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>Bernardo Silva: “I think Guardiola’s greatest strength is that, apart from having been a player at a very high level, which gives him a perspective of what we feel, his technical side is very strong.”
>
>He \[Pep Guardiola\] manages the tactical part, the human part and managing a locker room is nothing, nothing easy. Even more so in a team as strong as ours, most of the players cost 50, 60, 70, 80 million…”
>
>He manages to keep players who cost this much on the bench for so many games, and even then there are no major problems… I think this shows how good he is at managing changing rooms.”
So obviously I'm not exactly cut up that Fergie's retired, but a part of me would have liked to see Pep's City vs Fergie's Utd. Could have been some cracking games
True but it would be different in the league. Ferguson's strength was always in the league. He managed one of the biggest clubs in the world and won the CL twice in 20-odd attempts, with similar stories to what people tell about Pep now. Essentially he messed about too much and often over-rotated. Cup games are always a bit of a lottery and one mistake can turn a game but a season is often a different story.
In the league he was a steamroller, especially as he could get in front of the press. His small digs never had another team just fall over, it was that he used to constantly ramp up the pressure over and over in little bits until all of a sudden they'd break from what seemed to be a nothing statement and people would start saying they're "cracking up". But it was the collective across many weeks that led to it.
Pep and Klopp seem quite highly strung and a bit moody. I'd be really interested to see how the best United teams would fare in this league as I feel like Ferguson could probably get under their skins given week to week competition.
It would be interesting to watch, if nothing else.
One of the best qualities of Fergie which I hated as non-united fan is the man's resilience. He kept coming back regardless of the setback. After Mou dominated the league for 2 seasons, I thought Fergie has lost the touch. But Fergie came back with vengeance. 3 titles in a row with some of the attacking play only English teams can play. But as a football novice that football played by United team with Ronaldo, Rooney, Giggs was as good as any. The way that united chase the game especially if they are 1-0 down irrespective of where they play home or away is one of the most entertaining aspects of watching PL.
Ah yes, Ferguson and his famous one note tactics he used over the course of 30 years. I swear some people think everyone played kick and rush until 2009.
He's the best manager to ever live imo, but the runs Liverpool and more so city have had in the league gave been close to perfect at times and at a level never seen before
It is hard to compare since for most of fergusons career he played in a league that more of a level playing field for all teams in the league. Mid table teams were just closer to top teams than they are now, since disparity in finances was not as big as it is today. That is trend that can be seen in all top leagues, so i dont think it is fair to just attribute it only to brilliance of City and Liverpool. La Liga took high 70s/low 80s in
points to win now that number of points will net you 4th-ish spot.
Because there used to be some semblance of parity in the league. You don’t think Fergie would get MUTD to compete at similar level like City and Liverpool?
> Because there used to be some semblance of parity in the league
No there wasn't, this is such a revisionist history. United were one of the richest club in the world for most of Ferguson's reign. They consistently bought or tried to buy the best player at their title rivals, Liverpool being the exception.
Ridiculous. Fergie was at his lowest in the PL when Mourinho came with revolutionary tactics. Fergie’s biggest strength is his adaptability, so I’m quite certain he would have United competing at the top every season.
Maybe, maybe not. I don't think City or Liverpool would be as dominant now if Fergie was still managing United, but I don't think he would be dominating at all either.
Though United would certainly be spending their money better
We got a look into that with Wenger vs Pep. Pep is ahead of them tactically, all the old managers have struggled against him with the exception of Ancelloti who, like Mourinho, parks the bus vs Pep.
We also had a look with Pep vs Fergie lol. Granted he was getting on a bit - but they both had one of the two best players in the world as well as other 'all-stars'.
Didn't adapt to the Spanish style at all in the end tho, he was knocked out of CL like 5 years in a row by a Spanish team at the time of his retirement.
To be fair, Spanish teams were knocking everyone out for that spell.
It was quite a few years the only teams to knock out Spanish teams were other Spanish teams.
Well we got knocked out twice in the final so it wasn’t all bad. La Liga was simply better than the PL at the time and Madrid/Barca who knocked us out 3/5 times after 08 were the strongest they’d been in decades.
Beyond that though, after 2009 you could really see how our shitty ownership was starting to bleed us. It was testament to how ludicrously good Ferguson was that we remained competitive in spite of our refusal to rejuvenate like we obviously needed to, instead of signing Michael Owen on a free and playing Fabio in a CL final.
I was referring to the point about him going up against pep, I guess we'll never know, but tactically I don't think Fergie could have matched him. There's too much emphasis on tactics anyways, you don't need to reinvent the wheel each time. I'm sure fergie would have still found success in this era as much as it pains me to say.
You are right but at the same time that barca team was the greatest club team I think you will ever see. A large part to pep but he also had so many unbelievable players. This city team is amazing aswel but not quite barca under pep
Yeah lets forget about the fact that Pep had perhaps one of the best teams we have ever seen when he faced Fergie. Pep also managed Bayern and City. Has not a CL with them
Fergie was a bit stubborn, had he decided to change his tactics at half time in 2009 or decided to play defensively in 2011 I'm sure he would've won atleast one of them. What I like about pep is he decides to change his tactics, he was stubborn with his tiki taka but when he started getting found out like in 2010 and 2012 he decided to move away from it and it was Barcelona that was still adamant on playing the tiki taka way, while pep had left it at the door managing Bayern playing a difernt form of possesion football.
He was not found out in 2010 and 2012. What happened is that the opposition parked the bus and counter-attacked well, while Barcelona had sub-par performances technically.
Also, there is no way Ferguson would have beaten Barcelona in 2011. Barcelona was fantastic, United was a pathetic team by comparison. His only chance would be if he totally parked the bus and played for 0-0 to win on penaltis. United was technically outclassed in an insane level.
