Mails: Where does Guardiola go from here?

Matt Stead

Another decent Mailbox. But complacency kills like a broken seatbelt. Keep those mails coming to theeditor@football365.com…

 

Where will Pep go from here?
I just wanted to throw in my tuppence on the current discussion around Pep. I said pre-season that I thought you wouldn’t see the all-conquering team some expected until the 2017/18 season at the earliest given the amount of work he had to do with that City squad.

The City squad left behind by Pellegrini wasn’t dissimilar in structure to the one left behind by Sir Alex at Old Trafford; a once class team whose spine was succumbing to age and injury. Results in the previous two seasons had masked the work required. Kompany, like Vidic, finished by recurrent injuries. Aguero with fitness issues as well, though to a lesser extent.

Main men like Toure, Zabaleta and Silva moving into their 30s and not able to reach their previous levels, much like Rooney, Evra and Carrick. The overhaul required was huge and I think vastly underestimated by fans and the football media. Whilst LVG was much derided at Old Trafford, people forget the sheer amount of dirty work he did in his two years at the club, clearing out the ageing and not-good-enough players cluttering up the squad (around 25 senior players out of the door, none we regret losing)

What I did find curious was the summer transfer policy; given the importance of full-backs to Pep’s previous teams, I thought two new ones would be top of the shopping list given that Sagna & Zabaleta, though once top class, were well over 30 and that Clichy and Kolorov have never been good enough. I figured a big money move for someone like Alaba was sure to be in the offing, but instead he spent big on the raw potential of Leroy Sane and John Stones. Although somewhat unfortunate with the subsequent injury to Gundogan (though there was a reason he cost a relative pittance for someone of his ability), the midfield also needed work with Toure well past his prime, Fernando not good enough and Fernandinho, whilst amongst the league’s best, comfortably the wrong side of 30 too.

The test now for Pep, as mentioned is Gary Lansley’s morning mail, is in the transfer market, something he’s never had to do too much of before. At Barca and Bayern he already had world class players in their prime to build his team around, any signings he made were embellishments to this whose success or failure wouldn’t completely derail the project. At City, he’s going to have build that spine from scratch, and that’s a challenge he’s never faced before. Two new full-backs, at least one centre half, a central midfielder and possibly a ‘keeper too will be the minimum required, and they’re all going to need to hit the ground running. That’s a whole lot of money and requires 100% transfer market success rate to get the them where they’d expect. It’s going to be interesting to watch how he handles that and I’d expect a summer as busy as Louis’ first at United.
Lewis, Busby Way

 

More on the Russian World Cup
I wasn’t planning on writing in today, as I am (kind of) busy, but after reading the final two mails in this morning’s mailbox (Adam,LFC,Belfast & Sood,CFC,India) I felt the need. Firstly, of course Toby’s (quite good) piece wasn’t “a truly pathetic, pathetic attempt at journalism”, I assumed that was pretty obvious given the attempt to give an ulterior reason as to why England are utter shite at tournament football.

Now before I get into my main point, let me start by saying that back in 2010, I missed the final of the World Cup (despite my love of football) because I was chatting up some girl. I never did get anywhere, but I don’t feel like I missed out on anything in the other room either.

While the above may seem redundant, it goes to show that even if you love football, there might be a better reason to miss it. I am not saying that my failed attempts of premarital relations are the exact same as boycotting a World Cup, but the point is that sometimes, it needs to be missed. To dismiss any potential boycott because you “love football” and are “passionate” and “patriotic” is widely narrow-minded. Sometimes you need to sacrifice something you love as well in order to achieve the goal.

Essentially Russia (and Qatar, we should boycott them too!) have to spend a lot of money to host the World Cup. They recoup the majority of this money (plus profit) from the fact that we fans will not only attend the event, but spend money within the country. Whether you support Putin or not, as long as you spend money no one really cares about your opinions at the end of the day, because all they see is a big fact ruble sign (is there one?). Now, should they spend the millions it takes to host a World Cup and have no one turn up, that would be a big kick in the teeth, primarily because they would be seriously hurt financially. And it is at this point that you begin to hammer home why you have boycotted, thus creating the correlation between no money and the reason why.

