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It’s not so much those players’ ability Nine, it about their doggedness. Now look, maybe Pep did go too gung-ho last night. But the players on the pitch had to take responsibility too and try and keep things together. Instead they looked in disarray at times. Where was the glue to keep things together?
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999, but that’s Mikus”s point. The Terry, Gerrard, Puyol etc would cost an enormous amount of money, but if there’s one manager in world football who does have access to that money, it is Pep, and he’s not bought that player
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Mikus, I think City badly missed Fernandinho last night and he should have started and Laporte had a mare.
Anyway far more importantly are we beginning to see the first shoots of Sarriball at the Bridge??
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Hightown, I don’t think Pep now has that kind of money and he’s never spent more than Β£60m additionally I don’t know where you could buy players of that repute currently.
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Van Dijk last year?
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With Virginia they wouldn’t have lost last night
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Virgil! !!
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Nine, I think purely in footballing terms, few managers are better than Pep. But he does seem a bit blindsided in bringing in real fighters to the club – indeed contrast him with Klopp on that front, who mainly seeks out team players like Salah, Ox, etc who run ragged for his teams. (And Klopp has beaten Pep in the CL for the last 2 seasons). Instead Pep targeted another technically gifted footballing player in Mahrez for Β£60 million. (And was also apparently after Jorginho – another techical player). But he’s not taken them up a notch has he? Yes Fernandinho was missed – but the other players had to step up.
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I disagree. Pep has improved a lot of players. Sterling, ferdhino l, Bernardo Silva , sane etc.
Heβs a top top manager and he makes players work their socks off. They have fighters.
Bernardo Silva never ran or tracked back or tackled like he does now.
His team press like hell. They recover the ball very quickly and fighting for everything
Iβll admit that last night is a bad result. City should be beating spurs over two legs. Pep came up short again in Europe.
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Sean, Pep undoubtedley coaches his players well, but in some ways you can’t teach real doggedness, character and in game awareness. I’m not saying City’s players don’t work hard, but in real testing times when you’re up against it, or the games drifting, you need players who have that awareness to take action, influence other players and turn games. That’s a different skill to working hard.
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Mikus, I usually agree with you but I also disagree that pep hasn’t taken his players up a notch. If you;re talking purely about the likes of Mahrez then no he hasn’t but the squad in general are playing beyond what other managers could get out of them.
Look at the first season under Pep, it was a very samey samey kind of level for them but it’s the second season where he got the majority of them to up their game. They were bloody phenomenal and I have changed my mind about Pep since.
Did he make mistakes against Spurs, maybe but credit has to be given to Spurs also. Thing is, all manager make mistakes. Klopp has made a few himself this season and the response from some sections of the media was a bit rich. The fact is that the best will make mistakes.
Who’s a better manager, Klopp or Pep? No idea, I think we’ve got to see their careers out at these clubs to make the call. We’re still on for the double though, that would definitely be something.
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Mikus, yes Pep favours technical players that’s the way he’s always played the game and it’s served him well. I don’t think you can claim he hasn’t developed players Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Sane are all better players now under his coaching.
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Chelsea and Arsenal through to the EL Semi Finals .
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I’m with Mikus. No-one’s arguing that Pep isn’t a graet manager and improved players, but he hasn’t targetted leaders for an excellent technical team…like Virgil. They could have got him 18 months, 2 years ago, but he quite simply didn’t go for him hard enough. Imagine what City would be like if they had him now.
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Nine, not saying he hasn’t improved players – he clearly has. The bottom line for me though, is that in that opening 25 mins which saw 5 goals fly in – it may have been very entertaining, but it was also absolutely ridiculous, and it was not the sort of behaviour/composure of a team who wants to win the CL. Pep takes a lot of the responsibility for his approach. But the players also have a duty to react to the situation and adapt themselves if need be – or else they’re just bystanders. If you’re a crew on a ship and you start taking on lots of water, you don’t wait for someone else to act – you act yourself.
(*Just to be clear in the above post – when I said “he hadn’t taken them up a notch” I meant Mahrez, not Pep)
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Mikus, no I agree the opening circa 20 minutes last night were ridiculous and far too open.
On Mahrez I think he was signed as a squad player.
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I think that’s a fair point re VVD Hightown.
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I used to think Pep was nothing but a cheque book manager but changed that opinion after I seen a piece on how Klopp set LFC up to nullify & ultimately beat c$ty, then how Pep picked up what Klopp was doing & changed his set up. It was very interesting to watch.
That said it does make it a hell of a lot easier when you adopt a top quality squad & get to add whatever you want to it over several seasons with money no object. Could Pep adopt say a LFC like when Klopp did & have a way inferior squad but manage to be competitive like we are now? I donβt think he could myself, despite being a very good manager.
He will still win the EPL this season & that canβt be sneezed at._____________________________
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If I had the choice of any Manager managing Chelsea it would be Pep. All about opinions fellas and no one is right or wrong.
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Great effort from our lads to be still in the 2 major comps at this very late stage, I for 1 am proud of the determination & drive the lads have shown. I don’t even think we have played that good throughout parts of the season and said many times we can’t keep playing ok & keep winning games yet here we are with not long to go & we are still up there pushing the top teams all the way. They are just finding ways to get the job done.
Massive credit to Klopp as well, amazing job he’s done instilling belief in the lads, you can see how they keep fighting. I do still think the C/L is our best chance of a title as I don’t think city will lose another game. Massive from spurs as well, spent jack all, lost their best player (some calling that a positive as they play more as a team without him but I’d still rather have him in the team than not) yet maintaining a top 4 challenge along with their C/L campaign into the semi’s. Would love to see a spurs LFC final.
We may well finish the season winning nothing at all but I’d still be proud of the way the lads have fought their butts off to be in it._____________________________
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