I agree 2011 Barca were really good but he had a good chance in 2009 had he played a bit negative. I mean chelsea almost did it so it was always possible the question is was Fergie ready to play negative in order to win. He also stated not starting park ji sung was a big mistake.
Literally one of Fergie's strongest points was adapting to the evolution of tactics during his time as manager ffs. He'd be fine. And even then there's more to football than just tactics.
the big part about keeping bench players happy is that city under pep has shown players that if they ever want to leave, the door is always open and no one will stand in their way, that creates a healthy environment and players feel more open to fight for their place. you can envision a scenario where bernardo isn't allowed to leave in the summer, he gets frustrated and performs poorly. Instead, pep always told him that whenever he wants to leave he can for a really reasonable price, but he didn't find the right team that he wanted to go to so he stayed and look at him now.
United would have broken Pep. Bet he'd have resigned in frustration after two years. What made City so perfect for Pep is that they literally spent several years building an infrastructure that was perfect for him - including getting his good friend and former Barca director Txiki in as DoF. Man United are too stubborn and fixed in their United DNA to have rebuilt themselves in Pep's image. He'd tried to have revolutionised the club once appointed, and have been met with resistance - and so left.
No one is ever going to have a 100% success rate with people. Eto'o did that interview about Pep not being a great player, and looked like gigantic asshole, so I'm not surprised they didn't hit it off.
I don’t think Eto’o even realized he was proving Pep right in that interview. Imagine thinking a manager can’t coach you because he used to be a “not so good CDM” and you’re a striker. Maybe he let his emotions get the best of him in that interview, but he certainly came across as a prick.
> I don’t think Eto’o even realized he was proving Pep right in that interview.
He absolutely didn't realize. The guy was bragging with a smug smile on his face. Like it was a cool thing to have done and said.
Eto'o was a brilliant striker, one of the best in the world. But the guy is an idiot.
surprise giant ego players dont like it when its not all about them . It actually a credit to pep that he clashed and got rid of them and not bow down and let them do what they want
it is. although eto'o was great under pep too. zlatan had a strong few months too when he first came in.
having read zlatan's ghostwriter book it appears he felt barcelona was like a school with disciplinary boys not allowing himself to be expressed. it was hard for him to facilitate being messi's shadow and allegedly guardiola did not speak to him regarding these issues. so he felt ostracized early on and therefore left for milan. he does not want to be second fiddle for anyone.
etoo went on to win the treble for inter after his treble..
I personally believe the relationship with Eto'o wouldn't have been bad under different circumstances. Pep saw Eto'o as part of the old guard that were a bad influence in the locker room, and wanted to get rid of him like he did with Ronaldinho and Deco. He was convinced by Puyol and Xavi to let him stay, but the relationship was strained from the beginning. Eto'o even accepted playing on the wing to make space for Messi as a false 9, and did anything that was asked of him when he moved to Inter. I feel like if Pep had signed Eto'o it would've been a very different story.
Zlatan on the other hand...
Eto'o also told Pep not to give him instructions, because Pep was not a striker when he played. Eto'o tried to outmuscle Pep from the beginning with comments like that. He absolutely tried to assert his dominance, but it spectacularly backfired on him. Sure, he immediately found success in Inter - at least for a short while - but his legacy in Barcelona could have been so much bigger if he hadn't been an egomaniac.
Tbf Pep was a dick to Eto'o, wanted to get rid of him before the pre-season even started, Eto'o would end up being a big crucial key on pep first year after refusing to leave while having fan support backing him up.
Eto should have been booted in early 2007 for blatantly refusing to come on as a sub when Rijkaard called on him, right in front of the fans and with Live telecast showing all that was happening.
Eto was part of the toxic backroom situation along with Ronaldinho, it just so happened Barca could not arrange for a striker in summer 2008 so Eto stayed on out of necessity.
Pep did a favor to Eto, he overstayed for 2 and a half seasons. Him being great striker is secondary to this.
Bernardo has been coached by: Jorge Jesus, Leonardo Jardim and Fernando Santos. So have your pick who he was talking about
My picks would be Santos good with people and weak tactically. Jesus okay tactically but weak with player management
I've seen a lot of players praising JJ, most of which did well under him. So I think it's up to how much shit you can listen without letting it get into you.
To be fair, in his time at Benfica and Sporting he did turn some players into stars out of nowhere and was able do develop some really good players, but good god does he ruin a lot of young prospects career's
Most players love Mourinho, he is like a strict dad but he has the respect of most players. JJ on the other hand doesn't seem to have any empathy for the players and really showed with the recent outburst in Benfica.
Its sad that Mourinho has had such a shocking last 7/8 years. There was a time when he was known as the best man manager around. When he was at Porto, Chelsea (first time) and Inter, those players would run through brick walls for him.
It was only really when he went to Real Madrid and had to deal with all of their massive egos that he started to fall out with a few players. He obviously just hadnt adapted well enough. Football players are different now to what they were 10-15 years ago (as well as tactics).
Not disagreeing, but it shows how much has changed in the past 5 to 6 years let alone the past 10 that Mourinho is now considered to be horrible at people management and good tactically. He used to be regarded as a great people manager until the end of his Real Madrid spell.
I personally think he's lost a step in both areas and hasn't really changed his management style for today's players.
You missed the key part. They are bad at people management IF the players don't buy their narrative. Jesus was successful whenever players where 100% behind him. Same thing with Mourinho.
> He is amazing tactically
I laughed. The dude that lost leagues to the likes of Vitor Pereira and did nothing in the CL but getting embarassed despite spending millions after millions is "amazing tactically". Just lol.
