I think thats the point, if he had signed them, Maguire especially, he would have binned him off after a year and got a new shiny toy.
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They wouldāve done that already (or back then) with the likes of Mangala, Otamendi, possibly Stones, Mendyā¦
Full back is where Pep has surprised me a little bit with his choices. I think he tried to adapt a bit too much, shouldāve remained stubborn perhaps. Mixed success.
For years there was a trope that for all Cityās money they had spent it poorly and failed to improve the squad for several years. I think this season has finally laid that to rest.
Dias has been great. The likes of Stones and Gundogan have had stand out seasons when previously theyād not lived up to expectations. Bernardo Silva has been a down low success for a few seasons. Ederson is overrated as a goalie but a great purchase of them. And De Bruyne has been one of the most productive signings of the PL season.
Basically they now have probably half a side who arrived under Pep and are core components of their success this season.
As pip admitted in that infamous presser, theyāve bought a lot of good players. Under his term of management alone theyāve brought in players with a total value of Ā£794 million.
I think that with that level of spending youād have to be a pretty poor manager not to win the league!
They are also incredibly āluckyā with a significant number of refereeing decisions in their favour.
Perhaps cheaty have not confined their spending to buying players?
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Shit he spoke the truth (or he was being humorous). Do I take it all back?
Nahā¦ Still looks like a smug cheater when he say it - knowing he wonāt get punished or even called out for it. Cunt.
Peps a great manager but the carte blanche for Transfers at City has destroyed his reputation and character.
One of the last few things I respect him for is that he recognized the talent of Phil Foden like three years ago and wasnāt afraid to say he is the best young player he ever trained.
Foden is special and by that I mean that he can win the Ballon DāOr if he gets the chance to work with Pep for a few more years.
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Guardiola as manager is tiers above Mancini and Pellegrini. Not sure why he has to be credited for making better signings than them. Itās not as if he hasnāt had his flops or that he has unearthed some obscure talent from the Championship.
The vast majority of his signings have been ultra talented players; scouted and recruited because they fit his system with no expense spared. Thatās the key issue. Money isnāt an issue for him. Are we supposed to overlook how much easier that makes his job compared to every other manager?
Yes, he is good at identifying talent that provides what heās looking for but Iām not giving him props for taking his pick out of a pool of Cancelos, Diases, Mendys, Rodris etc.
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My point is that heās a much better manager than them (and itās not like they worked with peanuts in the context of their time), yet people rarely talk about other managers of Barca/Bayern/City when someone else is there instead of Pep.
Itās like heās the only manager who gets money, heās not, though I donāt see other managers producing the same stuff. But I understand, even with the best or one of the best, public has to find something to bring him down. Even if he wins a few CLās and ends his career with most CL titles, they will find something else. Happens in every sport I guess.
Iād say a lot of those players werenāt quite top (finished product like Hazard leaving Chelsea for Real, that sort of level) as itās made out. Heās made almost every player better. Even the best ones. Highly influential in football, too. Spanish football literally pissed all over the world (clubs, national side, youth tournaments, even smaller clubs like Sevilla) in the last 15 years or so (letās say since 2008 with Spain/Aragones and Pep/Barca, though Rijkaard also did a good job for a short while) and heās played (or is still playing) a big part in that in my opinion (in terms of influencing not only his own teams, but everywhere else).
Iād like to see more managers who get top money, but remain at this level year in year out. Anyone else? Are City the only one out there? Pep is doing it with high success for 13 years in a row now. Sometimes better, sometimes worse, of course (especially in Europe). Structure and money is a very important factor in his club, but Iād say itās his capability that prevails and earns him these jobs.
The longer he continues winning at City or wherever, Iāll just be even more and more sure of his outstanding coaching quality. Itās already an old story now in my books anyway. Heās a rival and of course I donāt like City, but as a football fan, I have to admire Pep.
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Terrific manager but his defence of the owners and his hysterical and nonsensical plea that citeh are not dodgy bastards makes him a massive disingenuous cunt.
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How great a manager is Pepe?
Itās hard to say, given the massive competitive advantage he has enjoyed in every job he has had.
Great manager? Dunno.
But he has had some great jobs.
Not the only one who is getting them. Though yeah, there are also much more managers out there than ātop jobsā. Which means not everyone can get them and even less can continue getting them. When you get the opportunity like he did at Barca, you can also quickly fail. Pepās example wasnāt normality, it was rare to see.
