Is it fair to worship Guardiola at this point? | The Ball Did It

What's your take on Guardiola?


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He was never in a situation where he NEEDED to adapt until he came to City, so you're doing a guesswork, too. And the first time in his career he didn't have an absolutely best squad in the league at his disposal, even after spending a small fortune, he finished 3rd. That's not a disaster, but it's not a good sign, either. So he goes out and spends yet more piles of money on top of it and suddenly he's a genius again.

Guardiola is absolutely a top manager and his teams play some great football but I don't think he'd have won the CL with Porto in 2004, Liverpool in 2005, Inter in 2010, or Chelsea in 2012. He wouldn't know how.
This sums it up very well.. Pep's game style has never really adapted to the resources he has at hand, he likes to play with a certain style and isn't open to trying a more pragmatic or counter attacking style of football when the situation demands it or when a lack of resources demand it
 
This sums it up very well.. Pep's game style has never really adapted to the resources he has at hand, he likes to play with a certain style and isn't open to trying a more pragmatic or counter attacking style of football when the situation demands it or when a lack of resources demand it

Why would he adapt though? As long as there are clubs who want a certain style of play he brings to the table and are willing to invest towards that goal i see no reason whatsoever...
 
Why would he adapt though? As long as there are clubs who want a certain style of play he brings to the table and are willing to invest towards that goal i see no reason whatsoever...

How many clubs like that are out there though? Unless his next step is PSG, I can't see such a near perfect set-up for Pep. Never again is he going to have the likes of Barca dream team of 2008-12 or Bayern side that dominated Bundesliga both before and after his stint at Munich and were a top 3 side in Europe when he got there. Now at City he has a squad that cost £700m to assemble. Where do you go from there? PSG is the only place that could both afford his appetites and satisfy his ambitions. Everywhere else he would have either not the right amount of talent or nowhere near enough money to build the team according to his specific demands.
 
How many clubs like that are out there though? Unless his next step is PSG, I can't see such a near perfect set-up for Pep. Never again is he going to have the likes of Barca dream team of 2008-12 or Bayern side that dominated Bundesliga both before and after his stint at Munich and were a top 3 side in Europe when he got there. Now at City he has a squad that cost £700m to assemble. Where do you go from there? PSG is the only place that could both afford his appetites and satisfy his ambitions. Everywhere else he would have either not the right amount of talent or nowhere near enough money to build the team according to his specific demands.
Thats not true and the proof is Maurizio Sarri's Napoli. If Sarri can play a classic Juego De Position game with the likes of Allan, Gorginho and Hamsik as a midfield, why Pep woudnt be able to?!
 
Thats not true and the proof is Maurizio Sarri's Napoli. If Sarri can play a classic Juego De Position game with the likes of Allan, Georginho and Hamsik as a midfield, why Pep woudnt be able to?!

Pep also wants to win. Napoli hasn't been winning anything under Sarri. Just playing well Juego de Posicion is not enough for Pep. He also needs to win big while doing so.
 
Pep also wants to win. Napoli hasn't been winning anything under Sarri. Just playing well Juego de Posicion is not enough for Pep. He also needs to win big while doing so.
It is more than using positional play. Napoli has no culture of winning. It is a similar job to what Mauricio Pochettino is doing with Tottenham. Both teams need to develop the mentality of winning. This season Napoli have started winning whilst not playing well.
 
It is more than using positional play. Napoli has no culture of winning. It is a similar job to what Mauricio Pochettino is doing with Tottenham. Both teams need to develop the mentality of winning. This season Napoli have started winning whilst not playing well.

That's not enough man. You also need top class players. Napoli have too few of those. They can play the style and do it beautifully, but can't win with it against superior teams. Pep would never be happy just to do the style well if he doesn't win. He's a winner and a sylist at the same time.
 
That's not enough man. You also need top class players. Napoli have too few of those. They can play the style and do it beautifully, but can't win with it against superior teams.


I agree, but isn't that the same for any great side? Napoli's biggest problem is their depth. They need to cede two competions to fight for the league because they are not equipped to challenge on all fronts.

Top class is relative. Napoli's midfield is the best midfield at using the position game because they have the skillset. The extra quality needed is in the attack.
 
The goal is to be successful, but we can't measure success only in trophies. There can be absolutely no doubt that Napoli have been more successful since Sarri came and made them play his style than they were before. I.e. his style IS successful, just as Pep's style IS successful.
 