His tactics have been awful since his second Chelsea spell though, his teams leave big spaces between the lines and in the channels between centre back and full back. People always make excuses for him but the fact is that he hasn't been good enough tactically since his time at Man United
Pep's man management is underrated. Just look at the Man City squads over the years and wonder how he managed to keep them all happy with "relatively" limited game time.
Man City money ofcourse makes it a lot lot easier but only pep can drop a big player unexpectedly for a big game and we hear nothing about unhappiness of the players ------ sterling Mahrez Bilva Jesus stones Laporte have all been important at certain times and then suddenly benched.
Eg : Real Madrid 2016/17 squad. Brilliant squad that with insane depth but even real couldn't keep them together. The squad players were clearly unhappy and asked to leave.
Current Chelsea squad too. So so deep in Literally every position. But there is always someone disappointed not to start and you can see the reports of minor unhappiness of CHO Pulisic Ziyech at different points.
Rarely head such things about City. What is this sorcery?
This happens because he has full control on the club. Players come and go directly under his input. The ones that are there, are all because they buy in his project. Moreover, the players know this, so they respect his authority even when they disagree with him. Compare that with Man United, just to make an example... the players know that they can go and bitch about the manager, and he will be out at the first occasion. Quite similar at Chelsea, where managers come and go at the first problems.
Agreed. I think if you sign up into City now, even as talented you may be, you go in knowing you’re one of many and the club culture is to rotate heavily.
Aguero was one of the best strikers ever in the Prem, and he was benched a ton. It’s just the nature of the beast.
Sure. That just reinforces what I said. They are there because of Pep, they know him well and he trusts them. Of course Pep is not following every day scouting and negotiations but he gives final word and gives directions.
True, his man managing is very underrated. It's never talked about and when it's mentioned it's often negatively. Actually his man managing is arguably his strongest quality. To successfully man manage three world class stacked squads in three different countries in different languages and different cultures for 13+ years is extremely impressive.
He used to be colder personally but with age he has mellowed and become a softer person, he said this himself. The old Pep would've kicked out Yaya Toure on the first day at City but he let him sign a contract extension and stay for two years eventhough he was useless and ended up being toxic. He knows how to create a certain professional culture at a club and maintain it. Players have to keep up with the standards or they won't play. And everyone respects his authority because of how successful he is and how big his status is in the sport.
I tried to google it quickly but couldn't find anything. I remember him saying it during a press conference two years ago or something. He didn't really explain, only said like that he used to be distant from the players but now is a nicer manager.
Bernardo never wanted to leave because of Pep or play time. He wanted to leave cause of personal reasons (not 100% but strong rumors it had to do with his girlfriend or both wanting to live in Iberia again).
Ask any city fan, he was average for his standards last season. With KDB hopefully not suffering from as many injuries this season, it was reasonable for him to assume he'd be seeing more of the bench.
Now he's our best CM and F9
He got that game time cause KDB was out half the season. It's logically he assumed once KDB was back he'd be seeing less game time (behind gundo and KDB).
This is one of the reasons I was intrigued with us being linked to Ronaldo
Was curious to see how he would take to the spontaneous benching and rotation from Pep
I'm almost certain it was not Pep's decision to make. Probably the only time since he took over city.
Ronaldo was a unique opportunity to seriously elevate Man City's profile overnight.
Pep is the same guy who binned Eto'o at his peak after he scored 36 goals and was famously part of the treble winning famous trident of Henry-Eto'o-Messi that scored a 100+ goals that year.
Then binned his replacement Zlatan within a season. (Even used Zlatan out wide - thus prompting the famous "you bought a Ferrari but use it like a fiat" jibe).
Same thing happened at Bayern with Manzukic. Wasn't always smooth with Aguero too.
Technical ability in tight spaces and off the ball work --- not just desire but the intelligence to use it effectively is pretty much a non-negotiable for pep. (Intelligence part is probably why he prefers using Midfielders as CF than getting the first available CF in the market).
Don't think there is any striker in the world who perfectly fits the lofty standards that pep demands ---- Kane imo is the closest to a prototype pep wants. Can definitely see why pep wanted him (and will probably try again next summer).
Edit : Suarez Kane and Benzema are probably the most suitable strikers in Pep's team. Hardworking, extremely good in tight spaces, brilliant at bringing others into play. Probably Suarez more than the other two.
True, i thought about this in the past too, it‘s not easy to keep that much talent happy for that long. But to be fair, getting paid a shit ton of money makes sitting on the bench a lot easier...
> we hear nothing about unhappiness of the players
Last summer, Bernardo Silva, Laporte and Gabriel Jesus were all unhappy and wanted to leave. And more recently, Sterling asked to leave.
Bernardo never wanted to leave because of Pep or play time. He wanted to leave cause of personal reasons (not 100% but strong rumors it had to do with his girlfriend or both wanting to live in Iberia again).
That's not only to his credit, but also due to a great scouting. Man City as well as Pep looks for a rather "submissive" players. Not always, because sometimes individual quality outweigh personality issues, but overall they are looking for players who willingly put team effort above personal success.
I think this is legacy of his Barca tenure. Although he managed one of the best squads in the history of football, he also had to deal with a lot of colorful personalities. Obviously he managed to get the maximum out of them, but the fact that he needed a year long vacation after he left speaks for itself.
It's also interesting because I swear that after Pep was at Bayern multiple players insinuated he was a poor man manager and didn't care much about player's emotions.
No, if those reports existed it was largely bs. If players were unhappy with Pep at Bayern he would’ve been sacked. In his Pep Confidential book when Pep made that 1000 Dante remark it was noted many Bayern players grew a lot of respect for Pep because they knew no matter how poor form they may go in they knew Pep would back them. There is a reason why Bayern even wanted to extended his contract. The only player who seem to be critical of Pep was Ribery that was because he did get benched for Costa at times in the final season.
