Players from the past that you think would have thrived under Pep

A time machine would be needed but the ultimate Pep player would have been King Col. He was the midfielder's midfielder and the sky would literally have been the limit with Colin as Pep's embodiment on the pitch.
 
I have to say Paul Lake would be the standout player who would have thrived under Pep.
I watched almost every game he played for City,home and away.and a mark of his versatility was that you didn't know until the teams lined up for kick off,what position he would be playing from week to week.

I saw him play most games in midfield, either centre mid or wide left or right and he looked accomplished across all these positions ,albeit mostly in the old 2nd Division,late 80s.

Lake regularly turned out at centre back,covering for injuries under Mel Machin,but it was interesting to see him be made captain by Howard Kendall ,after Machin was sacked ,and installed at centre back to start the new season away at Spurs. Kendall obviously decided that his all round ability was best employed in the back line,and it's true that his speed ,heading ,reading of the game, adroit block tackling and slide- tackles were of a very high standard.
What Lake didn't have of course was experience or,any real sense of top class coaching.


The lack of experience meant mistakes,and or lapses in concentration which iirc did lead to several goals being conceded under both Machin and Kendall, Liverpool at home in the Fa cup quarter finals March1988( 4 nil defeat) and Spurs away under Kendal ( 3-1 defeat)

Lake was assured and comfortable at right full back. The 1st time I ever saw him play this role was at Maine Road,v Swindon or Shrewsbury,can't remember which, in a match leading up to Xmas 1987...he'd featured in midfield every game that seasn before that ...He spent the first 10 mins easing himself into the role,keeping things simple,holding the line and marking his left-winger very well.

After about 15 mins he'd found the confidence to advance to the half way line,playing little balls inside and adding to the attack.....after 20 mins,his confidence surging as he realizes he has the wingers number and his pure athleticism took him on mazy attacking runs the whole length of the right side....he'd turned into an accomplished attacking right back after only a few mins experience
in a new position and on the half hour mark I witnessed him dribbling the ball up by the far corner flag.nutmeghing the full back and advancing deep into the opponents penalty area along the deadball line. Incredible stuff!! He'd basically got bored of standard right back duties and was out to enjoy himself...not sure what Pep would have made of that,or indeed Kendall,Machin didn't seem to mind as we raced into a comfiortable 2 nil half time lead......but typical City we were brought back to 2-2 by the final whistle!

Lake turned out at left back only once at Maine Rd iirc when injury or suspension to Hinchliffe meant he was shoehorned into the spot to help the team out. This was the only time I remember Lake looking awkward on a football pitch....he struggled.

Finally he turned out at centre forward away at Everton in 1987/88 season,alongside Paul Stewart
Whose normal strike partner imre varadi was injured..a daunting prospect away at the strongest team in the country and in front of 54k vociferous scousers.....he was unable to affect the score line as we lost 2nil and we're basically out run and over ran by an experienced powerful home side led again by that man Kendall

In summary id never seen any City player turn out in every outfield position before.and that fact in itself would surely suggest the player would have been invaluable in a Pep Squad.

Imo however ,the attacking lake was superior to the defensive player.
 
He's coached literally the best player of all time (IMO), arguably City's best ever player and definitely out two beat ever strikers, so it's tricky to identify a peak player.

It'd have to be someone who was either outside their era or never fulfilled potential. Obviously that brings me to Joey Barton, who will tell you himself he was the bestest and hardest football in de werld

But really probably someone like Johnson.
 
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