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The Official 2016/17 Premier League Thread

The owners of Emirates Marketing Project are pouring a lot of money into the Academy. Their goal is to produce quality products from that Academy and in future rely on it. If players like Iheanacho cant get a look in and Pep buys other 19 year olds to replace him, their academy will take a hit. There is a reason young English players would rather move to certain clubs.

I am not sure that Pep has cracked man management with Yaya. He has turned the most dangerous striker, Aguero, in the EPL to something else. Pep is a very stubborn man.

he is, which is something else city need imo
 
As other have said, his previous success has been in clubs where he had the biggest chequebook in league +best squad, and 85% (yes, I made that number up) of league games could be won sleep walking

- Don't feel sorry re the aging squad comment, he's got endless money to solve that problem
- If he has actually bought players for 5 years from now, he should be fired on the spot, that is neither his or the clubs mandate, they hired Pep to win now.
- The reason they aren't leading now is they can't defend for brick, and he says stupid brick like the game isn't about tackles (or something like that)
- His treatment of Aquero is borderline bizzare

Conte had far more work to do after the mess of Jose last season and has shown what a good coach that understands the basics and the grind of competitive leagues can do. Pep has had no disadvantage, is supposedly the world's best coach and yet no one can honestly say City play better now (consistently) than they did last year.

Not saying he's a brick coach, but most coaches would have that team in top 4 ..

Most managers end up failing within 2-3 years at the clubs with big money. Guardiola has left two clubs who would have been delighted to keep him longer.

I think Emirates Marketing Project are one of the more patient clubs with bags of money. I think they're quite happy to see Guardiola build long term. Obviously he hasn't signed players just for 5 years from now, that's not what I said...
 
As other have said, his previous success has been in clubs where he had the biggest chequebook in league +best squad, and 85% (yes, I made that number up) of league games could be won sleep walking

- Don't feel sorry re the aging squad comment, he's got endless money to solve that problem
- If he has actually bought players for 5 years from now, he should be fired on the spot, that is neither his or the clubs mandate, they hired Pep to win now.
- The reason they aren't leading now is they can't defend for brick, and he says stupid brick like the game isn't about tackles (or something like that)
- His treatment of Aquero is borderline bizzare

Conte had far more work to do after the mess of Jose last season and has shown what a good coach that understands the basics and the grind of competitive leagues can do. Pep has had no disadvantage, is supposedly the world's best coach and yet no one can honestly say City play better now (consistently) than they did last year.

Not saying he's a brick coach, but most coaches would have that team in top 4 ..

Conte did spend £140m this summer don't forget and he also inherited a side that won the league the year before .... it wasn't in bad shape at all
 
Conte did spend £140m this summer don't forget and he also inherited a side that won the league the year before .... it wasn't in bad shape at all

Conte inherited a squad that was good on paper, but was not even performing at 2nd gear levels, Cheat$ki recently was up 25 points from same point last season, +25 in less than a full season, I don't care what you think the squad was capable of, that is an insanely good turnaround.

Compare that Jose who has bought the most expensive player in the world, + added one of the top 5 strikers in the world and pretty much has the same points return as Moyes and LVG.
 
Most managers end up failing within 2-3 years at the clubs with big money. Guardiola has left two clubs who would have been delighted to keep him longer.

I think Emirates Marketing Project are one of the more patient clubs with bags of money. I think they're quite happy to see Guardiola build long term. Obviously he hasn't signed players just for 5 years from now, that's not what I said...

I was pointing out why people see him as a fraud ..

- His great achievements were with great teams in minimal competition scenarios
- He hasn't done anything with City that most tier 2 managers couldn't have done (or even better than his predecessor)
- His interviews, general demeanor, don't bode well.

Personally I think he's a smart coach who has had everything go for him, he's hit a place where he has to earn it now, he's got to get it all right (not half right and let great players carry him the rest of the way), I'm not sure he can, either City will ultimately be vindication for him (and yes, they seem to have more patience than most), or he will be shown up to be nothing more than decent guy who had the luck of managing to of the best club teams in decades.
 
Well, we'll find out soon enough how good he is. As well as he did at Bayern and Barca, he didn't have to compete in leagues with the top-to-bottom intense competitiveness of the PL.

Most games are battles. Some are all out wars. Damn few are the strolls of, say, Barca v Extremadura or the bottom-half-of-the-table dross you see in most Euro leagues. Relegation battlers in England have teeth. Does El Pepsi have what it takes to win in a more demanding environment? We can't answer that comprehensively this season. Why not holster all this debate for a more appropriate time?
 
Conte inherited a squad that was good on paper, but was not even performing at 2nd gear levels, Cheat$ki recently was up 25 points from same point last season, +25 in less than a full season, I don't care what you think the squad was capable of, that is an insanely good turnaround.

Compare that Jose who has bought the most expensive player in the world, + added one of the top 5 strikers in the world and pretty much has the same points return as Moyes and LVG.

But Conte is almost getting a free pass after spending £140m quid - they should be better after spending that kind of money, a lot better which they are

I'd argue that United are much better too and mourinho has spent a lot of money for them to just maintain the status quo as the league is much harder now
 
Conte inherited a squad that was good on paper, but was not even performing at 2nd gear levels, Cheat$ki recently was up 25 points from same point last season, +25 in less than a full season, I don't care what you think the squad was capable of, that is an insanely good turnaround.

