Txiki Begiristain...

[nomorethaksintimes]

With the rise of a new generation of Barca youngsters and our growing connections with the club, anyone else think Busquets is becoming a realistic signing - maybe even in Jan if we offered enough...

He'd be the perfect signing for me.

 

[sam-caddick]

With the rise of a new generation of Barca youngsters and our growing connections with the club, anyone else think Busquets is becoming a realistic signing - maybe even in Jan if we offered enough...

He'd be the perfect signing for me.

He is part of the select players at Barcelona who would leave Barcelona at the moment, why would they??

The only way of getting players like that is if we had Guardiola here!

 

[bapi]

We should rather try to sign their young boys like Sergi Roberto, Gerard Deulofeu, Jonathan Dos Santos or Rafinha.

 

[sam-caddick]

Mancini's vision may not be completely different than their own. He has tried to get us playing something like Barcelona and at times (vs. Spurs for example) it has had amazing results. But lately we seem to have lost that fluidity and that speed of passing, but that is probably not by choice. A few speedy and/or creative additions to the squad that Txiki can help identify and all might be good? I also don't think Mancini is against the idea of promoting from within, the Barca way, we just haven't had the players Barcelona have had. But Guidetti's new contract suggests he may be in Mancini's plans? And Guidetti is probably the one academy player nearly ready for some regular first team football at City if we can clear one forward spot for him.

Mancini has always come across as a firm believer in Total Football. It's not hard to figure out the connection between the Total Football concept and Barcelona either.

I disagree to a certain extent here mate, Mancini's style of play is very much Italian and very direct, it is almost counter attacking football rather than out and out pure possession 4-3-3/ 3--4-3 Tika Tika/ Total Football.

Real Madrid like to pass the ball about and they are by far currently a better passing team than us, but their style is very much counter attacking football. If we had pace in our side, our team would be very similar to that of Real Madrid, not Barcelona.

 

[taconinja]

Mancini's vision may not be completely different than their own. He has tried to get us playing something like Barcelona and at times (vs. Spurs for example) it has had amazing results. But lately we seem to have lost that fluidity and that speed of passing, but that is probably not by choice. A few speedy and/or creative additions to the squad that Txiki can help identify and all might be good? I also don't think Mancini is against the idea of promoting from within, the Barca way, we just haven't had the players Barcelona have had. But Guidetti's new contract suggests he may be in Mancini's plans? And Guidetti is probably the one academy player nearly ready for some regular first team football at City if we can clear one forward spot for him.

Mancini has always come across as a firm believer in Total Football. It's not hard to figure out the connection between the Total Football concept and Barcelona either.

I disagree to a certain extent here mate, Mancini's style of play is very much Italian and very direct, it is almost counter attacking football rather than out and out pure possession 4-3-3/ 3--4-3 Tika Tika/ Total Football.

Real Madrid like to pass the ball about and they are by far currently a better passing team than us, but their style is very much counter attacking football. If we had pace in our side, our team would be very similar to that of Real Madrid, not Barcelona.

I'm thinking more in terms of tactical flexibility of the players especially in being able to play anywhere on the pitch. Granted, tiki-taka has its root in Total Football, but I'm referencing tactical ability overall more than pure passing ability. Apologies for lack of clarity.

 

[VOOMER]

I just think we should be honest with ourselves, because we won the title last year battling it out with one of the worst United teams have had under Ferguson that over-achieved beyond means... a Chelsea side that under the first 6 months under Villas Boas were in constant battle with each other and the realtionship clearly never got on, plus Chelsea were an ageing side and seemed to only really care about the Champions League, even if they did fluke it. Plus, Arsenal... they had one of the worst sides under Wenger and clearly relied on RVP to scrape them through.

Benitez's Liverpool was battling out with the best United squad since the treble season, Ronaldo, Tevez, Rooney up front, Vidic, Ferdinand and Van Der Sar was the best defensive in world football - Chelsea had a team where all the players were in their prime and Arsenal has by far a better side than they did last season.

We nearly lost the league last year, and if we had done it would of gone down as the biggest dissapointments in Premier League history, we never had a better season to win it than last year.

Disagee with that bit! Unless you are just talking about City fans.

It would of been up there with Newcastle years ago. We had by far the best team in the league last season, United to what you would call their usual modern standard had a poor team than over achieved and if they had won it, it would of gone down as Ferguson's greatest achievement given the squad he had, plus the injuries they had to that squad.

