|
Shrapnig posted:It was my understanding that Naby Keita just needed time at Liverpool so I'm utterly shocked about this. AOC was so good on transitions before the injuries. None of our other midfielders have the same explosive dribbling out of midfield. Sad to see him go, but it's pretty clear that he won't ever have that same athleticism and without that, it's hard to justify keeping him. Keita is a mystery. Every now and then he would do a Patrick Viera impression and dominate the midfield, but mostly he was injured or a non-factor in games. I hope he rediscovers his form at a less competitive club/league, because the talent is obviously there. Bobby deserves the chance to be a regular starter somewhere, but it's going to feel terrible when he scores a no-look goal against us in the Champions League. Milner is probably the hardest to replace. No one else in the squad has the same kind of experience or as many trophies. With that said, there are other leaders (Salah, Henderson, Virgil) who will keep the training standards high. He's worked with many of the best managers in the world and if rumors are true, he's going to join Brighton to learn from De Zerbi. Prediction: Milner will manage Liverpool before Gerrard does. In summary, it doesn't matter because Manchester City will win every title until the world runs out of oil.
|
#
¿
May 18, 2023 17:02
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 22, 2024 09:04 |
|
|
I hate to admit it, but Pep, the bald fraud, is the best manager of his generation. The only thing to really hold against him is that he hasn't ever achieved success with a club that wasn't already close to the top, the way Mourinho, Klopp, his idol Bielsa, and others have done. That's like saying that Messi isn't the greatest because he has always played in great attacking teams, usually as the focal point. The logic for why Pep only coaches top clubs is no different from the logic of Messi only playing for top clubs (until he goes to the petroleum league). Can you blame him for wanting to compete at the highest possible level? Working with the most talented players? In the the world's best facilities? And a huge transfer budget? Earning a nice payday? wearing this rhetorical device a little thin? Messi was already the top player at Barca when Pep took over, but Guardiola invented the false 9 role to help Messi get more involved in the game than he had in his role on the right wing. The rest is history. How many coaches would show that kind of creativity and courage, to throw out a successful blueprint and take a gamble on something entirely new -- and importantly -- something new that actually works? He did it at Bayern with Philipp Lahm, maybe a City fan can chime in about his time there, but I imagine he's still at it. His boldness backfires sometimes, but it's hard to argue with his record. He basically gets to test out his crazy Football Manager tactics in real life with elite players -- why would he want to do it on a cold night in Stoke? Hopefully some day he'll find his way into managing a national team, where we can see what he'd do with a team that wasn't recruited specifically for his preferred tactics.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 3, 2023 01:08
|
|
|
HappyCamperGL posted:Guardiola did not invent the false 9. Do you mean in the sense that every football tactic/position has been tried by some team somewhere, or was there another coach in the modern day who popularized it who I overlooked? Maybe you're referring to Cruyff? His teams had a lot of fluidity with strikers dropping deep.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 5, 2023 00:24
|
|