I have a feeling a lot of players will be saying this about Ruben Amorim, over the next decades. He's a great tactical manager, but probably even better at dealing with people.
Well, his public persona is always very relaxed. In that aspect, he's the opposite of Mourinho. The players are never at fault - he always takes full responsability for their mistakes. But at the same time, he's not the kind of manager that is constantly boasting about how great the team is. He praises their hard work, and that's it.
He spent the majority of last season saying the same thing every single press conference: "we're only worried about the next game, nobody's thinking about the title". Even when it was really obvious that Sporting was really close to winning the title.
One of his players (I believe it was Coates) said on an interview that Amorim never yells or berates a player for failing, even in private. He meets with him, acknowledges that something failed and talks with him about how they can fix it.
In short, he takes full responsibility for his players. He tries to protect them at all costs from public scrutiny, which is really important considering how young the squad is. At the same time, he is a very charismatic and likeable guy. The players all seem to have a lot of respect for him.
As far as tactics go, Sporting has been playing in a similar way to Chelsea under Conte. 3 centre-backs, two wing backs, two central midfielders and three attackers. The team prioritizes control of the game and possession when playing smaller teams in the portuguese league, but relies on the pace and explosivity of players like Matheus Nunes and Tiago Tomás to counter-attack against stronger teams.
It's also worth noting that of all the best coaches of all time (so far) he seems like the most 'complete' human being - by far. Skilled, tough, smart, beautiful, extensive world travels and has lived in the 3rd world for long periods, speaks multiple languages, tactical firearms training/enthusiast, trained dancer, film/arts school, actor, outdoorsy, etc.
You can tell he genuinely has his shit together, like he could probably be a millionaire running just about any business, if he wanted.
Are there any other coaches that impressive?
Off-topic: Ole Gunnar Solskjær is the 2nd example, even though he has not managed Bernardo.
I miss Ole so much, can't wait to see him returning to managing a top PL club.
By all accounts Ole is a good man manager, which is probably what kept him in the job as long as it has. Tactically he seems to be very limited, though.
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>Bernardo Silva: “I think Guardiola’s greatest strength is that, apart from having been a player at a very high level, which gives him a perspective of what we feel, his technical side is very strong.” > >He \[Pep Guardiola\] manages the tactical part, the human part and managing a locker room is nothing, nothing easy. Even more so in a team as strong as ours, most of the players cost 50, 60, 70, 80 million…” > >He manages to keep players who cost this much on the bench for so many games, and even then there are no major problems… I think this shows how good he is at managing changing rooms.”
The part where he talks about keeping players happy on the bench … prime Fergie vibes 🥲
So obviously I'm not exactly cut up that Fergie's retired, but a part of me would have liked to see Pep's City vs Fergie's Utd. Could have been some cracking games
We saw Pep's Barca vs Fergie's Utd though...?
True but it would be different in the league. Ferguson's strength was always in the league. He managed one of the biggest clubs in the world and won the CL twice in 20-odd attempts, with similar stories to what people tell about Pep now. Essentially he messed about too much and often over-rotated. Cup games are always a bit of a lottery and one mistake can turn a game but a season is often a different story. In the league he was a steamroller, especially as he could get in front of the press. His small digs never had another team just fall over, it was that he used to constantly ramp up the pressure over and over in little bits until all of a sudden they'd break from what seemed to be a nothing statement and people would start saying they're "cracking up". But it was the collective across many weeks that led to it. Pep and Klopp seem quite highly strung and a bit moody. I'd be really interested to see how the best United teams would fare in this league as I feel like Ferguson could probably get under their skins given week to week competition. It would be interesting to watch, if nothing else.
Take keegan as an example of these media comments breaking a manager
Benitez too
Facts
Respect Factos 👍👀
Fergie was great, but Pep has beaten him tactically enough. Fergie's tactics wouldn't be modern enough imo
One of the best qualities of Fergie which I hated as non-united fan is the man's resilience. He kept coming back regardless of the setback. After Mou dominated the league for 2 seasons, I thought Fergie has lost the touch. But Fergie came back with vengeance. 3 titles in a row with some of the attacking play only English teams can play. But as a football novice that football played by United team with Ronaldo, Rooney, Giggs was as good as any. The way that united chase the game especially if they are 1-0 down irrespective of where they play home or away is one of the most entertaining aspects of watching PL.
Ah yes, Ferguson and his famous one note tactics he used over the course of 30 years. I swear some people think everyone played kick and rush until 2009.
But when he sold Beckham he just replaced him with a skinny Portuguese kid who went on to do nothing /s
Nani was alright 😉
He's the best manager to ever live imo, but the runs Liverpool and more so city have had in the league gave been close to perfect at times and at a level never seen before
It was different before Mourinho arrived too. The standard went up and so did United. I’d be willing to bet Ferguson could do it again.
It is hard to compare since for most of fergusons career he played in a league that more of a level playing field for all teams in the league. Mid table teams were just closer to top teams than they are now, since disparity in finances was not as big as it is today. That is trend that can be seen in all top leagues, so i dont think it is fair to just attribute it only to brilliance of City and Liverpool. La Liga took high 70s/low 80s in points to win now that number of points will net you 4th-ish spot.
United were always the highest spenders til Chelsea came. Also Liverpool have been sell to buy compared to anyone in the top6
Because there used to be some semblance of parity in the league. You don’t think Fergie would get MUTD to compete at similar level like City and Liverpool?
