" and "Pep had it easy at Barça and Bayern" both are woefully ill-informed statements that, to be blunt, are somewhat difficult to take seriously. Again, I stress that I don't mean to come across as condescending, however mine is the opinion of someone who has followed Pep's career from his Barça B days to present, whose watched his teams play almost every week (sometimes not live due to BT's restrictions in showing games from 3-5) and who has read countless books and articles on both the man and individual games in which he has coached, I get translations of important press conferences, I've watched the odd public training sessions he's put on. When it comes to Pep Guardiola, yes, I do believe that some people, based on the comments on this thread, simply don't understand and I feel confident in my own knowledge to say that.

Bounty Hunter

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I don't want to sound arrogant or condescending but yes, when it comes to Pep I believe most don't understand and that's been reflected in comments like "Arsenal play the most like Barça" and "Pep had it easy at Barça and Bayern" both are woefully ill-informed statements that, to be blunt, are somewhat difficult to take seriously. Again, I stress that I don't mean to come across as condescending, however mine is the opinion of someone who has followed Pep's career from his Barça B days to present, whose watched his teams play almost every week (sometimes not live due to BT's restrictions in showing games from 3-5) and who has read countless books and articles on both the man and individual games in which he has coached, I get translations of important press conferences, I've watched the odd public training sessions he's put on. When it comes to Pep Guardiola, yes, I do believe that some people, based on the comments on this thread, simply don't understand and I feel confident in my own knowledge to say that.

So you 100% genuinely think that Pep who, outside of Barca B, has only managed Barca and Munich is the greatest manager of his time? Surely you would only give such an accolade to a manager who has achieved something we didn't all expect.

Andersonisgod

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

So you 100% genuinely think that Pep who, outside of Barca B, has only managed Barca and Munich is the greatest manager of his time? Surely you would only give such an accolade to a manager who has achieved something we didn't all expect.

He's Cruyff, he's Sacchi, he's the innovator of his day. The coach that, 30-40 years from now, people will look back to and say "Pep's teams, Pep's era." This is why Bayern hired him, it's not enough for these great clubs just to win, it must be memorable, it must be like nothing ever seen before. As an example, look at Sacchi's Milan, Capello won more with that side but it's Sacchi's team that has survived the test of time, that is looked on as being "great." There is no other coach quite like Pep and that's why he was Ferguson's chosen one, that's why every top club will scramble for him, because they want part of that history.

I could explain in detail why exactly Barcelona, when he took charge, was far from the machine it is today and why it was far from expected of him to go and win everything, how he changed the club, some might even say saved the club, and not only won far beyond what anyone could have possibly expected but done it in a way that changed football and made Barcelona the reference point the world over. I could explain that but I won't because I feel I've done it before and it's been documented enough elsewhere that I don't have to.

DubDani

I like the way Bayern (and to a degree Pep) do their Business. Bayern has known for a few weeks that Pep will not extend his contract, and have already agreement with Ancelotti in place. Both will be announced formally next week.

Pep can go and try to make the last 6 months into a stand out season, while Ancelotti has 6 months to learn German and to build his new team in the background with Bayern Mgmt. No extended chaos, no excuses for the team etc. All very well organized, and very similiar to when Pep took over from Heynckes.

RayCon

HalloweenJack wrote: »

As for Germany, to say that a guy who managed some of the players for one season had more influence than the guy who managed and moulded the team over the previous eight years, not to mention all the goings-on at underage and structural level, is just plain ridiculous .

This X 1,000,000

Boskowski

Bayern never had the most expensive squad, it's not how they operate. They are no Galacticos and they don't aspire to be. But yet they were always thereabouts. Always likely to burst into a 2, 3 or 5 year stint at the very top. I don't consider that punching above your weight. It's just a consequence of purposeful team building as opposed to simply hovering up everything money can buy year in year out.

bucketybuck

Boskowski wrote: »

Bayern never had the most expensive squad, it's not how they operate. They are no Galacticos

In Germany? I would like to see a cite for that if there is one? Buying all their rivals best players sounds like a Galactico policy to me?

If you mean they don't have the most expensive squad in Europe or the world then that isn't really saying much, not with the likes of Madrid are around.

