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

What's your take on Guardiola?


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Let's be honest, neither manager has won a trophy big enough to keep them in a job long-term yet. For a start, you don't get the chance to win the EL when you're doing well enough to be in the CL, the same way you don't enter the Johnsons Paint Trophy when you're in the PL.

You’re completely wrong, unlike City our manager won’t be sacked due to lack of trophies, lack of Champions League football maybe but Jose could win nothing this and next season and he’ll still have a job here. Pep wouldn’t if he goes 3 seasons without a trophy

Oh and it’s pathetic to downplay what we did win last season so you can do one with that kind of attitude
 
You’re completely wrong, unlike City our manager won’t be sacked due to lack of trophies, lack of Champions League football maybe but Jose could win nothing this and next season and he’ll still have a job here. Pep wouldn’t if he goes 3 seasons without a trophy
A claim based on absolutely nothing since 2008 our owners have only hired managers 3 times (Mancini, Pellegrini and Pep), and you've had as many managers since Fergie retired in 2013.
 
My expectations are that Guardilola won't win anything (big) this season. They do not have enough depth in certain positions (CB, LB, DM and CF) and it will probably cost them at some point. Their squad has only 19-20 experienced players, the rest are kids like Foden and Diaz.

But he is laying the foundations of a special team that will probably have a big success next season, IMO. Therefore, it is this season that Jose has to win the title, next season may be a bit too late.
 
I rate him highly as a coach. He's almost the mirror image to Mourinho. Whereas Mourinho takes risks in order to then minimize risk (i.e., takes risk to score first goal, but then defends until he can counter), Pep takes risk in the sense that he'll play his most attacking side (sometimes at the detriment to his defence) and trust them to overwhelm any other side. His motto is that if they play to their best, they have the quality to beat anyone (by virtue of attacking prowess). Mourinho's motto is similar, but he trusts his defence to see out games after having taken the initial risk.

What impressed me today was City's defensive organisation, though Chelsea were visibly lethargic from their encounter with Atletico and never really tested the City defense. Still, Stones and co appear to be much improved (in terms of understanding and in the sense that they've adapted to Pep's coaching methods).

No doubt, though. Pep and Jose are the two best managers on the planet. Poch, Zidane, Simeone, are the next tier (though a case could be made for Zidane and Simeone as being on the same level, it's not one I can credit much).

My vote was that he had serious limitations, and I stand by that. Namely, his lack of pragmatism and sometimes his naivety/ideology overriding common sense.
 
A claim based on absolutely nothing since 2008 our owners have only hired managers 3 times (Mancini, Pellegrini and Pep), and you've had as many managers since Fergie retired in 2013.

And why were Mancini and Pellegrini sacked?
 
A claim based on absolutely nothing since 2008 our owners have only hired managers 3 times (Mancini, Pellegrini and Pep), and you've had as many managers since Fergie retired in 2013.

Only because we hired some absolute clowns who weren't on any level competent to manage us.

If City or Chelsea hired Moyes and LvG, their combined tenure would have lasted a year at max, not the 3 years we gave them. We have been too lenient.
 
Easily playing the best & most entertaining football in Europe


He's certainly an exemplary disciple of how the game should be played in an ideal. Yet he has his limitations. He's also quite the odd ball. :lol:
 
And why were Mancini and Pellegrini sacked?
Strong rumours that Mancini had lost the dressing room and Pellegrini won the double in his first season (good decision), and Pellegrini on the back of poor performances and Pep became available - do you turn that down? They've not been rash at any stage so to spin the question - where did your opinion come from?
 
Strong rumours that Mancini had lost the dressing room and Pellegrini won the double in his first season (good decision), and Pellegrini on the back of poor performances and Pep became available - do you turn that down? They've not been rash at any stage so to spin the question - where did your opinion come from?

My opinion comes from you sacking both your title winning managers after them not retaining said trophy

My belief is Pep was given last season as a pass due to how long your club has wanted him, if he fails again this season (looking unlikely) it would be very interesting to see how strained the relationship would be
 
And why were Mancini and Pellegrini sacked?

Pellegrini was rightly sacked in my opinion. For that performance in the semis at madrid alone. And when a manager like pep comes available you have to get him and City were tapping him up for years. Mancini however, didn't agree with that. But we've been just as bad since Fergie in fairness.
 
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Pellegrini was rightly sacked in my opinion. For that performance in the semis at madrid alone. And when a manager like pep comes available you have to get him and City were tapping him up for years. Mancini however, didn't agree with that. But we've been just as bad since Fergie on fairness.

I’m not actually suggesting City were right or wrong in any of their decisions thus far tbh
 
Man City, Napoli and Borussia Dortmund are playing the best football in Europe right now. Guess what is the common thing about them?! They all are following the Cruyff's legacy.. Sarri, Guardiola and Bosz are all followers of the positional play and the principles of the total football born at Ajax.. I am happy.
 