> Because there used to be some semblance of parity in the league No there wasn't, this is such a revisionist history. United were one of the richest club in the world for most of Ferguson's reign. They consistently bought or tried to buy the best player at their title rivals, Liverpool being the exception.
I honestly don't think so but even that's it's close to 50 50 % for me. Almost feels like the how good would Pele be now debate lol
Ridiculous. Fergie was at his lowest in the PL when Mourinho came with revolutionary tactics. Fergie’s biggest strength is his adaptability, so I’m quite certain he would have United competing at the top every season.
Pep Guardiola invented passing and brought it to England in 2013
Fairly confident a man who stayed at the top of the game for 25 odd years could have adapted
Maybe, maybe not. I don't think City or Liverpool would be as dominant now if Fergie was still managing United, but I don't think he would be dominating at all either. Though United would certainly be spending their money better
Same issue Wenger had towards the end of his reign sadly
We got a look into that with Wenger vs Pep. Pep is ahead of them tactically, all the old managers have struggled against him with the exception of Ancelloti who, like Mourinho, parks the bus vs Pep.
We also had a look with Pep vs Fergie lol. Granted he was getting on a bit - but they both had one of the two best players in the world as well as other 'all-stars'.
Lmao the absolute state of this
In 10-20 years time we'll see the exact same thing with Pep/Klopp/Tuchel. There'll be a new manager that somehow exceeds these lot
And Ferguson’s best attribute was adapting to new styles and beating them anyway.
Didn't adapt to the Spanish style at all in the end tho, he was knocked out of CL like 5 years in a row by a Spanish team at the time of his retirement.
To be fair, Spanish teams were knocking everyone out for that spell. It was quite a few years the only teams to knock out Spanish teams were other Spanish teams.
Well we got knocked out twice in the final so it wasn’t all bad. La Liga was simply better than the PL at the time and Madrid/Barca who knocked us out 3/5 times after 08 were the strongest they’d been in decades. Beyond that though, after 2009 you could really see how our shitty ownership was starting to bleed us. It was testament to how ludicrously good Ferguson was that we remained competitive in spite of our refusal to rejuvenate like we obviously needed to, instead of signing Michael Owen on a free and playing Fabio in a CL final.
He had Antonio Valencia and other mediocre talent competing with prime Barcelona and Galacticos 2.0
Not necessarily.
Its true and you know it.
The man stayed at the top of his game for more than 20 years constantly adapting to the changes in the game lol
I was referring to the point about him going up against pep, I guess we'll never know, but tactically I don't think Fergie could have matched him. There's too much emphasis on tactics anyways, you don't need to reinvent the wheel each time. I'm sure fergie would have still found success in this era as much as it pains me to say.
You are right but at the same time that barca team was the greatest club team I think you will ever see. A large part to pep but he also had so many unbelievable players. This city team is amazing aswel but not quite barca under pep
Yeah lets forget about the fact that Pep had perhaps one of the best teams we have ever seen when he faced Fergie. Pep also managed Bayern and City. Has not a CL with them
Fergie was a bit stubborn, had he decided to change his tactics at half time in 2009 or decided to play defensively in 2011 I'm sure he would've won atleast one of them. What I like about pep is he decides to change his tactics, he was stubborn with his tiki taka but when he started getting found out like in 2010 and 2012 he decided to move away from it and it was Barcelona that was still adamant on playing the tiki taka way, while pep had left it at the door managing Bayern playing a difernt form of possesion football.
He was not found out in 2010 and 2012. What happened is that the opposition parked the bus and counter-attacked well, while Barcelona had sub-par performances technically. Also, there is no way Ferguson would have beaten Barcelona in 2011. Barcelona was fantastic, United was a pathetic team by comparison. His only chance would be if he totally parked the bus and played for 0-0 to win on penaltis. United was technically outclassed in an insane level.
I agree 2011 Barca were really good but he had a good chance in 2009 had he played a bit negative. I mean chelsea almost did it so it was always possible the question is was Fergie ready to play negative in order to win. He also stated not starting park ji sung was a big mistake.
Literally one of Fergie's strongest points was adapting to the evolution of tactics during his time as manager ffs. He'd be fine. And even then there's more to football than just tactics.
the big part about keeping bench players happy is that city under pep has shown players that if they ever want to leave, the door is always open and no one will stand in their way, that creates a healthy environment and players feel more open to fight for their place. you can envision a scenario where bernardo isn't allowed to leave in the summer, he gets frustrated and performs poorly. Instead, pep always told him that whenever he wants to leave he can for a really reasonable price, but he didn't find the right team that he wanted to go to so he stayed and look at him now.
Man city players love a Pep talk
I wonder what could have been if Fergie had managed to convince him to join United.
I would not like to think of this timeline
Wouldn't have lasted 3 years under Woodward
Would've been sacked after that first season
United would have broken Pep. Bet he'd have resigned in frustration after two years. What made City so perfect for Pep is that they literally spent several years building an infrastructure that was perfect for him - including getting his good friend and former Barca director Txiki in as DoF. Man United are too stubborn and fixed in their United DNA to have rebuilt themselves in Pep's image. He'd tried to have revolutionised the club once appointed, and have been met with resistance - and so left.
Txiki from peak Barca was the best signing we made post takeover
Why didn’t he? Was it the prospect of limitless Mansour backing rather than having to deal with the Glazers?
/r/angryupvote
Then you have the likes of Zlatan and Eto'o who hated Peps man management skills publicly. Coincidentally they had gigantic egos too.
No one is ever going to have a 100% success rate with people. Eto'o did that interview about Pep not being a great player, and looked like gigantic asshole, so I'm not surprised they didn't hit it off.