I won’t be going to Russia 2018, mainly because I cannot afford it, but if given the opportunity, I would refuse. The same situation will apply to Qatar 2022. This is not to say I am holier than thou, but that I am willing to make this sacrifice, for whatever good it will do. It might prove impossible to avoid any and all of the games on TV, but again, I would like to believe that I can avoid them too. Some people might think I’m being stupid, and so be it, but then again, I thought it was stupid to give the World Cups to Russia and Qatar. People do stupid things.
Néill, (maybe I’ll read a book instead) Ireland

 

…Let’s get one thing clear; I’m no fan of Mr. Putin. Without wanting to get too deep into politics, it’s fair to say that I’m not enamoured with a lot of what he says and does. However, nor am I a fan of Toby Sprigings’ piece from earlier today.

Has Putin done some things I find deplorable? Probably. Do I wish the World Cup had gone to another country and do I think a Russian World Cup has come about via underhand means? Perhaps. Is it enough to make me boycott a World Cup? I don’t know, but probably not. Do I think England fans boycotting a World Cup en masse will bother Putin and most Russians? Again, probably not.

The issue with all of the above is that my opinion is based upon the information I’ve been given. Therefore, none of it is a certainty (note that I haven’t answered ‘Yes’ or ‘No’), and this is my first major problem with the article; it states certain things as truths when, well, shall we say it’s possible that there are shades of grey?

My second major problem is that the article veers away from being an opinion piece. Toby is of course quite welcome to his opinion, and to tell us what he intends to do in relation to the 2018 World Cup. However, when I see lines such as ‘So sit it out,’ and ‘Think of your dignity,’ and ‘Say to yourself in the mirror that nothing, no circumstance of any kind, could make me not watch football, and see how it sounds.’ I’m afraid that’s telling me what to do and think, and I have zero time for that sort of thing.

I can see Toby’s intentions are well-placed and that it’s an attempt at a tongue-in-cheek take on serious issues, but it reads like a piece of extremist literature, and that’s a bit dangerous regardless of the topic. In my opinion, that is.
Andy, London

 

Why does everyone score great goals against Palace?
We all accept pain as the other side of the coin to football’s moments of beauty. I’d like to share one particular aspect of pain, perhaps others have it worse than me and this will make me feel slightly better about it all.

Last week Andy Carroll scored a superb acrobatic volley, a few weeks before that Oliver Giroud scored an outrageous scorpion volley, last season Dele Alli did some keepy-uppies round a couple of onrushing defenders and scored a sumptuous volley. What do all these wonderful goals have in common? They were all scored against f*ck1ng Palace that’s what. 3 of the most replayed goals of the last couple of seasons, scored against my team. While everyone else gets to sit and watch them in admiration, I sit there and think, ‘full back should be shutting down the cross there’, ‘defender needs to just go through him and stop the break there’, ‘don’t commit yourself!’.

A few years ago I made my way over to Selhurst for a Monday night game against Fulham. I do love a night game, under the lights. All was going well, we scored in the first 10 minutes and it looked like we were on our way to getting a much needed result.

But what happens, some geezer called Kasami who hasn’t done anything of note before or since, manages to make a run across the pitch, collect a long pass on his chest and while still running at full pelt smash a volley into the top corner of the net. F*ck1ng great. Yes, I can appreciate it is a fantastic goal. Unstoppable. I specifically remember thinking when he controlled it on his chest, ‘no danger there’. And to make matters worse, my seat for that evening was directly behind said top corner.

If the net wasn’t there the ball would have probably hit me or my brother in the face. Only one of those outcomes would be acceptable and still funny. But that also means in most of the replays of that goal that were played constantly, you can see my face, contorted in shock, awe and disappointment.

As well as completing the sticker book of managers that provide easy targets for ridicule, Palace also seem to be getting in to the habit of being the team that concedes great goals. Remember Payet’s free kick that looked impossible and ended up looping in to the top corner? Also Palace. I thought writing this may have made me feel a bit better, in reality I’ve just replayed all of the goals in my head again. Someone else must have it worse, surely?
Ant, CPFC

 

A good one on West Ham
As the Euros dwindled away my attentions focused on my first love West Ham United. After a very successful season and European football to be played in our new stadium a lot of optimism had built up. We set out our marker early by making large bids of Lacazette, Batschuyi & Jamie Vardy.. excitement started to build and the season drew nearer with Romanian minnows Astra set to stand in our way between the Europa League Group stages. This didn’t quiet go like all fairy-tale and we crashed out to the minnows in our very own athletics stadium in front of a record crowd, great start to the season.

