The College Dropout

We could only dream of spending the money they were spending, and we've been better over those years. Would be nice to win something though . Would also be nice if Man City and Chelsea fucked off, but there you go. Aye you've been better but won nowt. I think the fact Arsene is undoubtedly a winner helped him win those. IIRC they beat teams better than them, that had also beat Spurs to win 2 finals. That's the one thing with Poch and Klopp (he's won stuff but also lost an amazing amount of finals). If Jose had such competitive teams, he would've won a trophy by now with both clubs.

Always thought he was a really elegant player.

Unless it's Zidane or Conte everyone else (big names) has a job already and probably won't leave. They probably need to put together a long-term strategy from top to bottom. They should've been doing that under Van Gaal or who at the very least, always brings through youngsters. Then they got Jose. Someone made the point that in Italy or Germany. Eddie Howe would've had a top job by now.

There was a stat that Arsenal had spent the most money on their squad when Wenger won his first 2 league titles. But the 3rd, The Invincibles was the first of the PL era to win the league and not be one of the two teams spending the most money on their squad. 2006 to 2013 he kept them competitive although a couple of times they should've gone closer to the title based on the squad. The last 3/4 years or so, he was clearly done. But he did a good job before that. Even when he was done he won FA Cups. Spurs could only dream of being such a great spent force.

It's good for the sport that the best managers now aren't the likes of Jose and Rafa. You still have your Conte's and Simeone's but they aren't getting the very top jobs. Heynckes is a shout. Won 2 CLs 20 years apart.

I think that prevents him being discussed as the greatest ever imo. because his achievements puts him right up there. At one point he was trending towards "the greatest ever" but not anymore. Guardiola is still on that path. There was a 12 year period where a top club hired Jose Mourinho, any league, he would win you the league within 2 seasons. And you would go deep into the CL. That was the task at Real, Inter and Chelsea. Good managers like Pellegrini and Emery failed to do so when tasked with similar jobs. Rafa's won less in his career and I reckon he's top 10 in the last 10/15 years. So Jose has got to be top 5.

Flukey's the wrong word. It wasn't flukey at all. It just had the perfect set of circumstances to come to fruition. Like I think Rafa's best Liverpool side that finished 2nd that year would've won that league title in the Leicester year. The point was moreso, that Porto side was legitimately a top side for those couple seasons under Jose. Even though they had their fair share of luck. Jose proved he could do similar and put together similar teams for the following decade (with nice big budgets).It wasn't a set of circumstances perfectly executed in a season or moment. But a methodology that would be successful for the next 12 years or so. Whoever said Klopp has been a better manager in the last 15 years.

Klopp a man that has lost 7 cup finals in a row over Jose? Madness. Short memories. Porto winning the UEFA Cup and Champions League in consecutive years is a bigger achievement than anything Klopp or Simeone have achieved. It's only behind Leicester and Greece in European football upsets in the last 20 years. And it's arguably the least "flukey" of the 3.

This year i've avoided taking hits and i'm doing much better overall. You have Salah, Hazard and Kane? I'm tempted to free up money for Hazard and not have a premium option upfront. He's the least likely to be rotated (but also the least likely to bang a hat-trick). Hazard - Sterling - Sane hmmmm....

I think it's time for Jose to join Rafa and manage a crap side with humility.

Never won the Champions League. Had a competitive team for 10 years. 1 final. The same amount of league titles in the PL as Jose. Again, Arsene was a great manager but wouldn't put him above Jose. I think Jose wins the league or CL with a couple Arsenal sides between 05-15 imo. Jose was a better manager than Jose for at least a decade. Let's not pretend.

"Good" managers don't win 8 league titles in 4 countries man. He wasn't a flash in the pan, he's had what - 10/15 years at the very top of the game. Rafa's a GREAT manager and he had maybe 10 years at the very top. It's also very difficult to get the very best players to perform the way you want. That's why Klopp and Simeone haven't joined superclubs imo. Their style suits less glamorous players. They couldn't manage Cristiano Ronaldo.