@Zoran - you are probably right, but I find myself quite unable to laud Pep. Lord knows, the whole world is doing that, and I donāt need to add to it.
Instead I will satisfy myself with knowing he is good, yes, of course he is. But how good? Who knows? Because he has enjoyed a massive competitive advantage in every job he has had.
The other good manager I can make a direct comparison with is Hansi Flick. Guardiola couldnāt win the CL at Bayern Munich. Hansi Flick did it.
So yes, even if a little uncharitable, I will stick with the bald fraud moniker!
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I donāt know, his story is not over, but Iām not going to wait that he takes over a āTottenhamā when he shows signs of dropping like Mourinho, doesnāt win anything just so I can finally call his whole career a fraud (I wouldnāt).
You get a lot of different careers, if he goes on to survive at the top level and just keep attracting top jobs and being successful, that tells me youāre damn good. Because not many succeed at it, very few do. It may not seem fair to some, but I believe there are reasons why par example someone like Bielsa never got a real top job. Would he reject it? I highly doubt it, although he is prone to some really weird decisions. But heāll get all the love in the world and I understand why (I love him, too). But maybe heās not as good as we all think? Thatās not a shame for me, he remains quality in his own way and to a certain level.
Flick did win the CL, yeah. Not only the CL, but a lot of trophies in a short time. He brought some basics back to Bayern after Kovacās dire spell. Flick (and Heynckes) didnāt do a lot of the stuff Pep did. Ancelotti didnāt win the CL, does he get the same headlines as Pep? No, probably because good old Carlo is so universally likeable. Thatās absolutely fine, but itās also the moment when we immediately become too subjective and not objective enough.
By the way, I also love Carlo and I agree that Pep isnāt likeable as someone like Klopp, although I canāt say I have a problem with him. Heās just not really able in the media and doesnāt bother to act nice. Often sarcastic, cynic, can say stupid things from time to time (which even our dear Klopp does). That is one part of Pep and itās the much more less important part for me. Iām not watching a press conference battle, Iām interested in that, too, but much more in the football aspect.
Pep wonāt ever drop down there, probably take over Juve and rebuild them next job.
Letās face it Klopp has won titles with teams that have the potential but he has also managed some dog toss and got them up.
Pep never has.
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Juventus doesnāt have the money. In fact none of the Italian clubs have.
Which kind of makes it perfect, just pick the biggest club in the league.
Juve would still dominate with a half decent manager.
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He is the only manager that has had this kind of money to spend. Of course the expectations and the demands by the public and the media will be much higher for him. His series of failures in the CL donāt sit that well when he has outspent every other club in the world by 100 million+.
Heās a brilliant manager and coach but his real worth will always be skewed by the massive advantage he has had in the transfer market compared to his peers.
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Heās not. And for a big spender, heās doing pretty well from what I see with no signs of dropping off. I donāt see a lot of other examples, Mourinhoās level dropped and Ancelottiās also.
Would Alex Fergusonās career be any different (less glorious than it rightly is) without his Aberdeen successes? I bet half of football fans donāt even know what heās won with them.
Bob Paisley? Only managed Liverpool in probably their best period in history? Oh no, he surely wasnāt highly influential in that success, was he?
Letās also not forget a lot of managers who got their chance at a big club with big spending, failed and went back to their level. Those who got a few chances, not only one.
So the question ācan you do it with limited resources?ā, I can also ask ācan someone do it at the very top level and consistentlyā? I donāt see a lot of those. Because theyāre quality in almost all cases, plain simple.
In both cases you come to a conclusion that, no shit, itās not all about money. It is very important, but a lot of managers canāt get those jobs.
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I can see where Zoran is coming from, purely from a footballing perspective. If it was this easy, we would have many managers succeeding with clubs like PSG, Chelsea, etc. But they donāt, atleast not consistently.
The only catch in my opinion is not all managers would even get that shot with such resources. The clubs that can provide conditions Pep succeeds in are very small as compared to the clubs which can operate only with limited resources and expect managers to work around with it. The expectations do differ mind, but lot of problems for these clubs cannot be solved just by buying out new players till it clicks as the manager needs.
So, yes given the conditions which are available now sadly in football, he has carved a niche for himself must say. Within these conditions, he probably is a good manager. Outside these conditions, we may never find out and probably wouldnāt matter at the end of the day because he is smart enough to make the best use of what he is best at.
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