We should have had the title won weeks if not months before the season ended.

Yes, but we still won and to simply dismiss the rags squad as crap, is to ignore the fact that we have gone from 9 to 1st in 4 seasons. Adding at least 5 players a season to the squad while they have had a settled and steady (declining possibly), squad and 3 seasons of piss poor opposition in the champions league. Also its not like they haven't spent money. With Marwood now sidelined, we can hopefully push on in the transfer market. We shouldn't underestimate the monumental change in our club. From top, ultimately to bottom, over 4 years we have changed from a team that survives, to a team that wins trophies. We can tap in to the rag media mantra of "after all the money you've spent", bollocks, but its just that. Chelski, already had champions league football before they were bought and were so much further down the path than we were. We are playing catch up with teams that were winning trophies, while we were either getting promoted, or relegated with a revolving door for the managers position. We now have a superb owner, a CEO with an excellent CV, a Director of football with an excellent CV and a manager, who has taken on great, but hugely difficult job and succeeded. Our future is so bright, you will need shades, but we are still 5 years from the champions league and 10-12 from seeing the real fruit of our labor in the youth set up. So, who cares if we win the league in exactly the same manner again this season? Not me, nor anyone else who supports the club, because to win the league each season is what matters and not just because a certain individual said it was the one aim for his team this season.

 

[VOOMER]

will never be soon enough

I wonder what he makes of Lescott and Barry.

i hope he'll do what marwood should have done this summer

-- Thu Oct 25, 2012 12:16 pm --

I see another Daily Star exclusive has got everyone reaching for the "Sack Marwood" button.

If Begiristain comes in then Mancini will be gone within months I reckon. Roberto has been looking for more power behind the scenes and the appointment of Soriana and Begiristain would diminish his power base significantly.

I'm not convinced that Pep would come although it's not impossible. I just really hope that Jurgen Klopp is on the club's radar. He's the man.

i think mancini was looking for more competence than for more power

Too true, Mancini, serial winner and recognized talent as both a player and manager and Brian Marwood, 1 cap ex Nike agent, or Txiki, ex Barca player and Spanish international with 20+ caps and former technical director of likely the worlds best team and the man who brought Rondaldinho, Dani Alves and Eto'o to Barca and helped Charly Rexach revitalize the youth set up?

 

[sam-caddick]

Mancini has always come across as a firm believer in Total Football. It's not hard to figure out the connection between the Total Football concept and Barcelona either.

I disagree to a certain extent here mate, Mancini's style of play is very much Italian and very direct, it is almost counter attacking football rather than out and out pure possession 4-3-3/ 3--4-3 Tika Tika/ Total Football.

Real Madrid like to pass the ball about and they are by far currently a better passing team than us, but their style is very much counter attacking football. If we had pace in our side, our team would be very similar to that of Real Madrid, not Barcelona.

I'm thinking more in terms of tactical flexibility of the players especially in being able to play anywhere on the pitch. Granted, tiki-taka has its root in Total Football, but I'm referencing tactical ability overall more than pure passing ability. Apologies for lack of clarity.

Ahh I get you mate, sorry for my confusion!

 

[bluemcr]

I really do think Txiki will be our nut and bolt at city that he will prove to be one of our best signings and will pay off dividends in the long run. This bloke really does know his shit and his cv speaks for its self and is obviously very highly rated at barca, with soriano at the helm and mancini things will be start to look a whole lot rosier and a much better set up than united and chelsea for years to come!!!

 

[taconinja]

I disagree to a certain extent here mate, Mancini's style of play is very much Italian and very direct, it is almost counter attacking football rather than out and out pure possession 4-3-3/ 3--4-3 Tika Tika/ Total Football.

Real Madrid like to pass the ball about and they are by far currently a better passing team than us, but their style is very much counter attacking football. If we had pace in our side, our team would be very similar to that of Real Madrid, not Barcelona.

I'm thinking more in terms of tactical flexibility of the players especially in being able to play anywhere on the pitch. Granted, tiki-taka has its root in Total Football, but I'm referencing tactical ability overall more than pure passing ability. Apologies for lack of clarity.

Ahh I get you mate, sorry for my confusion!

No problem at all. As I said, I should have been clearer as the tiki-taka evolution definitely is rooted in Total Football.