Thought I'd look at it from a different point of view, the squad when he came in was:
1. Hart: Doesn't suit Pep amongst other issues. LEFT.
2. Richards: Became a constant crock and wasn't committed enough, career since proves as such. LEFT.
3. Maicon: Was useless here. LEFT.
4. Kompany: Constant crock sadly.
5. Zabaleta: Model pro but his legs have gone.
6. Lescott: Performance fell away since the title win and he has just got increasingly bad, and couldn't play out. LEFT.
7. Milner: Left despite a contract offer, his choice. LEFT.
8. Nasri: Left of his own accord because he prefers lifestyle over commitment. LEFT.
10. Dzeko: When he was committed and played to his potential he was a starter and lead us to another title, Txiki got 3 seasons out of him before it was time to move on. LEFT.
11. Sinclair: Pointless. LEFT.
13. Kolarov: Pep improved him to some degree but still the same old Aleks.
14. Garcia: Left of his own volition, was used regularly enough. LEFT.
16. Aguero: The main man.
17. Rodwell: Pointless. LEFT.
18. Barry: Past his best, plus kicked it in his own goal at Southampton which soured things. Has done well at Everton but that was his level at best back then and especially so now. I know others like him more but he'd had his time imo. LEFT.
21. Silva: Merlin himself.
22. Clichy: Has survived by being unspectacular.
28. Kolo: Past his best and has gone on to greener pastures. LEFT.
29. Wright: Right...LEFT.
30. Panty: Wanted to leave, and was a solid back-up at best. LEFT.
32. Tevez: Had wanted to leave for ages, got his wish at the end of that season. Wonderful player but didn't want to be here enough. LEFT.
33. Nastasic: Had potential but couldn't cut it when given the chance, sadly moved on. LEFT.
42. Toure: Became immense, then became immersed in his own hype and completely insufferable.
45. Balotelli: Was virtually gone by that point. His own fault. LEFT.
So that's 24 first team players, of which 17 have left, and 7 remain properly (Kompany, Kolarov, Clichy, Silva, Aguero, Toure & Zabaleta).
Of those who left it's 3 GKs, 2 RBs, 3 CBs, 0 LBs, 3 CMs, 1 Wide Mid, 1 AM, 4 ST. Many of those left fairly early on in Txiki's spell, and many of them because they were either getting on, or just weren't plain good enough or had a bad attitude.
So yeah, when you're looking back 5 years and can only count 7 players who are still here properly, 1 of whom is a crock and the others have aged badly, then it really does put into perspective just how much work Txiki had on. Yes, he should have done better at times and got some big ones wrong, but that's a monumental task for anyone and the vast majority of the signings had good logic to them. It's also why you can partially understand why areas such as LB have been neglected, because of such a high turnover in other positions.
We're now in a position where we're actually building a spine again, and we're a few players away next summer from having a new core bedded in. There have a few too many "fill a hole" signings but when well-intended buys such as Negredo & Jovetic go wrong for reasons out of your control, you can be backed into a corner.
1 big summer window and I think we'll be pretty much there.
You do realise we've bought 10 first team/squad players in the last 2 summer windows, plus 4 talents? For most teams they are big summer window.
Kevin De Bruyne
Raheem Sterling
Nicolás Otamendi
Fabian Delph
John Stones
Leroy Sané
Gabriel Jesus
Ilkay Gündogan
Nolito
Claudio Bravo
And the rest.
Marlos Moreno
Gerónimo Rulli
Oleksandr Zinchenko
Patrick Roberts
4 out on loan, so are irrelevant at this stage. 1 hasn't arrived yet, 5 only arrived in the summer, 1 is sadly injured and 1 merely a squad player. So that's 4 who have been here any length of time, 2 are attacking midfielders/wingers so not really spine, 1 CB and 1 who was bought because he's cheap and English.
So that's 1 player bought who had any potential to form the spine of the team, who's been here for any length of time.
and Bravo but who could have seen this coming, in reality?
Give it a chance ffs.