Compare that Jose who has bought the most expensive player in the world, + added one of the top 5 strikers in the world and pretty much has the same points return as Moyes and LVG.

Look at the current Chelsea team and who were their stars the last time they won the league. All there, all still at a very high level (or perhaps even better?). Only exception being Terry now past it. Chelsea are up on last season because last season was a freak one off horror show for them in the league. They finished 10th on 50 points. "Most tier 2 managers" would improve massively on that.

Look at the City squad and the stars there last time they won the leauge. Kompany, Zabaleta, Toure, Silva, Aguero... All either old and injury prone, or just injury prone. Only exception being Silva. City had one of the oldest squads in the league when Guardiola took over.

I was pointing out why people see him as a fraud ..

- His great achievements were with great teams in minimal competition scenarios
- He hasn't done anything with City that most tier 2 managers couldn't have done (or even better than his predecessor)
- His interviews, general demeanor, don't bode well.

Personally I think he's a smart coach who has had everything go for him, he's hit a place where he has to earn it now, he's got to get it all right (not half right and let great players carry him the rest of the way), I'm not sure he can, either City will ultimately be vindication for him (and yes, they seem to have more patience than most), or he will be shown up to be nothing more than decent guy who had the luck of managing to of the best club teams in decades.

His great achievements weren't just winning the league though. I think people look at what he did at Barca and Bayern as a bit special for other reasons than just the results. Barca have tried to recreate that since he left essentially without properly succeeding. Not every manager can do that.

Doing what he does was always likely to take longer at City than at Bayern and Barce whose starting point was much higher than City were when he took over. He might not succeed at replicating his achievements from this very different starting point. But it's way too early to say. And I for one think his approach is much more interesting and worthwhile than the short term approaches of many managers. People keep questioning why English clubs haven't been properly competing with the big 3 in Europe despite the massive amounts of money in the PL. Guardiola quite obviously has a plan to do just that, and he seems to accept that building that from where City were will take a bit of time.

If I was a City fan there would be no manager in the world I would rather have right now and I would be delighted with what he's done so far.
 
Hardly, it seem in line with a lot of the other bulls*** I read on here, if it happens I expect to see the same level of hysteria about Levy not being ambitious and being tight with the transfer money.
Any sane Spurs fan would not expect us to compete for Neymar no matter what the circumstances. He is out of our league and more than likely out of Utd's reach too.
 
Any sane Spurs fan would not expect us to compete for Neymar no matter what the circumstances. He is out of our league and more than likely out of Utd's reach too.

So you're ruling out a lot of people on here then. I feel certain of my prediction that come 31 August there will be multiple ravings that we should have signed xxxxxxxxx or spent more money.
 
So you're ruling out a lot of people on here then. I feel certain of my prediction that come 31 August there will be multiple ravings that we should have signed xxxxxxxxx or spent more money.
I agree that that might happen but I doubt very much that Neymar will be the one that sets them off.
 
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Any sane Spurs fan would not expect us to compete for Neymar no matter what the circumstances. He is out of our league and more than likely out of Utd's reach too.
Neymar seems, to me, like the type that would follow the money. I wouldn't be surprised if he accepted a ridiculous offer from united (or any other club)
 
Heard on radio that United are prepared to meet £153m buy out for Neymar and pay him £400k a week, we should hi-jack this and offer Sissoko as part of deal.

Suspect that's Mourinho looking to get someone in - a very good someone, mind - who sits in his native language wheelhouse.

And won't this high-scoring, attack minded free spirit just leap at the chance to play in the sour, dour systems football of Mourinho.
 
His great achievements weren't just winning the league though. I think people look at what he did at Barca and Bayern as a bit special for other reasons than just the results. Barca have tried to recreate that since he left essentially without properly succeeding. Not every manager can do that.

Doing what he does was always likely to take longer at City than at Bayern and Barce whose starting point was much higher than City were when he took over. He might not succeed at replicating his achievements from this very different starting point. But it's way too early to say. And I for one think his approach is much more interesting and worthwhile than the short term approaches of many managers. People keep questioning why English clubs haven't been properly competing with the big 3 in Europe despite the massive amounts of money in the PL. Guardiola quite obviously has a plan to do just that, and he seems to accept that building that from where City were will take a bit of time.

If I was a City fan there would be no manager in the world I would rather have right now and I would be delighted with what he's done so far.

I'd say you and I have very different opinions on Pep (and that's fair), if I was a City fan I certainly wouldn't be delighted with what he has done so far, in my opinion he's done the bare minimum that could be expected. I also doubt Pep is going to be at City in 3-5 years, he will likely spend big over summer, major squad overhaul and then he'll have 12-18 months to show return, if not he will be out. And that's providing he doesn't crumble under the pressure of the English/PL media/spotlight (his interviews don't show a man enjoying his job.)
 
You only have to watch him fall over and cry like a bitch 15 times a match to realise he has no interest in playing football.

I would love to see United throw away another world record fee on a single player and still not get back to challenging for the title.

Neymar would likely just be a swap for Zlatan, and you would still have all the unbalanced issues the squad has today. And like Pogba, it would be just another mercenary fluffy bunnies cuddling who won't give a brick about the club or giving their all on the field.
 
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