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A claim based on absolutely nothing since 2008 our owners have only hired managers 3 times (Mancini, Pellegrini and Pep), and you've had as many managers since Fergie retired in 2013.
Yeah this comment doesn't really have foundation. I'm as critical of City and their lottery win as anyone on here but you can't claim they've sacked managers willy-nilly.
 
Only because we hired some absolute clowns who weren't on any level competent to manage us.

If City or Chelsea hired Moyes and LvG, their combined tenure would have lasted a year at max, not the 3 years we gave them. We have been too lenient.

Also agree with this. Moyes should have been gone by Christmas!
 
Yeah this comment doesn't really have foundation. I'm as critical of City and their lottery win as anyone on here but you can't claim they've sacked managers willy-nilly.
You have to consider how they gave Pellegrini the goodbye to see the difference. LVG and Moyes overstayed and we tried to give them the second, third fourth chance... City pretty much went after Pep for long enough that Pep refused to extend and Bayern secured Ancelotti before long thus both clubs made announcement around same period. The groundwork for Pep was done during Pellegrini regime. Once Pep became available, it predictably happened. Had Moyes and LVG achieved/ progressed just like Pellegrini and Mancini, I have doubt we would have disposed them even if it's Mourinho is rightly a better manager.

Edit:
Also agree with this. Moyes should have been gone by Christmas!

I think you got the idea.
 
You have to consider how they gave Pellegrini the goodbye to see the difference. LVG and Moyes overstayed and we tried to give them the second, third fourth chance... City pretty much went after Pep for long enough that Pep refused to extend and Bayern secured Ancelotti before long thus both clubs made announcement around same period. The groundwork for Pep was done during Pellegrini regime. Once Pep became available, it predictably happened. Had Moyes and LVG achieved/ progressed just like Pellegrini and Mancini, I have doubt we would have disposed them even if it's Mourinho is rightly a better manager.

Edit:


I think you got the idea.
Yeah the announcement of Guardiola was crass, but the Moyes sacking wasn't great from us either. He was forced to come in at the crack of dawn, hours after it had been leaked to the media! LVG was similar - all the papers were briefed that we'd got Mourinho long before LVG was actually sacked.
 
Man City, Napoli and Borussia Dortmund are playing the best football in Europe right now. Guess what is the common thing about them?! They all are following the Cruyff's legacy.. Sarri, Guardiola and Bosz are all followers of the positional play and the principles of the total football born at Ajax.. I am happy.

Thats good. Cause thats all your club is right now - a relic.
 
Man City, Napoli and Borussia Dortmund are playing the best football in Europe right now. Guess what is the common thing about them?! They all are following the Cruyff's legacy.. Sarri, Guardiola and Bosz are all followers of the positional play and the principles of the total football born at Ajax.. I am happy.

Why on Earth does that make you happy?

If those teams were all playing awesome 90's "Fergie football", would make me happy despite my own team being pretty shite. Some of you posters are beyond odd.

Ajax don't own any brand of football, never have, never will, get over yourselves. You're as bad as the Barca fans getting all giddy about what Pep does in Munich or City.
 
It's fair to criticize him but "a good manager who has been successful only because he's had exceptional teams" or "a fraud"? Really? I introduced my wife to football only a couple of weeks ago and even she could spot today that Manchester City play totally differently than others teams. She saw 2 or 3 of their players always positioning themselves around the Chelsea players in a specific way and moving the ball in triangles. I didn't tell her a single word about Guardiola before nor did she ever hear about him.
 
It's fair to criticize him but "a good manager who has been successful only because he's had exceptional teams" or "a fraud"? Really? I introduced my wife to football only a couple of weeks ago and even she could spot today that Manchester City play totally differently than others teams. She saw 2 or 3 of their players always positioning themselves around the Chelsea players in a specific way and moving the ball in triangles. I didn't tell her a single word about Guardiola before nor did she ever hear about him.

Why was he struggling to do the same last year then? With these groundbreaking triangles and positioning?

Why did he have to spend another 221 million quid to make his football possible?

He's a top coach, but his inflexibility means that he more than any other manager in the game requires a truly exceptional squad to get his gameplan to work.
 
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Going to be curious to see how Mourinho will deal with Pep this time.

The amount of times they had a free man between the lines today was way too high.

Think Herrera will be a MUST vs them.
 
Only because we hired some absolute clowns who weren't on any level competent to manage us.
You mean the Chosen One who was Cut From the Same Cloth and the guy who had won Leagues in every country he'd managed in?
Revision is strong.
They're were excellent appointments at the time and backed to the hilt when in situ by most fans (remember the standing ovation for Moyes before the Villa/banner match?)
 
My opinion comes from you sacking both your title winning managers after them not retaining said trophy

My belief is Pep was given last season as a pass due to how long your club has wanted him, if he fails again this season (looking unlikely) it would be very interesting to see how strained the relationship would be
City have been trying to put the Pep/Txiki/Ferran Triple Axis in place for many years now. Having succeeded and backed them to the hilt it's highly unlikely that the owners will dismantle their Dream Team in the unlikely event that they fail again this year.
It would cost an obscene amount of money to do so and no short term success would be likely to result from it.