Thought I'd look at it from a different point of view, the squad when he came in was:
1. Hart: Doesn't suit Pep amongst other issues. LEFT.
2. Richards: Became a constant crock and wasn't committed enough, career since proves as such. LEFT.
3. Maicon: Was useless here. LEFT.
4. Kompany: Constant crock sadly.
5. Zabaleta: Model pro but his legs have gone.
6. Lescott: Performance fell away since the title win and he has just got increasingly bad, and couldn't play out. LEFT.
7. Milner: Left despite a contract offer, his choice. LEFT.
8. Nasri: Left of his own accord because he prefers lifestyle over commitment. LEFT.
10. Dzeko: When he was committed and played to his potential he was a starter and lead us to another title, Txiki got 3 seasons out of him before it was time to move on. LEFT.
11. Sinclair: Pointless. LEFT.
13. Kolarov: Pep improved him to some degree but still the same old Aleks.
14. Garcia: Left of his own volition, was used regularly enough. LEFT.
16. Aguero: The main man.
17. Rodwell: Pointless. LEFT.
18. Barry: Past his best, plus kicked it in his own goal at Southampton which soured things. Has done well at Everton but that was his level at best back then and especially so now. I know others like him more but he'd had his time imo. LEFT.
21. Silva: Merlin himself.
22. Clichy: Has survived by being unspectacular.
28. Kolo: Past his best and has gone on to greener pastures. LEFT.
29. Wright: Right...LEFT.
30. Panty: Wanted to leave, and was a solid back-up at best. LEFT.
32. Tevez: Had wanted to leave for ages, got his wish at the end of that season. Wonderful player but didn't want to be here enough. LEFT.
33. Nastasic: Had potential but couldn't cut it when given the chance, sadly moved on. LEFT.
42. Toure: Became immense, then became immersed in his own hype and completely insufferable.
45. Balotelli: Was virtually gone by that point. His own fault. LEFT.
So that's 24 first team players, of which 17 have left, and 7 remain properly (Kompany, Kolarov, Clichy, Silva, Aguero, Toure & Zabaleta).
Of those who left it's 3 GKs, 2 RBs, 3 CBs, 0 LBs, 3 CMs, 1 Wide Mid, 1 AM, 4 ST. Many of those left fairly early on in Txiki's spell, and many of them because they were either getting on, or just weren't plain good enough or had a bad attitude.
So yeah, when you're looking back 5 years and can only count 7 players who are still here properly, 1 of whom is a crock and the others have aged badly, then it really does put into perspective just how much work Txiki had on. Yes, he should have done better at times and got some big ones wrong, but that's a monumental task for anyone and the vast majority of the signings had good logic to them. It's also why you can partially understand why areas such as LB have been neglected, because of such a high turnover in other positions.
We're now in a position where we're actually building a spine again, and we're a few players away next summer from having a new core bedded in. There have a few too many "fill a hole" signings but when well-intended buys such as Negredo & Jovetic go wrong for reasons out of your control, you can be backed into a corner.
1 big summer window and I think we'll be pretty much there.
Be lucky to get anywhere near £30M for a 30 year old Nasri.Regardless of who Txiki buys, he also needs to get better values for players he sells. Nasri should have a market value of £30m, not the £16m he's told everyone he can go for.
Hart is a world class goalkeeper, who's England's number one. He's got to be worth more than the "cut price" £10m. Eliaquim Mangala is worth more than £15m that Valencia won't pay.
This is now a market where Jake Livermore is the subject of £12m bids. We should absolutely be looking at earning decent money for our players.
You said "One Big Summer Window and we'll be pretty much there" I was just countering that we've just had 2 big summer windows and still look miles away, what makes you think the next will be so different? Just throwing money at the cause don't seem to be working.
Regardless of who Txiki buys, he also needs to get better values for players he sells. Nasri should have a market value of £30m, not the £16m he's told everyone he can go for.
Hart is a world class goalkeeper, who's England's number one. He's got to be worth more than the "cut price" £10m. Eliaquim Mangala is worth more than £15m that Valencia won't pay.
This is now a market where Jake Livermore is the subject of £12m bids. We should absolutely be looking at earning decent money for our players.
More like we'll accept £15 million, while the rags are getting £20 million plus for rubbish, and Sunderland aren't anywhere near this timeBe lucky to get anywhere near £30M for a 30 year old Nasri.