I watched City's first few games of this season. Wasn't impressed with them against Brighton. Bad mistake led to the first goal. I thought they were played off the park by Everton too. Everton ran out of steam and conceded a bad goal. They were even worse against Bournemouth! Awful performance and they would've been lucky to get a draw but snatched a jammy winner at the end. I watched all those games and thought we'd nothing to worry about. Even against Liverpool for the first 15-20 minutes they could've conceded 2-3 goals - their defense was missing. However, I was seriously impressed with the performance against Chelsea. Assured, pacey and they never gave Chelsea a minute on the ball. Just hope that they're not in a position to keep up this form for the whole season.
 
I watched City's first few games of this season. Wasn't impressed with them against Brighton. Bad mistake led to the first goal. I thought they were played off the park by Everton too. Everton ran out of steam and conceded a bad goal. They were even worse against Bournemouth! Awful performance and they would've been lucky to get a draw but snatched a jammy winner at the end. I watched all those games and thought we'd nothing to worry about. Even against Liverpool for the first 15-20 minutes they could've conceded 2-3 goals - their defense was missing. However, I was seriously impressed with the performance against Chelsea. Assured, pacey and they never gave Chelsea a minute on the ball. Just hope that they're not in a position to keep up this form for the whole season.
Stopped reading here. They did well to play us off the park having barely touched the ball, with a man extra no less. To run out of steam 11 v 10 for 50 minutes says it all really.
 
Stopped reading here. They did well to play us off the park having barely touched the ball, with a man extra no less. To run out of steam 11 v 10 for 50 minutes says it all really.

I wouldn't say play off the park but you guys didn't look convicining at all until you went a man down, funnily enough.
 
This is probably the wrong thread, but hats off to Pep for his support to the Catalonian's after the voting chaos. Good on him for taking a stand.
 
It certainly looks like Pep is forming the type of team and style of play he wants. Their performance at Chelsea was spot on: possession football of a very high standard. They look like the team to watch out for.
 
It certainly looks like Pep is forming the type of team and style of play he wants. Their performance at Chelsea was spot on: possession football of a very high standard. They look like the team to watch out for.
Indeed, it was a real statement in terms of it being a tactical masterclass another very good tactician and a top team. The scoreline didn't do justice to just how dominating they were throughout the game.

Pep finding the right formula for his team is pretty bad news for the rest, he can build a bit of a juggernaut here.
 
Why did Chelsea lose? All goals come from a mistake by the conceding side. It looked like that Conte could not design a plan to counter City. Would Jose be able to?
 
Why did Chelsea lose? All goals come from a mistake by the conceding side. It looked like that Conte could not design a plan to counter City. Would Jose be able to?
I think Pep came up with a plan to counter Conte.
 
Why did Chelsea lose? All goals come from a mistake by the conceding side. It looked like that Conte could not design a plan to counter City. Would Jose be able to?
We're going to be parking the bus and hoping to get one lucky break.
 
That's Jose's problem. Woodward gives our managers a near free reign to spend. He chose to go after an alright player that wasn't easy to get. Which LB did he go after? Mendy?

They're both terrific who need to spend big to succeed. But they're also both very strong tactically. There's really no need to belittle either in this repsect as neither is weak tactically and neither is successful without spending.

That was my point entirely. That Jose made a massive mistake in terms of that. Maybe he'll go after it in January, and maybe that was the plan all along but I don't get it.
 
This article explains why City failed last season: not only did they have an icredibly shit keeper but were utterly wasteful in attack. In terms of conceded and created big chances they were excellent but Bravo, Aguero and the other attacking palyers were a bit shit in the respective boxes. Sure, Aguero scored many goals but he wasted too many chances as well. Same with Zlatan.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football...does-show-man-city-should-win-premier-league/
 
A Bayern manager and team dominating the Bundesliga... Next people will tell me Rodgers' is one of the world's best managers for going unbeaten last season with Celtic with a goal difference of +81 to boot... That Rodgers.

Bayern had won 3 out of 7 titles prior to Guardiola. Apart from the last Heynckes season, they'd never trashed the opposition so ruthlessly and consistently. It's rewriting history to pretend they've always been the machine they were under Guardiola.
 