Pro. F

In my view Pep looks to have done a good job at Beyern, although of course I disagree with the screeds of nonsense on the subject from AIG.

The problem with Bayern in the Bundesliga just now is that you have to look to the CL as the only real proof of how they're doing. Tuchel is turning Dortmund into a serious outfit once again, but it's still relatively early in that project, so the league competition for Bayern has serious question marks over it. But for all the acclaim the CL gets, it's still only a knock-out competition so not a very reliable way to judge a team. I don't think Pep needs to win the CL to prove anything, just put in a better showing than last year.

Hopefully he does go to England, or decides to work with a non-dominant team in one of the other leagues. Because it would be good to see how he would do in a more straightforward test.

Andersonisgod

RayCon wrote: »

This X 1,000,000

I don't remember giving Pep 100% credit or even 50% credit, that would be madness. However there's no denying his influence on the winners of the last 2 World Cups. Again people say "but Germany have been developing technically gifted players for 10 years" and they can't grasp how being a technically gifted player doesn't automatically translate to playing different styles of football, not understanding how the German team of 2010 is very different to the German team of 2014. Again, you can reference names like Lothar Matthaus, Mathias Sammer, Joachim Löw himself and Johan Cruyff have spoken of Pep's influence on the German national team, but I suppose people either don't know that or will disregard that.

CSF

Can't have the greatest of his generation tag either. Very good manager without question and an excellent tactician. He couldn't have inherited a more perfect Barcelona squad, so while he did the job at hand extremely well and oversaw a terrific style of football, winning with the likes of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta in your team was not a huge task.

He inherited gold at Bayern, with the team having won everything possible the season before. Again, I think he has done an excellent job there and has had the side even more dominant in the Bundesliga, but I think if he doesn't win the Champions League this year, that will be a black mark on his copybook. We can make all the excuses we want, we've seen 2 attempts now and they haven't gone well when faced with elite opposition. I do believe that a manager who spends 3 years at Bayern and doesn't win a Champions League can't be said to have really succeeded there. Has to win it this year.

Going to Chelsea would be fascinating IMO. We know he can take great players and do great things with them, playing great football. At Chelsea he will have to undergo a huge clear out and reinvigorate a squad that has lost both the winning touch and the ability to play nice football.

With that said, I doubt he feels like he has anything to prove to anyone so I'd say he will go to City where they'd be much better set up for him to go win things immediately.

Bounty Hunter

Andersonisgod wrote: »

He's Cruyff, he's Sacchi, he's the innovator of his day. The coach that, 30-40 years from now, people will look back to and say "Pep's teams, Pep's era." This is why Bayern hired him, it's not enough for these great clubs just to win, it must be memorable, it must be like nothing ever seen before. As an example, look at Sacchi's Milan, Capello won more with that side but it's Sacchi's team that has survived the test of time, that is looked on as being "great." There is no other coach quite like Pep and that's why he was Ferguson's chosen one, that's why every top club will scramble for him, because they want part of that history.

I could explain in detail why exactly Barcelona, when he took charge, was far from the machine it is today and why it was far from expected of him to go and win everything, how he changed the club, some might even say saved the club, and not only won far beyond what anyone could have possibly expected but done it in a way that changed football and made Barcelona the reference point the world over. I could explain that but I won't because I feel I've done it before and it's been documented enough elsewhere that I don't have to.

I feel like you are giving him credit for future achievements and although I do believe that yes people may just look back and talk about peps era at a club or peps team etc in the future. Although to call him the greatest of his generation now and not when we are looking back is where I greatly differ from you. If he takes over a Utd or Chelsea and has a "pep era" with huge success with them then maybe but until then I don't think he deserves such an accolade.

I think he will be the next City manager. I think they will improve greatly. He will win a few premierships while there most likely and maybe get them close to champions league glory. He is never going to drop down to managing a team like Spurs as some have suggested but if he did and he brought them success them I'd call him the best without doubt.

Andersonisgod

CSF wrote: »

Can't have the greatest of his generation tag either. Very good manager without question and an excellent tactician. He couldn't have inherited a more perfect Barcelona squad, so while he did the job at hand extremely well and oversaw a terrific style of football, winning with the likes of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta in your team was not a huge task.