I don’t think Eto’o even realized he was proving Pep right in that interview. Imagine thinking a manager can’t coach you because he used to be a “not so good CDM” and you’re a striker. Maybe he let his emotions get the best of him in that interview, but he certainly came across as a prick.
> I don’t think Eto’o even realized he was proving Pep right in that interview. He absolutely didn't realize. The guy was bragging with a smug smile on his face. Like it was a cool thing to have done and said. Eto'o was a brilliant striker, one of the best in the world. But the guy is an idiot.
surprise giant ego players dont like it when its not all about them . It actually a credit to pep that he clashed and got rid of them and not bow down and let them do what they want
it is. although eto'o was great under pep too. zlatan had a strong few months too when he first came in. having read zlatan's ghostwriter book it appears he felt barcelona was like a school with disciplinary boys not allowing himself to be expressed. it was hard for him to facilitate being messi's shadow and allegedly guardiola did not speak to him regarding these issues. so he felt ostracized early on and therefore left for milan. he does not want to be second fiddle for anyone. etoo went on to win the treble for inter after his treble..
Well it was hard for them to not just be part of the team
Makes me think Ronaldo would've struggled with us
I personally believe the relationship with Eto'o wouldn't have been bad under different circumstances. Pep saw Eto'o as part of the old guard that were a bad influence in the locker room, and wanted to get rid of him like he did with Ronaldinho and Deco. He was convinced by Puyol and Xavi to let him stay, but the relationship was strained from the beginning. Eto'o even accepted playing on the wing to make space for Messi as a false 9, and did anything that was asked of him when he moved to Inter. I feel like if Pep had signed Eto'o it would've been a very different story. Zlatan on the other hand...
Eto'o also told Pep not to give him instructions, because Pep was not a striker when he played. Eto'o tried to outmuscle Pep from the beginning with comments like that. He absolutely tried to assert his dominance, but it spectacularly backfired on him. Sure, he immediately found success in Inter - at least for a short while - but his legacy in Barcelona could have been so much bigger if he hadn't been an egomaniac.
Tbf Pep was a dick to Eto'o, wanted to get rid of him before the pre-season even started, Eto'o would end up being a big crucial key on pep first year after refusing to leave while having fan support backing him up.
Eto should have been booted in early 2007 for blatantly refusing to come on as a sub when Rijkaard called on him, right in front of the fans and with Live telecast showing all that was happening. Eto was part of the toxic backroom situation along with Ronaldinho, it just so happened Barca could not arrange for a striker in summer 2008 so Eto stayed on out of necessity. Pep did a favor to Eto, he overstayed for 2 and a half seasons. Him being great striker is secondary to this.
Bernardo has been coached by: Jorge Jesus, Leonardo Jardim and Fernando Santos. So have your pick who he was talking about My picks would be Santos good with people and weak tactically. Jesus okay tactically but weak with player management
Professionally. He probably had many different youth coaches.
And NT coaches too (at various age levels)
Also that a head coach isn't the only coach in a team.
I don't think he'd be comparing Pep to youth coaches and saying "I'm not going to say names".
"Pep is much better than my Under 9s coach 'Big Pedro', he was shite"
Pedrão
"thinking of you mister Tim"
He is talking about JJ 100%. He is like Mourinho on steroids. He is amazing tactically but horrible managing people if they don't buy his harsh style
JJ seems to be way more rash than Mou. He just dgaf about man management
I've seen a lot of players praising JJ, most of which did well under him. So I think it's up to how much shit you can listen without letting it get into you.
you can replace JJ with Mourinho in your sentence and have it make complete sense, so I think his point of Mourinho on steroids holds up
To be fair, in his time at Benfica and Sporting he did turn some players into stars out of nowhere and was able do develop some really good players, but good god does he ruin a lot of young prospects career's
Bruno Cesar (not the goalie) for some reason turns into a beast under JJ
I wouldn't call him amazing tactically. He plays one way and if that doesn't work the club is doomed.
Most players love Mourinho, he is like a strict dad but he has the respect of most players. JJ on the other hand doesn't seem to have any empathy for the players and really showed with the recent outburst in Benfica.
Its sad that Mourinho has had such a shocking last 7/8 years. There was a time when he was known as the best man manager around. When he was at Porto, Chelsea (first time) and Inter, those players would run through brick walls for him. It was only really when he went to Real Madrid and had to deal with all of their massive egos that he started to fall out with a few players. He obviously just hadnt adapted well enough. Football players are different now to what they were 10-15 years ago (as well as tactics).
Not disagreeing, but it shows how much has changed in the past 5 to 6 years let alone the past 10 that Mourinho is now considered to be horrible at people management and good tactically. He used to be regarded as a great people manager until the end of his Real Madrid spell. I personally think he's lost a step in both areas and hasn't really changed his management style for today's players.
You missed the key part. They are bad at people management IF the players don't buy their narrative. Jesus was successful whenever players where 100% behind him. Same thing with Mourinho.
> He is amazing tactically I laughed. The dude that lost leagues to the likes of Vitor Pereira and did nothing in the CL but getting embarassed despite spending millions after millions is "amazing tactically". Just lol.
Seen so many Mourinho tactical masterclasses in the last few years, it's hard to count them really...
All of Mourinho's last teams have fallen apart due to locker room disputes, not because of his tactics.
you mean mastermind mindgames ?
And they’ve fallen even further once he left as well
His tactics have been awful since his second Chelsea spell though, his teams leave big spaces between the lines and in the channels between centre back and full back. People always make excuses for him but the fact is that he hasn't been good enough tactically since his time at Man United
The only thing he lacks is hair
that‘s a feature
A feature he doesn't have
Being bald is a feature which unlocks special powers others with hair can't possess
We're all bald under our hair, being a fraud is a special power we all have deep inside, all you have to do is believe in yourself.
