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Christophe Galtier. One for Levy to consider surely?
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Certainly looks like Barca’s financial woes are showing now after PSG hijacked Wijnaldum after offering double the wages.
Georginio Wijnaldum has decided to join Paris Saint-Germain. Barcelona have NO intention to raise their bid after they agreement ready by 2 weeks and medicals planned. 🚨🇳🇱
Gini is now set to accept PSG proposal until 2024 with salary more than doubled [compared to Barça bid]. https://t.co/ImrYvlaMWg
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 6, 2021
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Yeh Lucky, I think the likes of Man Utd & Arsenal have particularly struggled because they’ve had 2 very long serving managers that papered over the cracks beneath which were left exposed when they left. And they’re still trying to pick up the pieces. Chelsea are the perfect modern club in that they prioritise player recruitment vs manager longevity. The culture has completely changed and the players are now kings, with the manager becoming more disposable. Many don’t like it, but it’s where we’re now at. So whilst the managerial appointment is still of course important, they are no longer considered the most important part of a club.
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Managers like Poch & Klopp are a dream for many owners because they are the ultimate safe option – they do very well on the pitch with a low transfer outlay. But they are hard to find. The next safest option is a young prospect or appointing a former player who understands the club and can oversee things until the next Poch or a Klopp comes along. But all these decisions are rooted in safety, or arguably as Lucky says, avoiding responsibility to make the big decisions. And they don’t want any risk. But there’s a reason for that – poor transfer purchases.
Several big clubs have bought poorly now for sometime because they don’t have a strong coherent player recruitment department. Appointing Jose at Man Utd wasn’t particularly successful because Man Utd also bought poorly and you can’t rely on the manager for that. In response, Man Utd have now started to play safer in the transfer market whilst also playing their youth. The main reason I’d argue that’s the case though is not so much because they want to “do things the right way” but because they don’t yet have a strong recruitment department. So until they do, this is the safest option, and from that point of view, you can understand why.
This finally looks to be changing at Man Utd with the following story which seemed to go under the radar:
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I think some football chairmen like to play safe and run the club like an accountant would do. That’s not that you want to advocate the opposite of that and spend money recklessly, but you really need a footballing man at the top who better knows who to invest in and then back comprehensively to become more successful on the pitch. It’s one reason why Abramovich is so successful. People will rightly point to the money he’s spent over the years, but he knows his football and who to bring in and back.
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I think Levy probably thought Conte was worth considering in the same way he thought Jose was worth a punt in that being a big name they might be a silver bullet and suddenly work wonders at the club, as well as possibly making Harry reconsider and creating excitement at the club. But you need all the right ingredients for that to work and it seems Conte quickly realised they weren’t there. Spurs have to play the long game now.
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A club like Spurs is in a position more like Liverpool, in that they’re more a “sell to buy” club, so a manager like Poch was more ideal for them in that he creates a strong bond between the players and makes them greater than the sum of their parts, like Klopp does at Liverpool.
I don’t think Conte is suited to that kind of project. Yes, if Spurs have a hefty transfer budget, you’d think he might do, but then, you need to keep investing quite heavily over time to maintain it. Not sure that’s going to happen, and it seems Conte is perhaps realising this in the talks.
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Just left with manager of the season now. Does Tuchel pip Pep after the CL win?
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Mourinho to Conte would be like going from the frying pan into the fire. It’s as though Levy is overcompensating the disappointment in recent years by appointing big name managers without thinking it all out. Bit like when England appointed Sven.
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That to make Harry think again?
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Possibly Ed, but the difference at Liverpool is that the owners are somewhat using Klopp to cover over the lack of investment. Different situation at Chelsea.
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But Lampard was very early into his management career, it was a huge step up. He fitted the criteria at that time – a former Chelsea player who knew the club well. I think it would have been extremely idealistic to expect it to work in the longer term, and either way, that’s the main point, Abramovich didn’t ‘wait and see’ for very long. He knew pretty quickly it wasn’t working and made the decision swiftly. Had that been Man Utd, Lampard would probably still be there.
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Was thinking this myself Ed recently. No way Roman would have kept Ole on for so long. He would be long gone by now. But the difference is Roman is happy to appoint the best manager available regardless of their particular football philosophy, whereas Man Utd want someone to develop the youngsters whilst ideally also expressing themselves. And the problem with that is that you somewhat back yourself into a corner and limit your options. Yes they appointed Jose, but I think that was a rush of blood to the head moment of panic to try and resurrect the team back to the top. Abramovich may be criticised at times, but his decision making and the timing of it is pretty much bang on every time. For example, when Lampard was appointed, it was obvious to me that he was just being used by the club in the short term to bed in some of the youngsters. Once that was done, he was always going to be discarded for a more experienced option once one became available. Abramovich knows what he wants and when a decision needs to be made there’s no deliberating over it or ‘seeing what happens’. He’s no nonsense and just takes the ruthless decisions when necessary and as you say, his record speaks for itself.
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Both European finals were won by the more defensive sides. Who says defensive organised football is outdated? It arguably makes the team more resolute and firmly concentrated on the job in hand, particularly in cup games where every game is important and so you’re less likely to make mistakes. It also puts the pressure on the attacking team. Chelsea had clearly got into Pep’s head in their previous meetings and so he felt he had to be very bold against them in the CL final to get a result. I think he’ll be reflecting on these games vs Chelsea for some time. As for Chelsea, the challenge will be to transfer their cup form to the league. (Liverpool had a similar challenge under Benitez, winning the CL but struggling with the league). But a fascinating dichotomy between the two teams, and the strengths and weaknesses of both. One better in the league, the other, cups.
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I suspect given previous meetings with Chelsea, Pep felt he had to be very bold tonight and try and get a few early goals on the board and try and kill the game. Which in theory is a sound plan. But it was just too bold, particularly in midfield and actually played further into Chelsea’s hands. In purely footballing terms, there’s no better coach in world football than Pep. But I think he struggles to get the right approach in some big games.
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Chelsea had the best chances tonight.
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I think Pep’s gone too bold here, particularly in midfield. I remember when he went very bold at Bayern vs Barca some years ago and it backfired.
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HH, Giroud, Pulisic, Aguero, Ziyech, all big game players…on the bench.
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I’d have been tempted to start with Agüero. Wonder how tempted Pep was.
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Allegri going back to Juve.
Massimiliano Allegri will sign his contract as new Juventus manager in the next few hours. The agreement has been completed. Andrea Pirlo will be sacked. Just a matter of hours. ⚪️⚫️⏳ #Juventus
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 27, 2021
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