He inherited gold at Bayern, with the team having won everything possible the season before. Again, I think he has done an excellent job there and has had the side even more dominant in the Bundesliga, but I think if he doesn't win the Champions League this year, that will be a black mark on his copybook. We can make all the excuses we want, we've seen 2 attempts now and they haven't gone well when faced with elite opposition. I do believe that a manager who spends 3 years at Bayern and doesn't win a Champions League can't be said to have really succeeded there. Has to win it this year.

Going to Chelsea would be fascinating IMO. We know he can take great players and do great things with them, playing great football. At Chelsea he will have to undergo a huge clear out and reinvigorate a squad that has lost both the winning touch and the ability to play nice football.

With that said, I doubt he feels like he has anything to prove to anyone so I'd say he will go to City where they'd be much better set up for him to go win things immediately.

Not in context, a comment posted in a revised viewpoint. A perfect Barcelona squad? Ask any Barcelona fan about how "perfect" the squad was pre-Pep and they are liable to laugh in your face, ask them about Rijkaard's final season and they'll speak almost exclusively in a negative tone. Yes, today we will say that the Messi/Xavi/Iniesta triangle is one of the greatest in football history but when Pep took over it didn't exist. Xavi had enough, he was leaving Barcelona having become disillusioned with the in-fighting and his role in the squad being undermined. Iniesta was not yet the key player that he is today, and not even always a guaranteed starter, and Messi was not the of the stature he is today, Ronaldinho ruled the roost. Pep walked into a dressing room divided by Ronaldinho and Eto'o, with Puyol exhausted having tried everything to get the club back on track, a dressing room still high on the fumes of its own success from 2 seasons back, he arrived to a team in decline. As the story goes, in a friendly game behind closed doors Pep's B side had even beaten the first team quote comfortably. His task was mammoth. Yes, we know now that the quality was in that team to become great, but at the time tiki taka was not established and, as Xavi has said, his type of midfielder was a dying breed. Pep brought in the right players from the B side and in transfers, he shifted the balance of power from Eto'o and Ronaldinho to Xavi, Iniesta, Messi and Puyol, he changed how the team played, he changed football. With hindsight it's easy, he had Messi, he had Xavi, he had Iniesta, but I have no doubt in saying that without Pep there would be no Messi, Xavi or Iniesta as we know them today, and I have no doubt those players would express the exact same sentiments.

NIMAN

I was thinking about Pep this morning when the news were reporting that he might he heading to City or Chelsea.

How do we actually know how good a manager he really is? I mean, he took over a Barca team riddled with talent, and of course he won loads, but how much of that was down to his tactics over the actual talent of his players?

Then moves on to Bayern, the richest club in Germany with all the best talent and the money to buy more.

Now on to City, already loaded with a good squad and he will be given whatever money he asks for to buy nearly anyone he wants (maybe Messi excluded). Of course we would all put a few bob on him winning more things with City.

But the pattern here is that he is never faced with a limited squad, limited money etc. He always has the cream of the crop.

For me, someone like Simeone has made bigger achievements in the management game in recent seasons.

CSF

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Not in context, a comment posted in a revised viewpoint. A perfect Barcelona squad? Ask any Barcelona fan about how "perfect" the squad was pre-Pep and they are liable to laugh in your face, ask them about Rijkaard's final season and they'll speak almost exclusively in a negative tone. Yes, today we will say that the Messi/Xavi/Iniesta triangle is one of the greatest in football history but when Pep took over it didn't exist. Xavi had enough, he was leaving Barcelona having become disillusioned with the in-fighting and his role in the squad being undermined. Iniesta was not yet the key player that he is today, and not even always a guaranteed starter, and Messi was not the of the stature he is today, Ronaldinho ruled the roost. Pep walked into a dressing room divided by Ronaldinho and Eto'o, with Puyol exhausted having tried everything to get the club back on track, a dressing room still high on the fumes of its own success from 2 seasons back, he arrived to a team in decline. As the story goes, in a friendly game behind closed doors Pep's B side had even beaten the first team quote comfortably. His task was mammoth. Yes, we know now that the quality was in that team to become great, but at the time tiki taka was not established and, as Xavi has said, his type of midfielder was a dying breed. Pep brought in the right players from the B side and in transfers, he shifted the balance of power from Eto'o and Ronaldinho to Xavi, Iniesta, Messi and Puyol, he changed how the team played, he changed football. With hindsight it's easy, he had Messi, he had Xavi, he had Iniesta, but I have no doubt in saying that without Pep there would be no Messi, Xavi or Iniesta as we know them today, and I have no doubt those players would express the exact same sentiments.

