Hugo Viana | Director of Football

BMR said:
Not sure how people have managed it but this thread has descended into another depressed the end is nigh. You would think we are nailed on for relegation not comfortably in second place, sadly a lot of our fans are morphing into the self entitled fans like the Rags we have always detested
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After what we have witnessed today ,Think some may be right .
 
He has got one monumental decisive summer coming up.

Could be the difference between retaining a title and CL challenge and battling top 4 for the next few years.
 
Jung the foreman said:
I think our period of dominance has come to a natural end. I feel we've had our time. Not a wind up, just my feeling.
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It was always going to happen at some point becsuse we were so good. To remain at that level is just too hard to do. Nobody in English football history was as good as we were over 2017-18 to 2022-23. To ever think we could remain at that level was fanciful and there’s no disgrace in not being that good anymore.

We had a fanastic run of signings. For a number of years, we mostly signed excellent players and with only the odd dudd.
In the last three years, we’ve only signed the odd good player and it’s mostly just ‘okay’ players, 5th-8th in the Prem level players, for the rest of our signings, kids or promoted youth players.

With that happening year-on-year, it gradually sees the squad drop in quality each window. And we are now not the team we used to be.

2017-18 and 2018-19 City would hammer this 2024-25 City. We wouldn’t be able to live with this sort of football, even with Rodri fit:



If Sporting beat this current City team 4-1, imagine what that City team would do to this current City team.

The age thing I mentioned pages back is a big thing for me. We have nowhere near enough players in the 24-29 age bracket. A few injuries here and there and we are relying on too many injury prone 30+ years olds or those who look like time is ticking on for them, and kids.

The squad feels like it did in Pellegrini’s last and Pep’s first season. There needs to be a good few really good signings of some players who we aren’t hoping will be good in four years’ time or were good a few years ago. It feels like we need to sign players who are at the height of their fitness+strength and quality+abiltiy with some 24-29 year olds being signed.

Either that, or let’s build a young team and improve over a few years as they all come into their prime together.

It won’t take that much to create a top side again. Look at how bad we looked at times in 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons and then how good we looked by 2017-18. And we are still in with a shout for trophies this season because look how average Arsenal look, look how average Madrid look… top teams aren’t as top as they used to be like some previous Barça teams, previous Madrid teams, previous City and Liverpool teams. Everything is still up for grabs. But we are also just part of the rest of those teams who aren’t truly top quality anymore.
 
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Did tixi shaft us this summer ?

Let’s hope we are sorting new players now
 
Never liked this guy
He is a c*nt well known here in Portugal. He is from my location. Hope he does well. But honestly i dont see nothing special on him. Ruben was the guy that changed Sporting. Period.
 
You have to wonder what Hugo Viana is thinking right now.

I have controversial views about Txiki Begiristain. Best thing he’s done was bring Pep to the club, however I think the start of his tenure was average and the end has been average to below par. The tired, ageing squad is on him and him alone.

Leaving the squad in this state for his successor, big big job.
 
Shazza458 said:
You have to wonder what Hugo Viana is thinking right now.

I have controversial views about Txiki Begiristain. Best thing he’s done was bring Pep to the club, however I think the start of his tenure was average and the end has been average to below par. The tired, ageing squad is on him and him alone.

Leaving the squad in this state for his successor, big big job.
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You realise Txiki isn't playing Football manager here, he doesn't have carte blanche to do what he wants.
 
blueparrot said:
So it’s a random age range invented by yourself Gvardiol doesn’t qualify because hes only 22 right. Like everone reaches their prime and lose it at the same age ridiculous idea. The only players that are maybe past tneir peak are KDB, Walker Gundogan. Possibly Bernardo and Kovacic are just slightly starting to decline that’s it. We have 16 /17 players to build on. At the most we need to replace 4, only more if a keeper leaves.
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It’s not invented by me, it’s a general rule for the sport. Goalkeepers is generally mid 30s. In boxing, it’s generally early to mid 30s.

Look at every single one of our 30+ year old outfield players - are any of them better now than they were between the ages 24-29? I’d say not a single one of them is. Then look around all of football, look back over the decades, how many players past 30 are or were better than they were aged 24-29? You’re talking about exceptions to the rule if they are. Like Fernandinho and David Silva for City. Their physiques, fitness and lack of injuries allowed them to remain at the top level past the usual peak years for a footballer.

Then look at all the top players who have played for City for many years and in world football now and in previous decades - are or were any of them better players between the ages of 18-23 than they were between the ages of 24-29? Apart from those who have a lot of injuries that ruin their bodies and careers, it doesn’t generally happen.

Gvardiol is an excellent player at 22. Which makes you think that between the ages of 24-29 he’s going to be an incredible player, but to get there he needs to improve on a fair few things.

In football the 24-29 age bracket is generally the age where fitness, speed, strength, power, agility, ability, skill, concentration, experience, understanding of the game (plus of the position you play in and what the role of other positions are in the team), learning tactics, leadership, taking responsibility with the ball etc. are all at their peak all at the same time.

Younger players and older can have a few of those at the same time, but very rarely all of them, yet those prime years are when they all come together.

And for me we don’t have enough in that age bracket.

I think rather than it being ⅓ in that age bracket and then ⅔ over+under it, that should be reversed to see a team at its best.
 
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