Is Pep Guardiola the greatest manager in Premier League history above Sir Alex?
Man City might have money but do they also have the best Premier League manager in history? Plus, views on Villa and more…
Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com
Man City use their budget very wisely
I thought I’d write in about City for a change. Recently the comment about City having unlimited petro dollars keeps popping up as some kind of stick to beat them with.
But you’re wrong. United also have an unlimited budget, as do Chelsea yet they don’t have the success City does. Why? Budgets only matter when they’re used wisely.
I was a bit of a Pep critic a couple of years back and I think the criticisms have been thoroughly addressed and dismissed. I’ve been watching City as my second team for two years now…because they play excellent football and I wanted to understand why city are so successful.
Here’s some things they don’t seem to get credit for –
1. Pep is decisive when it comes to the squad. Saint Jurgen has been far far too faithful to players who should have been moved on two years ago. When a cog doesn’t fit – even if it’s an important cog – Pep gets rid as quick as possible. Did it with Sane, Sterling, and now Cancelo. he doesn’t keep unhappy players and he doesn’t keep disruptive ones. Not many other managers do that.
2. City are excellent at quickly moving the ball round the defensive zone to create space, they literally do this better than any team in Europe. It’s why team that sit back get punished most of the time. I’ve looked on jealousy as City dismantle multiple buses being parked while Liverpool just keep hitting balls against it hoping it might disappear.
3. Resilience – is there a more resilient team in the league? I don’t think so. Even when City are trailing by 9 to a team that has been non stop winning they still believe at the end of the season they’ll be in number 1 and they’re often (frankly bullshit) 12/13/14 game winning streaks to finish seasons are evidence of it.
I have grown an admiration and respect for City and {ep by watching them and it’s made me ask a question – is Pep the greatest manager in Premier League history?
Fergie won more but he won more with competition from Blackburn or Newcastle for a third of those wins and then battled with Arsenal for the rest. When Jose added a third challenger Fergie tapped out. Same goes for Wenger.
Pep has made the Premier League his bitch. And he’s done it against much stronger opposition and far more impressively. While also winning the other domestic trophies as well. In fact Pep’s worst season is still good enough to win most of everyone else’s titles while Fergie and Wenger’s best seasons wouldn’t snatch a title from Pep’s best.
Lee
Question for Pep
Just a quick note, part in jest, part a serious question that should be asked of Pep, basically along the lines of
‘So Pep, Barca are under investigation for paying refs while you were there, City are under investigation for financial doping, Bayern play fairly loose with the 50+1 rule (have a look at their members, every big German company is apparently a fan member) – have you ever won an honest title?’
And watch his head explode.
Also Levenshulme Blue, the list of missed targets reads more like a list of missed bombs.
Mel – Berlin, Dublin, Athlone Town, HaHoHe
Why Man City fans are quiet
The Erstwhile Harold Hooler mentions how noisy Man. Utd and Arsenal fans are, and that Man City fans are mostly quiet. The reason is the vast majority of Citeh fans are plastic who if not for the success that the petrodollars have bought would not even know where Manchester was, let alone Main R. Oh sorry the gifted Etihad stadium.
Andrew goonerabroad Brown
…Either I’ve fallen into some sportswashing parallel reality or I’ve just read a couple of mails written in all seriousness by people who genuinely believe that City’s success has nothing at all to do with ‘unlimited petrodollars’.
There’s only one reason why the Everton of Manchester suddenly stopped bouncing between divisions and became the top club in England. It’s the same reason they were able to attract the highest profile manager in the world, and it’s also the reason they have a team of highly paid lawyers in Abu Dhabi working out how to bury their latest set of charges for cooking the books.
Martin, BRFC
Obviously Man City’s books should be taken as gospel
Levenshulme Blue is correct to say that, in the accounts that Manchester City present for FFP scrutiny, their overall wage bill is less than that of European Giants like Real Madrid and Barcelona, or even clubs in the Premier League like Manchester United and Chelsea.
And there’s no reason at all to doubt the accounts that Manchester City present for FFP scrutiny. No reason at all.
Dara O’Reilly. London
What a load of A*se
Super hot take from Vish re Arsenal. Such plucky, plucky underdogs a real victory for the little guy.
*Checks Arsenal’s spending in the last few years
Oh.
John, Shropshire
Elite coaching at Aston Villa
It’s been quite the while since it’s been a good time to be a Villa fan, so please let me wallow in tonight’s table before the reality of other team’s games in hand and such kicks in. The turnaround since the arrival of Unai Emery has been nothing short of astonishing, and even with Villa remarkably 5th, still somewhat under the radar.
What is very clear though, at least to all Villa watchers, is that the team very obviously have been drilled over and over in a pattern of play, which is to play relentlessly across the back four, or five with Martinez (Row Z shouts Dad!) until the opposition push forward enough for Emi to chip one out to Ashley Young, thereby bypassing the press and allowing someone to slip in Ollie Watkins. Who has been told to stop wandering about and stay near the goal, which is where you’ll score more goals.
All quite simple, and effective, and previously remarked upon.
Something I’ve never seen before however was really noteworthy to me: at one point, the entire outfield 10 of Villa formed a straight line to defend a free kick. Nothing unusual there. Ball headed clear – Villa rapidly concertina up the pitch to counter. Ball lost- within 2 seconds the ten man straight line had reformed. Every player knew immediately and automatically what to do.
Instead of receiving the ball, wondering what to do with it and then panicking, the players seem to know where to pass the ball before receiving it.
That’s elite coaching.
Dave AVFC
What did Joe Allen do to deserve this?
It’s interesting that Joe Lewis so rarely gets a mention in the failure of the football club formerly known as Tottenham Hotspur. So little, in fact, that I initially referred to him in this email as Joe Allen. Sorry, Joe Allen.
Joe Lewis is my villain. The man who Mauricio Pochettino never met at his time at the club. Small wonder he’s floating along the darkest timeline in his megayacht with the club caught in the propellers, dragged and drowned in his wake.
Danny, Austin
Spurs are in the Big Six
Surely the ‘Big Six’ label is designed for clubs that regularly finish inside the top six places in the league. Spurs have finished inside those places 13 of the last 15 seasons, thus making them a top six club. They are not just arbitrarily there.
Outside of league position they are also the sixth biggest in terms of global fan base.
I know Tottenham are a mess at the moment and F365 “likes to take the piss out of Spurs a lot”, but rushing to crown a Saudi backed sport washing vehicle as one of the elite (after one decent season), is literally sports washing in action.
Chris, London