Discussion: Potential Pellegrini Replacements {merged}

[Deleted member 58678]

What style of football is Txiki looking for? Guardiola brand? Because we're miles off looking like a Guardiola team at the moment. Even our ball retention and passing has deteriorated compared to in the past. We have less pace than any of Guardiola's team - that includes wingers (Pedro / Sanchez / Robben / Ribery) and pace of passing. His teams zip the ball around with speed and accuracy. We're a weird mix of styles at the moment and its not working very well. If you want to be a perfect technical team, you can't have the likes of Kolarov, Fernando, Dzeko or even Bony playing. And to not sign any central midfielders with great technical ability and instead signing Fernando also goes in the face of wanting to play that way.

We don't have the players with the pace to play a Guardiola or Klopp brand (both at opposing ends of the spectrum but we'd have the same problems with both) of football. We couldn't hunt the ball down in packs like Guardiola and Klopp both like because our players are so slow they'd just be passed around. We also couldn't counter-attack at pace like Klopp likes. We could move the ball around the opposition half like Guardiola likes but that's about it.

The thing is we don't have the defenders or defensive midfielders to play the current Pellegrini brand of football neither. Of our five centre halves, four of them struggle under Pellegrini's vague defensive systems and our defensive midfielders don't do their jobs properly off the ball. Our centre halves like to take a step back and allow themselves time to read the play of the opposition, they clearly do not like this front foot defending with the lack of defensive play from our midfield that leaves them exposed. They give too many fouls away, they get booked too often or they get skinned.

 

[BillyShears]

Re: If Not Manuel Pellegrini then who?

My understanding of the posts in this thread is that although we need Carlo/Pep/ABP none of those managers have the players they need to implement their own styles. So basically we're doomed right ?

 

[OB1]

Re: If Not Manuel Pellegrini then who?

I don't agree about the Fernando signing flying in the face...: we needed a holding midfielder but do not seem to have made the best of choices on that front.

But we need one with a good overall skill set. Nearly all top clubs have midfielders who aren't limited to one 'strength' like Fernando is (and I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt there because he hasn't been winning many tackles at all lately). We should sign a player who can tackle but also pass between the lines and keep hold of the ball well. Not a player who can do one thing well, but is limited in every other department. Those sort of signings are what will keep us in the rear view mirror of clubs like Real Madrid and Bayern. I doubt Modric wins any less tackles than Fernando, but look what else he can do. I'm not a fan of buying any player who does one thing well (or is supposed to) but excels at nothing else.

Fernandinho last season was an example of a much better buy than Fernando (and plays Fernando's position better than Fernando even though he was a box-to-box before joining us), but we still haven't signed anyone who is fantastic with the ball to compliment or rotate with Yaya. Someone like Gundogan. If Txiki is being stubborn about playing a certain style of football linked to the Barca style or whatever it is he wants (something technical, fluid, entertaining), surely we need players like that and not pure grafters like Fernando.

I would agree with you on the above.

I think Fernando was a poor choice based on the evidence to date but I also do not think he is quite as bad as people make out and I imagine that more was expected of him. He does for instance have the best pass completion stats of all our regulars this season; unfortunately, his memorable passes are the bad ones he has a nasty habit of making. I happen to suspect that we have not seen the best of him but it is just a supposition. I also think that we were probably hampered by having an FFP restricted budget. You mention Modric and Dinho as comparisons but didn't they both cost more than twice as much as Nando?

 

[aguero93:20]

Re: If Not Manuel Pellegrini then who?

What about Jorge Jesus? Rumours going around he's looking for a new challenge and a fantastic tactician and man-manager by all accounts, while coaching his teams to play attractive football too.

 

[BillyShears]

Re: If Not Manuel Pellegrini then who?

What about Jorge Jesus? Rumours going around he's looking for a new challenge and a fantastic tactician and man-manager by all accounts, while coaching his teams to play attractive football too.

Decent shout although I wonder if age wise he might be a touch older than required (if we believe the idea is to bring in someone young and dynamic for the next stage of the teams development).

 

[middleton___blue]

Re: If Not Manuel Pellegrini then who?

All this talk about klopp, simone, pep, ancelloti etc...if not MP then we should be looking for someone more realistic & closer to home...someone like koeman or pocchetino.

When i say realistic, i mean comon, they aint leaving bayern and real etc anytime soon.

 

[BigOscar]

Re: If Not Manuel Pellegrini then who?

What about Jorge Jesus? Rumours going around he's looking for a new challenge and a fantastic tactician and man-manager by all accounts, while coaching his teams to play attractive football too.

He's a fucking nutter, but he's a decent manager who loves attacking football. Not for us though imo, he's a bit high maintainance and his record with bringing through youth from the academy isn't great. The papers would love him though, his touchline antics make Mourinho look like a saint and he's not normally too worried about what he says in press conferences.