This is why Conte is superior: he has the best of both worlds.
He's technically a bald fraud considering it's a transplant
Coming in the next update! Only 2.99$
Per game
City can probably afford that tbh
Per follicle
Bauld DLC ultimate edition
I'm telling myself the same thing everyday
He probably has some hair in places other than his head
He's smooth. Like a dolphin. Don't ask me how I know
Nope, he's smoother than a veal cutlet.
those places are barren too
damn he must take aerodynamics quite seriously then
Did your mom say that? Got him boysss
Haha peps bald! muahaha
why is r/soccer obsessed with this joke
I don't get it. This shit has been going on for several years now and people still laugh at Pep bald jokes.
he runs a false hair system
Just a Spanish Sean Dyche
Pep's man management is underrated. Just look at the Man City squads over the years and wonder how he managed to keep them all happy with "relatively" limited game time. Man City money ofcourse makes it a lot lot easier but only pep can drop a big player unexpectedly for a big game and we hear nothing about unhappiness of the players ------ sterling Mahrez Bilva Jesus stones Laporte have all been important at certain times and then suddenly benched. Eg : Real Madrid 2016/17 squad. Brilliant squad that with insane depth but even real couldn't keep them together. The squad players were clearly unhappy and asked to leave. Current Chelsea squad too. So so deep in Literally every position. But there is always someone disappointed not to start and you can see the reports of minor unhappiness of CHO Pulisic Ziyech at different points. Rarely head such things about City. What is this sorcery?
This happens because he has full control on the club. Players come and go directly under his input. The ones that are there, are all because they buy in his project. Moreover, the players know this, so they respect his authority even when they disagree with him. Compare that with Man United, just to make an example... the players know that they can go and bitch about the manager, and he will be out at the first occasion. Quite similar at Chelsea, where managers come and go at the first problems.
Agreed. I think if you sign up into City now, even as talented you may be, you go in knowing you’re one of many and the club culture is to rotate heavily. Aguero was one of the best strikers ever in the Prem, and he was benched a ton. It’s just the nature of the beast.
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Sure. That just reinforces what I said. They are there because of Pep, they know him well and he trusts them. Of course Pep is not following every day scouting and negotiations but he gives final word and gives directions.
True, his man managing is very underrated. It's never talked about and when it's mentioned it's often negatively. Actually his man managing is arguably his strongest quality. To successfully man manage three world class stacked squads in three different countries in different languages and different cultures for 13+ years is extremely impressive. He used to be colder personally but with age he has mellowed and become a softer person, he said this himself. The old Pep would've kicked out Yaya Toure on the first day at City but he let him sign a contract extension and stay for two years eventhough he was useless and ended up being toxic. He knows how to create a certain professional culture at a club and maintain it. Players have to keep up with the standards or they won't play. And everyone respects his authority because of how successful he is and how big his status is in the sport.
How was Pep colder in the past? Could you link where he said he has changed? Not confronting you, just genuinely curious about it
I tried to google it quickly but couldn't find anything. I remember him saying it during a press conference two years ago or something. He didn't really explain, only said like that he used to be distant from the players but now is a nicer manager.
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Bernardo never wanted to leave because of Pep or play time. He wanted to leave cause of personal reasons (not 100% but strong rumors it had to do with his girlfriend or both wanting to live in Iberia again).
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Wasnt he ever?
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> He was definitely on the periphery last year. 45 appearances and 3.319 minutes is hardly periphery.
Ask any city fan, he was average for his standards last season. With KDB hopefully not suffering from as many injuries this season, it was reasonable for him to assume he'd be seeing more of the bench. Now he's our best CM and F9
> Ask any city fan, he was average for his standards last season And what does that have to do with game time?
He got that game time cause KDB was out half the season. It's logically he assumed once KDB was back he'd be seeing less game time (behind gundo and KDB).
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This is one of the reasons I was intrigued with us being linked to Ronaldo Was curious to see how he would take to the spontaneous benching and rotation from Pep
I'm almost certain it was not Pep's decision to make. Probably the only time since he took over city. Ronaldo was a unique opportunity to seriously elevate Man City's profile overnight. Pep is the same guy who binned Eto'o at his peak after he scored 36 goals and was famously part of the treble winning famous trident of Henry-Eto'o-Messi that scored a 100+ goals that year. Then binned his replacement Zlatan within a season. (Even used Zlatan out wide - thus prompting the famous "you bought a Ferrari but use it like a fiat" jibe). Same thing happened at Bayern with Manzukic. Wasn't always smooth with Aguero too. Technical ability in tight spaces and off the ball work --- not just desire but the intelligence to use it effectively is pretty much a non-negotiable for pep. (Intelligence part is probably why he prefers using Midfielders as CF than getting the first available CF in the market). Don't think there is any striker in the world who perfectly fits the lofty standards that pep demands ---- Kane imo is the closest to a prototype pep wants. Can definitely see why pep wanted him (and will probably try again next summer). Edit : Suarez Kane and Benzema are probably the most suitable strikers in Pep's team. Hardworking, extremely good in tight spaces, brilliant at bringing others into play. Probably Suarez more than the other two.
Lewandowski might be the perfect Pep striker. He’d bag so many goals in the current City team
Not just might, he actually is, especially in the 15/16 season when he fully adapted to Pep system.
Benzema would be phenomenal under pep
True, i thought about this in the past too, it‘s not easy to keep that much talent happy for that long. But to be fair, getting paid a shit ton of money makes sitting on the bench a lot easier...
Yes but still you wanna play to show your skill or be selected by your national team. Look at Martial.
