Txiki Begiristain

[franksinatra]

But as far as the big picture is concerned we are well on the way to domination Frank and that is in an era when it is more competitive than ever.

Domestically in the last 13 years (the last 10 of Ferguson and the 3 since he retired) United have won:

PL 5
LC 3
FAC 1 (and poss 2 if beat Palace)

In the last 6 years we have won:

PL 2
LC 2
FAC 1

That suggests to me we are on track albeit 1 PL light because of the shit throwun up in the league. Confident we will beat United's haul in the next 7 years? I am.

Then there is the Champions League. In their 1st 13 attempts they won it once and got as far as a semi-final only on one other occassion. And this was at a time they were dominant domestically. They did then have their run of 3 finals in 4 years including winning it once more. The point tho is that we are progressing as a European force and like;y to be far more succesful than United.

All good points mate. I suppose we all want success yesterday and I do think we have missed a great opportunity over the past three years.

The thing what fills me with confidence, more than anything, is not only have we got the best manager in the business who will give the team a shape, improve them individually I also think he will take full ownership of transfers, away from those who have failed miserably, and utilise the young players coming through much more.

When you consider that the future indeed looks incredibly bright, I just wish we had a few more leagues, FA cups in the bag.

The other thing which is really interesting, and which splits the forum, is whether Pep will need to change significant aspects of the squad or whether he will be able to substantially improve, by coaching and motivation, some of the current players. It would be incredible to think someone like Kelechi, Denayer could be turned into a bonafide world star

 

[George Hannah]

All good points mate. I suppose we all want success yesterday and I do think we have missed a great opportunity over the past three years.

The thing what fills me with confidence, more than anything, is not only have we got the best manager in the business who will give the team a shape, improve them individually I also think he will take full ownership of transfers, away from those who have failed miserably, and utilise the young players coming through much more.

When you consider that the future indeed looks incredibly bright, I just wish we had a few more leagues, FA cups in the bag.

The other thing which is really interesting, and which splits the forum, is whether Pep will need to change significant aspects of the squad or whether he will be able to substantially improve, by coaching and motivation, some of the current players. It would be incredible to think someone like Kelechi, Denayer could be turned into a bonafide world star

Your right Frank, yesterday was simply dire but you've talked yourself and me round, things can only get better now!

 

[franksinatra]

Your right Frank, yesterday was simply dire but you've talked yourself and me round, things can only get better now!

That's the beauty of having a good moan, gets it all out of your system . I have not had to shout at the missus once:-)

 

[bobom]

I'm really looking forward to next season under Pep, but I'm getting a bit concerned that things might not change too much. Until now I've been blaming our poor league form this year on a) Pellegrini b) some players no longer able to perform at the highest level, some bad apples unwilling to c) injuries. Pep's coming in, so that that solves a).

Injuries will depend on the medical team Pep brings in, but his record at Bayern isn't that great.

And as for players - we need quite a big turnover, but they'll be chosen and bought by the people who brought in Mangala, Navas, etc. (Also KDB, I accept that, but it didn't take much footballing nous to choose KDB.) We seem to be about to buy a 21 year old, injured centre back for about what we paid for Mangala. Is our transfer policy going to improve?

 

[@BluePhil8]

All good points mate. I suppose we all want success yesterday and I do think we have missed a great opportunity over the past three years.

The thing what fills me with confidence, more than anything, is not only have we got the best manager in the business who will give the team a shape, improve them individually I also think he will take full ownership of transfers, away from those who have failed miserably, and utilise the young players coming through much more.

When you consider that the future indeed looks incredibly bright, I just wish we had a few more leagues, FA cups in the bag.

The other thing which is really interesting, and which splits the forum, is whether Pep will need to change significant aspects of the squad or whether he will be able to substantially improve, by coaching and motivation, some of the current players. It would be incredible to think someone like Kelechi, Denayer could be turned into a bonafide world star

I genuinely believe Otamendi, Sterling and De Bruyne were all Pep's targets.

 

[Neville Kneville]

I genuinely believe Otamendi, Sterling and De Bruyne were all Pep's targets.

I believe Sterling & DeBruyne but I am not sure of Otamendi. I think Otamendi was a panic buy of Pellegrini's. I would lean more toward Mangala being Pep influenced as he's younger.

But people expecting a mass of perfect signings just because Pep arrives, or if we change the d.o.f. are deluded imo.

It will always be as it is now. Some signings will be a huge success, some will be 'ok' & some will be total shit. Pep will be just as likely to sign a duffer as anyone else.

That's how it works when you rely 100% on transfers to build a team.

That philosophy is what needs to change.

 

[BillyShears]

I genuinely believe Otamendi, Sterling and De Bruyne were all Pep's targets.

Because they were. Even Delph came with the Pep seal of approval. All last summer's transfers were done with one eye on Pep taking over this summer. I think we need to keep some perspective on transfers. We've wasted money and Txiki has made some mistakes, but ultimately last summer was the first summer with no threat of FFP. At the end of this summer his transfer record will look a lot different - just as it did at the end of last summer.

Always makes me chuckle when this thread gets bumped after a poor defeat. Txiki is not by any means infallible, but he is a huge asset to our club and we are lucky to have him.

 

[Sir peace frog]

With the right coaching shape ,a plan a, plan b ,plan c which pep will bring to us we have the players right now to win the league, add a little bit of luck on the injury side of things we don't IMO need a massive change on the playing staff

 

[mcfc1632]

Because they were. Even Delph came with the Pep seal of approval. All last summer's transfers were done with one eye on Pep taking over this summer. I think we need to keep some perspective on transfers. We've wasted money and Txiki has made some mistakes, but ultimately last summer was the first summer with no threat of FFP. At the end of this summer his transfer record will look a lot different - just as it did at the end of last summer.

Always makes me chuckle when this thread gets bumped after a poor defeat. Txiki is not by any means infallible, but he is a huge asset to our club and we are lucky to have him.

Fully agree - like Pep - Txiki is able to secure players for us - just because he is Txiki and has a long-standing set of relationships with key people, including agents. People just like to moan and find someone to slag off and he is convenient.

 

[kismet]

I'm glad we have him, he has contacts and has brought us the worlds best manager and one of Europe's top players in KDB. Players don't become bad players overnight and I believe we will see good development of Sterling, Nando and Mangala under Pep.

The three year transition from Mancini to Pep hasn't gone as smoothly as he would have wished. We don't know the dovetailing of responsibilities between him and Pelle etc. However, the major problem has been the ageing of a great team and the fact that some need to be replaced. That is difficult to deal with.