PS
Still awaiting an answer to the question that I posed to you a few days ago.
 
You winning or not doesn't really change the argument imo.
Fair point, but they do play in a completely different league so putting the teams up against each other is a fair test. I agree by the way, they're a fantastic side. Would love them to win it this year.
 
For what its worth I think we're seeing a wiser Pep this year. We restricted Liverpool to one good chance and Chelsea to a couple of half chances. We've played two of the Big 6 and won both without shooting ourselves in the foot like we would have last season. Yes we've had a bit of luck in both games Morata today and Mane but we look much wiser this season. Today for example, we never had both our fullbacks sitting high like wingers as per usual. Walker and Delph were very, very patient and cautious and only got forward occasionally. The were very rarely ahead of the ball. We brought back a high press today which we haven't used for awhile.

Learning more.

Still early days this season and months to go but thus far this season Pep has answered every question thrown at him I feel.
 
Man City, Napoli and Borussia Dortmund are playing the best football in Europe right now. Guess what is the common thing about them?! They all are following the Cruyff's legacy.. Sarri, Guardiola and Bosz are all followers of the positional play and the principles of the total football born at Ajax.. I am happy.

"In a way I'm probably immortal." - Johan Cruijff



For what its worth I think we're seeing a wiser Pep this year. We restricted Liverpool to one good chance and Chelsea to a couple of half chances. We've played two of the Big 6 and won both without shooting ourselves in the foot like we would have last season. Yes we've had a bit of luck in both games Morata today and Mane but we look much wiser this season. Today for example, we never had both our fullbacks sitting high like wingers as per usual. Walker and Delph were very, very patient and cautious and only got forward occasionally. The were very rarely ahead of the ball. We brought back a high press today which we haven't used for awhile.

Learning more.

Still early days this season and months to go but thus far this season Pep has answered every question thrown at him I feel.

It was a tactical masterclass. Chelsea could not press the Manchester City backline effectively because the Manchester City defence had a free man consistently in the build up. The wing backs of Chelsea could not join the press because of the threat of Sane and Sterling. City had a free man in every single battler and they were positioned excellently in the defensive phase when the ball was lost.

As the great man used to say, you cannot be counter attacked if you do not lose the ball in the build up.

I do not expect to see the best City till next season. That is when he achieves his best football as we saw both at Bayern Munchen and Barcelona.
 
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You mean the Chosen One who was Cut From the Same Cloth and the guy who had won Leagues in every country he'd managed in?
Revision is strong.
They're were excellent appointments at the time and backed to the hilt when in situ by most fans (remember the standing ovation for Moyes before the Villa/banner match?)
I remember. :(
I was almost in tears. This manager I was desperate to see the back of was getting an ovation. I could have had him killed.:lol:
 
He's got them playing some phenomenal football now. The way they dominated Chelsea so comfortably while playing only Fernandinho as a specialist orthodox midfielder was so impressive.

Only two goals conceded in the league and a 23-0 aggregate over they're last 6 EPL and UCL games. Not bad.
 
Why was he struggling to do the same last year then? With these groundbreaking triangles and positioning?

Why did he have to spend another 221 million quid to make his football possible?

He's a top coach, but his inflexibility means that he more than any other manager in the game requires a truly exceptional squad to get his gameplan to work.

Because it takes time to get a full team playing like this when you do it from the scratch. At Barcelona and Bayern he already had teams that were build on a similar concept when he came in - not at City.
 
Because it takes time to get a full team playing like this when you do it from the scratch. At Barcelona and Bayern he already had teams that were build on a similar concept when he came in - not at City.

And spending half a billion had nothing to do with it? He buys a keeper for a hefty sum and then ditches him after a year for another keeper.

Mendy gets injured and his immediate response is we need to sign a lb. There is nothing wrong with being a cheque book manager but I wish his supporters will admit it rather than peddling this myth that he requires time to implement his ideals into existing players.
 
Why was he struggling to do the same last year then? With these groundbreaking triangles and positioning?

Why did he have to spend another 221 million quid to make his football possible?

He's a top coach, but his inflexibility means that he more than any other manager in the game requires a truly exceptional squad to get his gameplan to work.
True to an extent. This is why he can never do what Mourinho did at Inter and Porto. But he is also the best manager out there at building not only a winning team, but an out of this world special winning team, potentially of course, who others want to obsessively copy to a fault. Which criteria one considers to be more valuable for a manager is up to each's preference. Put it this way, Plenty of managers would have won things with that Barcelona side but only one could have won playing in a way that is still obsessed over and worshipped by many due to its previously unseen levels of dominance over traditional footballing elite. So if you want you manager more equipped at adapting to situations and doing what it takes depending on the personnel and environment, Mourinho is the better bet. If you want something more special, albeit, that is more risky and might require more time and resources, Pep is clearly the best around.
 
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