No no I agree to an extent, I think Pep did a great job there and have said as much, my point was that he didn't have to look very far for the perfect ingredients to achieve what he did, they were already there and just required the right manager to turn them into the world beaters they could be. Pep was that man.

Andersonisgod

NIMAN wrote: »

I was thinking about Pep this morning when the news were reporting that he might he heading to City or Chelsea.

How do we actually know how good a manager he really is? I mean, he took over a Barca team riddled with talent, and of course he won loads, but how much of that was down to his tactics over the actual talent of his players?

Then moves on to Bayern, the richest club in Germany with all the best talent and the money to buy more.

Now on to City, already loaded with a good squad and he will be given whatever money he asks for to buy nearly anyone he wants (maybe Messi excluded). Of course we would all put a few bob on him winning more things with City.

But the pattern here is that he is never faced with a limited squad, limited money etc. He always has the cream of the crop.

For me, someone like Simeone has made bigger achievements in the management game in recent seasons.

I give up, I'm at a loss for words. When I say there is no understanding of Pep on these shores and in England this is what I mean. It's a pointless argument when what you say is not understood or not acknowledged, an unwinnable one for Pep because facts and context go out the window, replaced by hindsight and myth. If Pep rang me this morning I'd shout down the phone "stay away, stay far away!" I'm going to bow out of this thread for a while to collect my thoughts because my brain is scrambled.

By the way, the paragraph above is not a dig or a comment on the reference to Diego Simeone who I believe is a remarkable coach, an incredible manager who is certainly one of the best around and who I have huge admiration for.

ronjo

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I give up, I'm at a loss for words. When I say there is no understanding of Pep on these shores and in England this is what I mean. It's a pointless argument when what you say is not understood or not acknowledged, an unwinnable one for Pep because facts and context go out the window, replaced by hindsight and myth. If Pep rang me this morning I'd shout down the phone "stay away, stay far away!" I'm going to bow out of this thread for a while to collect my thoughts because my brain is scrambled.

By the way, the paragraph above is not a dig or a comment on the reference to Diego Simeone who I believe is a remarkable coach, an incredible manager who is certainly one of the best around and who I have huge admiration for.

Could Pep in your opinion win the league with Spurs with Spurs usual finances available?

RobertKK

Graham Hunter says Pep has an itch for Man Utd, as he nearly signed for them towards the end of his career. Hunter says he has talked to people close to Guardiola and it is the United job that he wants.

DubDani

RobertKK wrote: »

Graham Hunter says Pep has an itch for Man Utd, as he nearly signed for them towards the end of his career. Hunter says he has talked to people close to Guardiola and it is the United job that he wants.

I think nobody but Pep himself knows what he is going to do.

He recently said that he needs / would like a break every 3 years. Maybe he is taking another year out and going re scouting the market.

The biggest favorite so far seems to be City with all his old Barca connections already installed there. Against City goes the fact that he seem to prefer a club with tradition at the highest Level.

The one thing that is for certain, is that he is not after the biggest paycheck. Bayern offered him in excess of 20mil. a year, and he wouldn't extend.

greendom

DubDani wrote: »

I think nobody but Pep himself knows what he is going to do.

He recently said that he needs / would like a break every 3 years. Maybe he is taking another year out and going re scouting the market.

The biggest favorite so far seems to be City with all his old Barca connections already installed there. Against City goes the fact that he seem to prefer a club with tradition at the highest Level.

The one thing that is for certain, is that he is not after the biggest paycheck. Bayern offered him in excess of 20mil. a year, and he wouldn't extend.

If he is planning on taking another year out, he would make the perfect successor to Wenger

Andersonisgod

ronjo wrote: »

Could Pep in your opinion win the league with Spurs with Spurs usual finances available?