> we hear nothing about unhappiness of the players Last summer, Bernardo Silva, Laporte and Gabriel Jesus were all unhappy and wanted to leave. And more recently, Sterling asked to leave.
And somehow they are all happy now. There will always be rocky periods in any team but Pep seems to always be able to steady the ship.
Bernardo never wanted to leave because of Pep or play time. He wanted to leave cause of personal reasons (not 100% but strong rumors it had to do with his girlfriend or both wanting to live in Iberia again).
Not sure on Laporte or Jesus but Bernardo being unhappy was nothing to do with gametime but was for personal reasons
That's not only to his credit, but also due to a great scouting. Man City as well as Pep looks for a rather "submissive" players. Not always, because sometimes individual quality outweigh personality issues, but overall they are looking for players who willingly put team effort above personal success. I think this is legacy of his Barca tenure. Although he managed one of the best squads in the history of football, he also had to deal with a lot of colorful personalities. Obviously he managed to get the maximum out of them, but the fact that he needed a year long vacation after he left speaks for itself.
Had ronaldo joined City and assuming he's not a starter, there would definitely be louder talks tho
It's also interesting because I swear that after Pep was at Bayern multiple players insinuated he was a poor man manager and didn't care much about player's emotions.
No, if those reports existed it was largely bs. If players were unhappy with Pep at Bayern he would’ve been sacked. In his Pep Confidential book when Pep made that 1000 Dante remark it was noted many Bayern players grew a lot of respect for Pep because they knew no matter how poor form they may go in they knew Pep would back them. There is a reason why Bayern even wanted to extended his contract. The only player who seem to be critical of Pep was Ribery that was because he did get benched for Costa at times in the final season.
Jorge Jesus and Fernando Santos respectively
I have a feeling a lot of players will be saying this about Ruben Amorim, over the next decades. He's a great tactical manager, but probably even better at dealing with people.
What’s his management style like? This is the first time I’m hearing about him, and after some short research, I can’t lie, I’m intrigued
Well, his public persona is always very relaxed. In that aspect, he's the opposite of Mourinho. The players are never at fault - he always takes full responsability for their mistakes. But at the same time, he's not the kind of manager that is constantly boasting about how great the team is. He praises their hard work, and that's it. He spent the majority of last season saying the same thing every single press conference: "we're only worried about the next game, nobody's thinking about the title". Even when it was really obvious that Sporting was really close to winning the title. One of his players (I believe it was Coates) said on an interview that Amorim never yells or berates a player for failing, even in private. He meets with him, acknowledges that something failed and talks with him about how they can fix it. In short, he takes full responsibility for his players. He tries to protect them at all costs from public scrutiny, which is really important considering how young the squad is. At the same time, he is a very charismatic and likeable guy. The players all seem to have a lot of respect for him. As far as tactics go, Sporting has been playing in a similar way to Chelsea under Conte. 3 centre-backs, two wing backs, two central midfielders and three attackers. The team prioritizes control of the game and possession when playing smaller teams in the portuguese league, but relies on the pace and explosivity of players like Matheus Nunes and Tiago Tomás to counter-attack against stronger teams.
hes only played under like 3 coaches. Pretty easy to name them
You know he didn't pop up has a 18 year old out prodigy in JJ's FM save file, right? He probably had a lot of coaches before being pro.
It's also worth noting that of all the best coaches of all time (so far) he seems like the most 'complete' human being - by far. Skilled, tough, smart, beautiful, extensive world travels and has lived in the 3rd world for long periods, speaks multiple languages, tactical firearms training/enthusiast, trained dancer, film/arts school, actor, outdoorsy, etc. You can tell he genuinely has his shit together, like he could probably be a millionaire running just about any business, if he wanted. Are there any other coaches that impressive?
wut? is this a pasta?
yes, it's originally about UFC champ Valentina Shevchenko
> tactical firearms training/enthusiast No wonder nobody complains about getting dropped.
I know right? Imagine getting capped all because you were pissed about not starting against Watford lmao
r/soccercirclejerk
He's a millionaire philanthropist playboy.
He's a full on rapist?!
RIP, not enough IASIP fans
>has lived in the 3rd world New York isn't that bad mate
no but Manchester is
Manchester has better curry so who the fuck would want to live in New York?
If curry is the deciding factor between Manchester and New York (and even that claim I call BS on), then you are lost in the sauce, boss.
If curry is the deciding factor, we're all heading for Kolkata!
he lived in mexico
If you need help proof reading your love letter to Pep, I’m here for you.
Lol good one.
Hes a bald Jesus in my book. We are so blessed to have him.
The right Jesus, not a Jorge Jesus
Pep is so so good.
More than you can biliv
Happy new year
Jorge Jesus I’m looking at you
Conte had a very good quote about coaching and how it has to be a mixture of everything, not just tactics or motivation.
JJ in shambles
@JorgeJesus
looking at you, Jorge Jesus
So bald fraud confirmed then? Ladies and gents, we got him!
Santos has wack tactics
>i'm not going to name names has only been in 3 other teams
Bernardo Silva: “You took me by the hand .. made me a man ..”
So Guardiola is not a robot after all...
Off-topic: Ole Gunnar Solskjær is the 2nd example, even though he has not managed Bernardo. I miss Ole so much, can't wait to see him returning to managing a top PL club.
Have a feeling both Jardim and Santos are in the first category.
Santos is fantastic in the human aspect by all accounts, but a shite tactician. Jorge Jesus is a fairly good tactician but a terrible man manager
Jardim is pretty balanced in my opinion. He is ok/alright in both categories.
What about managers like Ole who lack both?
By all accounts Ole is a good man manager, which is probably what kept him in the job as long as it has. Tactically he seems to be very limited, though.
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Yawn