He's a bit too unproven at building a team for the long term, as he has to deal with selling all his best players every couple of years. He's probably the best manager in the world at identifying and developing players who could change position though, he did a fantastic job converting Coentrao, Matic, Perez and now Pizzi from average players into excellent players in different positions. He'd do a great job and be a cult hero at a selling side like Southampton though, he consistently does remarkably well at patching his side together when the big names leave. I'm not sure his beloved 4132 would really work in England either(even though it's fantastic fun), although he has shown recently that he's willing to play a more reserved 4231 with good success.

It would be fun, but it would almost certainly end in tears.

 

[aguero93:20]

Re: If Not Manuel Pellegrini then who?

What about Jorge Jesus? Rumours going around he's looking for a new challenge and a fantastic tactician and man-manager by all accounts, while coaching his teams to play attractive football too.

He's a fucking nutter, but he's a decent manager who loves attacking football. Not for us though imo, he's a bit high maintainance and his record with bringing through youth from the academy isn't great. The papers would love him though, his touchline antics make Mourinho look like a saint and he's not normally too worried about what he says in press conferences.

He's a bit too unproven at building a team for the long term, as he has to deal with selling all his best players every couple of years. He's probably the best manager in the world at identifying and developing players who could change position though, he did a fantastic job converting Coentrao, Matic, Perez and now Pizzi from average players into excellent players in different positions. He'd do a great job and be a cult hero at a selling side like Southampton though, he consistently does remarkably well at patching his side together when the big names leave. I'm not sure his beloved 4132 would really work in England either(even though it's fantastic fun), although he has shown recently that he's willing to play a more reserved 4231 with good success.

It would be fun, but it would almost certainly end in tears.

Arguably less so than Bluemoon's favourite Klopp and with a far better record of managing transitions like the one we'll undoubtably have to go through in the next 2 seasons.

 

[BigOscar]

Re: If Not Manuel Pellegrini then who?

What about Jorge Jesus? Rumours going around he's looking for a new challenge and a fantastic tactician and man-manager by all accounts, while coaching his teams to play attractive football too.

He's a fucking nutter, but he's a decent manager who loves attacking football. Not for us though imo, he's a bit high maintainance and his record with bringing through youth from the academy isn't great. The papers would love him though, his touchline antics make Mourinho look like a saint and he's not normally too worried about what he says in press conferences.

He's a bit too unproven at building a team for the long term, as he has to deal with selling all his best players every couple of years. He's probably the best manager in the world at identifying and developing players who could change position though, he did a fantastic job converting Coentrao, Matic, Perez and now Pizzi from average players into excellent players in different positions. He'd do a great job and be a cult hero at a selling side like Southampton though, he consistently does remarkably well at patching his side together when the big names leave. I'm not sure his beloved 4132 would really work in England either(even though it's fantastic fun), although he has shown recently that he's willing to play a more reserved 4231 with good success.

It would be fun, but it would almost certainly end in tears.

Arguably less so than Bluemoon's favourite Klopp and with a far better record of managing transitions like the one we'll undoubtably have to go through in the next 2 seasons.

I think you are underestimate him, he's had some fine moments. Attacking police officers to try and get them off a pitch invader would have to be up there as my favourite though, but he regularly turns into a crazy homeless man when he gets angry

 

[aguero93:20]

Re: If Not Manuel Pellegrini then who?

He's a fucking nutter, but he's a decent manager who loves attacking football. Not for us though imo, he's a bit high maintainance and his record with bringing through youth from the academy isn't great. The papers would love him though, his touchline antics make Mourinho look like a saint and he's not normally too worried about what he says in press conferences.

He's a bit too unproven at building a team for the long term, as he has to deal with selling all his best players every couple of years. He's probably the best manager in the world at identifying and developing players who could change position though, he did a fantastic job converting Coentrao, Matic, Perez and now Pizzi from average players into excellent players in different positions. He'd do a great job and be a cult hero at a selling side like Southampton though, he consistently does remarkably well at patching his side together when the big names leave. I'm not sure his beloved 4132 would really work in England either(even though it's fantastic fun), although he has shown recently that he's willing to play a more reserved 4231 with good success.

It would be fun, but it would almost certainly end in tears.

Arguably less so than Bluemoon's favourite Klopp and with a far better record of managing transitions like the one we'll undoubtably have to go through in the next 2 seasons.

I think you are underestimate him, he's had some fine moments. Attacking police officers to try and get them off a pitch invader would have to be up there as my favourite though, but he regularly turns into a crazy homeless man when he gets angry

Perfect fit for us then, we like our pitch invasions :)