I was going to leave but you've tempted me back with this question.

Could he win it with Spurs? It's tough to answer, it's a hypothetical question, there's factors to consider, would he be given unprecedented financial backing? How would the development of their new stadium come into play? Would the players buy into his way of playing? It's impossible to answer these questions. Do I think he could win the Premier League with Spurs? I'd say probably not. Do I believe any coach could win the league with Spurs? I'd say probably not. Mauricio Pochettino is a fantastic coach, doing a fantastic job to get Spurs to produce what they currently are. If I'm being honest, even if he goes to Man City I think he will be doing well to win the league, his beliefs are so extreme (though he has shown plenty of invention and variety at Bayern to achieve what he sets out to do) and are so at odds with the principles of English football and the culture of the English game that it could well be a struggle. Would Spurs improve under Guardiola? I think so, would they play a brand of football to be admired? Given time and the correct commitment from players and appropriate backing then yes. Would he win the league? I don't think so.Would anybody? No.

Corholio

DubDani wrote: »

I think nobody but Pep himself knows what he is going to do.

To be fair there's a least one person here who definitely does, along with all the German and Spanish football secrets that 'we' don't know about and how people don't 'understand' Pep.

Andersonisgod

Corholio wrote: »

To be fair there's a least one person here who definitely does, along with all the German and Spanish football secrets that 'we' don't know about and how people don't 'understand' Pep.

Glad to be of assistance, I mean where would you be without me. Would you be aware that Kicker are reporting that Ancelotti is 90% certain to be coach of Bayern Munich next season? Probably not. Would you have been aware of the Guardiola news before this morning? I doubt it. Unless you plan on reading a raft of material on Pep and watching his team each week then yes, you don't understand Pep. Unless you followed Barça pre-Pep and Barça then from the very beginning of the Pep reign then no, you don't understand because you don't have the context to put it into. So yes, I am happy to help.

SantryRed

ronjo wrote: »

Could Pep in your opinion win the league with Spurs with Spurs usual finances available?

Could Mourinho?
Could Ancelotti?
Could Heynckes?


Does this mean Benitez is a better manager than him for what he did at Valencia?

this line of thinking is ridiculous.

K-9

Sure Rodgers nearly won a league with Liverpool and they'd be comparable enough with Spurs finance wise so...................

Corholio

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Glad to be of assistance, I mean where would you be without me. Would you be aware that Kicker are reporting that Ancelotti is 90% certain to be coach of Bayern Munich next season? Probably not. Would you have been aware of the Guardiola news before this morning? I doubt it. Unless you plan on reading a raft of material on Pep and watching his team each week then yes, you don't understand Pep. Unless you followed Barça pre-Pep and Barça then from the very beginning of the Pep reign then no, you don't understand because you don't have the context to put it into. So yes, I am happy to help.

Before this morning? Ancelotti? All this was being reported 2 days ago. But don't let me stop you on believing you have some inside knowledge of things or that other people don't actually read about football at all. Glad I'm not a Man City or Chelsea fan, won't have to be visiting the club threads to be hearing more about it next year.

kksaints

Personally I would like to see Pep go to Italy next rather than England. Think the style of football in Italy would suit him more than England.

Andersonisgod

Corholio wrote: »

Before this morning? Ancelotti? All this was being reported 2 days ago. But don't let me stop you on believing you have some inside knowledge of things or that other people don't actually read about football at all. Glad I'm not a Man City or Chelsea fan, won't have to be visiting the club threads to be hearing more about it next year.

Really? Odd, I'd love some sources for that, especially one with the 90% figure from 2 days ago but ok. Excellent, you can continue to enjoy Aston Villa, I'll be enjoying the work of Guardiola and we can completely avoid each other, I might never have to answer any more snide remarks or not very subtle digs again. You can live your life, I can live mine. You can curse that damn andersonisgod and his know it all ways and I can continue to live in peace and harmony not really caring that much about what you post.

RobertKK

From the Times.

Pep Guardiola once sat at Old Trafford, turned to a close associate and said: “I could see myself coaching here one day.”

NIMAN

If only we were all as smart as Andersonisgod. We should all leave this forum just to himself.