Bayern had won 3 out of 7 titles prior to Guardiola. Apart from the last Heynckes season, they'd never trashed the opposition so ruthlessly and consistently. It's rewriting history to pretend they've always been the machine they were under Guardiola.

He inherited a team that won the Bundesliga with 91 points and a goal difference of +80. The same team that won the German Cup with an aggregate score of 20-3. The same team that beat Barcelona 7-0 on the way to winning the Champions League.

Comparing the team Guardiola inherited with the 2007 team that finished 4th behind Stuttgart, Shalke & Werder Bremen is disingenuous in the extreme. Mike Bassett could have dominated the Bundesliga in 2013.
 
Bayern had won 3 out of 7 titles prior to Guardiola. Apart from the last Heynckes season, they'd never trashed the opposition so ruthlessly and consistently. It's rewriting history to pretend they've always been the machine they were under Guardiola.
He inherited a team that won the Bundesliga with 91 points and a goal difference of +80. The same team that won the German Cup with an aggregate score of 20-3. The same team that beat Barcelona 7-0 on the way to winning the Champions League.

Comparing the team Guardiola inherited with the 2007 team that finished 4th behind Stuttgart, Shalke & Werder Bremen is disingenuous in the extreme. Mike Bassett could have dominated the Bundesliga in 2013.
All of this is right and in fact not contradicting each other. Bayern played their very best, most successful season in 12-13, but you should consider we came from the peak of disappointment that was 11-12. Coming second to Dortmund in both the league and DFB cup, losing the CL final AT HOME to a, frankly, shitty Chelsea side - Bayern was driven the entirety of 12-13 by a bone-deep vengeance.
Then Pep took over and made that kind of intensity seem normal, continuating that highest level of Bayern performance over three more years. We never controlled smaller teams like that before or after, and outside injury problems, we were favorites against practically everyone.

(And no, going out in the CL semifinals still does not diminish that achievement; the KO stages of the CL always need equal amounts of luck and skill. 12-13 we almost went out against Arsenal. Arsenal! ;) Yes, there was that awful tie against Real in Pep's first season, but that was the first season.)
 
Critisize him for what exactly, you have to look at him in context and as what he is exactly. In my opinion he is a very good cheque book manager, meaning when he has exactly what he needs he wins, when he doesn't he sulks and comes across quite classless IMO. Has City playing great this season of course, but his cheque book has took quite a beating.
 
It's fair to criticise Guardiola at any point.
His mismanagement and disrespect towards his certain players (Zlatan, Eto, Gotze and the list goes on) is ludicrous.
 
It's fair to criticise Guardiola at any point.
His mismanagement and disrespect towards his certain players (Zlatan, Eto, Gotze and the list goes on) is ludicrous.

Actually, his Barca team reached their peak after he got rid of Eto'o and then Zlatan, i.e. season 10/11 when they demolished Jose's Real and won the CL. He got rid of Ronaldinho no less and rightly so.
 
He won't win any trophies in England. That's my prediction.

He's a good manager for somewhere like Barcelona and Spain. His tactics and football style suit those teams but they simply don't work anywhere else.
 
I am not sure what there is to criticize Pep for. He has purchased a great team and is getting them to play Champagne football that is also turning out to be winning football. Could he achieve the same thing without City's unlimited chequebook, probably not but that doesn't matter as he does have an unlimited budget and is probably going to be a success despite the hate from us United fans. Unlimited funds almost always leads to success is a rule that is seldom ever violated as we have seen with Chelsea, City, Real Madrid and PSG(only a matter of time). Even David Moyes could probably coach City to a title or two with the budget Pep has! There is no shortcoming in the City team that couldn't be rectified by spending another 300m so it is hard to judge a manager given the unlimited resources at his disposal.
 
I am not sure what there is to criticize Pep for. He has purchased a great team and is getting them to play Champagne football that is also turning out to be winning football. Could he achieve the same thing without City's unlimited chequebook, probably not but that doesn't matter as he does have an unlimited budget and is probably going to be a success despite the hate from us United fans. Unlimited funds almost always leads to success is a rule that is seldom ever violated as we have seen with Chelsea, City, Real Madrid and PSG(only a matter of time). Even David Moyes could probably coach City to a title or two with the budget Pep has! There is no shortcoming in the City team that couldn't be rectified by spending another 300m so it is hard to judge a manager given the unlimited resources at his disposal.
Moyes had the same budget at United and was shite. He wasn’t a big enough name to attract top young talent. Without Pep I doubt we get Jesus or Sane, our two best signings IMO.
 