Having put the disappointment behind, We continue our search for a world class striker whilst signing a few players along the way such as Nordtveit, Fletcher, Masuaku, Fernandes Arbeloa, Tore, Ayew and the slightly more exciting transfer of Feghouli. Unfortunately there still didn’t appear to be any striker of real quality in sight, then the rumours start and we are linked with Simone Zaza and Jonathan Calleri. I must admit Calleri I didn’t know much about and his record did look impressive all be it in South American leagues and the deal was a season loan, not so bad. However Zaza, and I say this still with confidence in the little bald Italian man, I felt was a superb signing and I genuinely believe he has quality and could score 20 goals a season for a team, However it became abundantly clear that team was not going to be West Ham. This was summed up on my trip to Old Trafford when his shot from the edge of the box went out for a throw in and even the West Ham fans had to laugh through the tears.

This brings me on to the holy grail that is the January transfer window! We seemed to have completely changed our approach to transfers and have binned off any hopes of a big marquee signing to paste over the Dimitri Payet cracks. Instead we have set our sights on a 24 year old Striker from Brentford who has had two previous ACL injuries and half a good season under his belt. I’m usually not so critical as we have previously signed Cresswell, Antonio & Randolph from the Championship and all three have turned in to genuine starters. However, what sort of message does this send to the loyal West Ham fans who have sat through years of pain watching our beloved club turn into a yoyo club constantly flirting between the Premiership and Championship.

The new stadium, the big transfer offers were supposed to be the start of a new West Ham, a new standard of football to be played and adored. It now appears we are settling for staying in the league and all ambition has slowly faded away along with the loanees we have sent back. I’ve come to accept over the years what we were but, I had genuine hope and faith we would progress after last season. Yet unfortunately I’ve slumped back and accepted that we aren’t going to change until the club really push and show a statement of intent spending some serious money.
Strawbz

 

You can’t have a pop at Wenger over Wilshere
Can I agree with Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London over Mr Storey’s mistakes.

Not only is it unfair to criticise Mr Wenger for not second-guessing himself regarding potential injuries (it’s Arsenal, of course their midfield will be crocked by January), but to infer that Wenger’s decision not to insert a recall clause came from oversight or incompetence is presumptive and ignorant. It’s also arrogant to assume that you know more than the longest serving Premier League manager who has the benefit of all the facts, top class advice, and an entire organisation behind him.

What did Wenger actually say? “It’s season-long loans in the Premier League.” That can just as easily mean that the expectation from other clubs is that they get the loan player for the entirety of the season. I can guarantee you that the “recall clause that wasn’t there” was a) definitely a key factor in the preferable financial remuneration b) most likely a deal-breaker for Bournemouth and c) possibly requested by Wilshere himself.

Lest we forget, Arsenal declined a move for Wilshere to several clubs including such lofty potential destinations as Roma, AC Milan and… er… Crystal Palace. To expect Bournemouth to agree a financial package that outweighs their competitors, only to have a key midfield player recalled in January is pretty dim thinking. And as Graham correctly points out, Wilshere has the best opportunity to establish himself as a confident, competent starter week-in, week-out and to return to Arsenal fit and ready in advance of getting injured next season.
Rough Justice, Dublin

 

Down a Wikipedia hole
While reading the piece on Chelsea loans (very good) I fell into the Wikipedia hole. You know the hole where you search for one thing and end up reading a silly amount of different pieces arising from first search.

Anyway, I searched for Charly Musonda and learned that Gus Poyet was his coach at Betis but was sacked (no shock). Poyet is now the coach of Shanghai Greenland Shenhua. Clicked on the club and under his tutelage he has Obafemi Martins, Demba Ba, Fredy Guarin and one Carlos Tevez.

Long way from Brighton and Sunderland.

From this I learned Demba Ba broke his leg, the club have a player called Brian Fok and Martins is still, somehow, only 32.

So, yeah, Charly Musonda is a young lad who played for Betis on loan, represented Belgium underage and is now back with Chelsea.
Cormac, Galway

 

How to feel old
Tom Davies was born on the day Michael Owen scored the wonder goal against Argentina? Good grief.

I think I’d best give up my hopes of being a pro footballer.

WC98 was a great tournament wasn’t it?
Chris, SAF Stand