Corholio

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Really? Odd, I'd love some sources for that, especially one with the 90% figure from 2 days ago but ok. Excellent, you can continue to enjoy Aston Villa, I'll be enjoying the work of Guardiola and we can completely avoid each other, I might never have to answer any more snide remarks or not very subtle digs again. You can live your life, I can live mine. You can curse that damn andersonisgod and his know it all ways and I can continue to live in peace and harmony not really caring that much about what you post.

How do you judge a 90% percentage of a person taking over exactly? Ancelotti's name was mentioned as a strong contender for the job, you just don't have to make it sound like you're the only one that may read or hear about reports in press in Europe, all you're doing is reading things online like everybody else. That'll be great, I can certainly do without the conspiracy theories, false thinking of insider info and total snobbishness to any football outside of elite teams where the football isn't of an extremely high standard, the actual ability to have a reasonable debate without digging into your superlative bag will be refreshing too. Enjoy the peace and harmony.

Andersonisgod

NIMAN wrote: »

If only we were all as smart as Andersonisgod. We should all leave this forum just to himself.

Well don't do that, or this place will end up a virtual representation of my thought process, where you can see on a screen my internal battles and conflicts, a kind of computerised hell from which there is no escape.

NIMAN

There's a limited number of 'big name' managers for these big clubs.

The likes of Utd, City, Bayern, Chelsea, Madrid, Barca etc usually get the big managers. They rarely consider middle of the road managers.

LuckyLloyd

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I don't want to sound arrogant or condescending but yes, when it comes to Pep I believe most don't understand and that's been reflected in comments like "Arsenal play the most like Barça" and "Pep had it easy at Barça and Bayern" both are woefully ill-informed statements that, to be blunt, are somewhat difficult to take seriously. Again, I stress that I don't mean to come across as condescending, however mine is the opinion of someone who has followed Pep's career from his Barça B days to present, whose watched his teams play almost every week (sometimes not live due to BT's restrictions in showing games from 3-5) and who has read countless books and articles on both the man and individual games in which he has coached, I get translations of important press conferences, I've watched the odd public training sessions he's put on. When it comes to Pep Guardiola, yes, I do believe that some people, based on the comments on this thread, simply don't understand and I feel confident in my own knowledge to say that.

Andersonisgod

Corholio wrote: »

How do you judge a 90% percentage of a person taking over exactly? Ancelotti's name was mentioned as a strong contender for the job, you just don't have to make it sound like you're the only one that may read or hear about reports in press in Europe, all you're doing is reading things online like everybody else. That'll be great, I can certainly do without the conspiracy theories, false thinking of insider info and total snobbishness to any football outside of elite teams where the football isn't of an extremely high standard, the actual ability to have a reasonable debate without digging into your superlative bag will be refreshing too. Enjoy the peace and harmony.

I don't know, it's not my quote, if you read Kicker you'd know the context. I forgot that all sports papers are produced just for me. Perhaps though we could start putting the knowledge gained from these things into practise a bit. Excellent, superb, magnificent and marvellous, this has all become a bit odd and is actually taking things slightly off topic so I am bowing out now. Peace and harmony in progress.

NIMAN

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Well don't do that, or this place will end up a virtual representation of my thought process, where you can see on a screen my internal battles and conflicts, a kind of computerised he'll from which there is no escape.

I stand by the initial point that I raised that we will never know how Pep would do if he had to work under a limited budget and with a team that isn't already at the top before he arrived.

bucketybuck

SantryRed wrote: »

Could Mourinho?
Could Ancelotti?
Could Heynckes?


Does this mean Benitez is a better manager than him for what he did at Valencia?

this line of thinking is ridiculous.

But Guardiola is the greatest manager of his generation! Why not ask if he could do what other mere mortals wouldn't even dare to dream!

NIMAN

@andersonisgod, can I ask just how much you really love Pep?

Would you shift him?

bucketybuck

NIMAN wrote: »

I stand by the initial point that I raised that we will never know how Pep would do if he had to work under a limited budget and with a team that isn't already at the top before he arrived.

Interesting that the first factor AIG considers for Pep and Spurs is if there is "unprecedented financial backing".