The jilted lover's thread active even during International break, that certainly warrants some therapy no?
 
Moyes had the same budget at United and was shite. He wasn’t a big enough name to attract top young talent. Without Pep I doubt we get Jesus or Sane, our two best signings IMO.

Did Moyes really have an unlimited budget at United? I think that it's a fallacy that Moyes had this huge budget and didn't buy any top players and ended up with only Fellaini. If that was true then Moyes would have to be the biggest moron on the planet. Commonsense suggests that if Moyes had an almost limitless budget he would have purchased some expensive talent especially since he's being judged on results. I don't believe that a manager would simply spend his entire time chasing unrealistic targets and then buy only Fellaini. I think Moyes was brought in to try to achieve success on the cheap like SAF and when he failed the board had no choice but to spend big. I choose to believe that Moyes is not the idiot that many make him out to be. Moyes may have made bad signings if given an unlimited budget but there's no way he wouldn't have spent some money on signings if the board had given him the funds. It's similar to Arsene at Arsenal, people believe that he chooses not to spend on players despite the funds being there when in reality the board probably haven't given him the funds.
 
The jilted lover's thread active even during International break, that certainly warrants some therapy no?

The post that bumped this thread was to praise Pep. Keep up.
 
Moyes had the same budget at United and was shite. He wasn’t a big enough name to attract top young talent. Without Pep I doubt we get Jesus or Sane, our two best signings IMO.

Well that's just all wrong for a start. Pep has taken the City job due to being given a blank cheque & full autonomy over transfers. There is no way in hell Moyes was given these kind of assurances when he took the job.

It's highly likely that he would have been told by the board & SAF that he would not be able to match City's spending. The realization that City were going to ramp up there spending to the levels they have was a contributing factor to SAF's retirement. He would have thought it only fair to warn his successor what lay in wait.
 
Well that's just all wrong for a start. Pep has taken the City job due to being given a blank cheque & full autonomy over transfers. There is no way in hell Moyes was given these kind of assurances when he took the job.

It's highly likely that he would have been told by the board & SAF that he would not be able to match City's spending. The realization that City were going to ramp up there spending to the levels they have was a contributing factor to SAF's retirement. He would have thought it only fair to warn his successor what lay in wait.
Let's not pretend we haven't spent a lot ourselves over the last few years. Pre-Jose, we spent a lot of money terribly.

If Di Maria and Memphis had worked out, we could have the most potent wingers in the world. But they didn't. That's bad buying. £90m that should've been spent better.
 
Critisize him for what exactly, you have to look at him in context and as what he is exactly. In my opinion he is a very good cheque book manager, meaning when he has exactly what he needs he wins, when he doesn't he sulks and comes across quite classless IMO. Has City playing great this season of course, but his cheque book has took quite a beating.

That's probably true. Except one thing. Pep's teams don't just win. They win by playing the opponent off the park. That's the greatest thing in any sport. That's why Pep is special.
 
Did Moyes really have an unlimited budget at United? I think that it's a fallacy that Moyes had this huge budget and didn't buy any top players and ended up with only Fellaini. If that was true then Moyes would have to be the biggest moron on the planet. Commonsense suggests that if Moyes had an almost limitless budget he would have purchased some expensive talent especially since he's being judged on results. I don't believe that a manager would simply spend his entire time chasing unrealistic targets and then buy only Fellaini. I think Moyes was brought in to try to achieve success on the cheap like SAF and when he failed the board had no choice but to spend big. I choose to believe that Moyes is not the idiot that many make him out to be. Moyes may have made bad signings if given an unlimited budget but there's no way he wouldn't have spent some money on signings if the board had given him the funds. It's similar to Arsene at Arsenal, people believe that he chooses not to spend on players despite the funds being there when in reality the board probably haven't given him the funds.
How does bidding for both Bale and Fabregas fit in with that narrative?
 
That's probably true. Except one thing. Pep's teams don't just win. They win by playing the opponent off the park. That's the greatest thing in any sport. That's why Pep is special.

I don't really think you can say that so early on in his City career - especially given the games against Everton, Bournemouth, West Brom have been pretty tight. Last season the league caught him out so it's natural he shoul dbe better prepared this season. Criticism will come by Xmas if they're not top (or v near), same for Jose.
 
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