Pep is like a kid playing the old Championship manager, only picks the big teams with the best players and loads of money, but instead of a registry where he can change the players skill values he just uses regular doping regimes to do that instead.

Andersonisgod

NIMAN wrote: »

@andersonisgod, can I ask just how much you really love Pep?

Would you shift him?

I've a crazy amount of devotion and respect and admiration for Pep......assume what you will from that.

Andersonisgod

bucketybuck wrote: »

Interesting that the first factor AIG considers for Pep and Spurs is if there is "unprecedented financial backing".

Pep is like a kid playing the old Championship manager, only picks the big teams with the best players and loads of money, but instead of a registry where he can change the players skill values he just uses regular doping regimes to do that instead.

Someone is overly-analysing my posts, there's no ranking system in effect when I list things, sometimes lyrical value plays a part but not very often. So I ask you, why haven't Spurs won the Premier League?

Fratton Fred

My money's on Chelsea.

bucketybuck

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Someone is overly-analysing my posts, there's no ranking system in effect when I list things, sometimes lyrical value plays a part but not very often. So I ask you, why haven't Spurs won the Premier League?

Because they don't have the greatest manager of his generation to revolutionise their club?

Andersonisgod

bucketybuck wrote: »

Because they don't have the greatest manager of his generation to revolutionise their club?

Absolutely cheap, would-be-witty response. I expected nothing more.

BoJack Horseman

Will Chelsea try to gazump city?

Pep, & his family may prefer to resettle in London instead of Manchester.

Andersonisgod

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

Will Chelsea try to gazump city?

Pep, & his family may prefer to resettle in London instead of Manchester.

Abramovich will give it everything he has. He tried desperately last time, everyone knows about the meeting on the yacht, apparently he was offered insane money and backing by Abramovich but he turned it down. This time he is coming to England it seems so Chelsea's chances are greater than before but I still believe it will be City. Gauge the reaction of Chelsea fans to Mourinho post sacking and you will have a pretty good indication of why Pep won't want to take over from Mourinho. The Portuguese has left a broken, disjointed squad behind and despite a disastrous, tumultuous campaign, he can do no wrong in the eyes of Chelsea fans, Pep would always be in his shadow at Chelsea no matter what.

I know some will put 2 and 2 together with Pep arriving in England and Mourinho leaving Chelsea bit on this occasion I strongly doubt Pep will end up at Chelsea.

There we have it guys, we have Pep to thank for Ireland beating Germany.

Pro. F

If you ignore the frothing hyperbole, the question of how much influence Pep has had over German football is interesting.

It's true that German football made a conscious move to developing more technically gifted players about a decade ago (I've read about it often enough, but can't remember when exactly it's supposed to have started). But the players are only half the story when it comes to style of football.

I know Bayern also decided to pursue possession football and that's why they hired Van Gaal. But did they do that because of the success that Pep was having at that time, or because the success that possession football has had in general?

Löw moved the national team towards a tiki taka style before Pep went to Germany, but would he have done that if he hadn't seen the success that Barca and Spain had with the style? And how much exactly has he copied of Pep's style and coaching methods? Did he copy Pep's Juego de Posicion, or did he get it from Van Gaal or someone else, or did he just use what he was seeing in German football already? And the same questions can be asked for Tuchel.

I've lots of questions, and it's hard to get answers not speaking German. Spielverlagerung.com is an excellent site for football tactics and they're German and talk about Pep a lot, but I've never seen them make a specific claim as to how much influence Pep has had on German football.

Peist2007

Andersonisgod wrote: »

I honestly couldn't say enough good things about him, he's just an incredible coach whose teams are worth watching every single week because you are guaranteed to see at least 1 thing that will make you applaud.

The emperor has no clothes. I enjoy your posts but you are going to be skewered over Guardiola eventually. 3/4 years is only an eternity when managing superclubs. Not an eternity when you are Dario Gradi at Crewe, for example.

Fact is Guardiola has had the odds stacked massively in his favour in both of his big jobs. Let's see him manage lesser players in a more even league. As for the "identity" stuff, i disagree. He isnt a guru. Bayern were at the forefront of all measures before he came and will continue to do so after he leaves.