European coaches of the last 15/20 years he's got to be top 5, no? Guardiola Ferguson Ancelotti Zidane The likes of Klopp and Simeone just haven't won enough for me to put them above Jose overall. Zidane just because he won almost everything for 2.5 years straight.

Aye he's had a great run. And if he can adjust he can continue. He's been one of the greatest ever. If he wants to do club management he may have to go to a secondary tier type top European club. But even lots of those want good football. I'm thinking PSG, Dortmund and Napoli but even they have managers that usually play good football. Think Perez still likes Jose. And nearly all the super anti-Mourinho brigade have left Real Madrid in terms of players. It would just be Ramos and Marcelo left from the main adversaries. And for better and worse, it's no coincidence Real Madrid have had their most successful period in the 5/6 years after he left. He brought Real back up to the very top of European football, competing in semi finals year in year out when they didn't do that for 6/7 years prior. While he provided the foundations of their success it needed someone else to take it to the next level. Less dour managers.

His role at Liverpool is very different and he's doing it pretty well. He still lacks impact, ability to control a game. But for Liverpool it doesn't matter so much, he works well in the system. They could still do with a more dynamic player like AOC who was superb for them. Brought drive and creativity. That's what Gini lacks. But he's got good technique, mobile, can press well, pass fast when needed, quick, fairly strong etc. The ability to press and play fast football when needed is so key to Liverpool. We never play like that. He could play the Ki role but he never looked to take that on properly when he was at CM. In a 3 at Liverpool, again it's easier for him. I still don't particularly rate him. I prefer James Milner by far.

50. Dropped in most of the big rankings. Still top 20 NO. Added to my advantage at the top in my private leagues by a few points. Some big decisions ahead. Mostly... what to do with Harry Kane? He doesn't look like he's going to consistently get big points hauls. Isn't in top form but will still get to 20 goals this season imo. Great fixtures coming up over the next few weeks but doesn't fill me with hope and excitement. Auba's fixtures aren't as good but he looks sharper and his recent match stats are better. Aguero's coming back but he's a bigger rotation risk. Tempted to go for Hazard and go for more budget options upfront. What do we think about Harry Kane?

I used to think the same but he's often very good when i've seen him recently. Very good technically. Not involved as much in goals as he should. He's pretty much a regular ar Arsenal now but I think he would standout for a midtable team or his good play highlighted further had he chosen to represent England.

Lots of points to be earned against tired legs. Let’s not worry too much. I also have Sané and he’s grabbed an assist.

Just being a good tackler isn't enough for a Premier League fullback anymore. He doesn't get far enough up the pitch for a keeper, let alone a LB. He's definitely not the weakest link in the team but he's been close to it for years now. His shortcomings just aren't as apparent as players like Yedlin. He kills off far too many promising attacks with his conservative passing and reluctance to cross the halfway line. There's way more to defending than tackling. Dummett is good at pretty much all aspects. Game to game, Yedlin is more of an issue imo.

The way he's went on in the media, getting a new contract for absolutely no reason after getting one a year ago. So the club offers him a new contract and he should turn it down for fear of being labelled as 'cocky'? FFS It's very easy to decide a certain type of person is cocky. It was his choice to come out and publicly back Ashley after being pro-Rafa and NUFC (fronting out to him over the continuous bonus disputes) as soon as he got offered a nice shiny new contract. He antagonised the fans by publicly backing MA in the face of protest and insulted our intelligence by saying he didn't even know Rafa was having struggles and this was preventing him from signing a new contract... Honestly, what the fuck did he expect? His banner was still displayed at the game after as well, so trying to blame fans for this is ridiculous. He's coming across as 'cocky' as he's trying to come across like he knows better than us what is best for the club. Also using his position to be a spokesperson for MA to placate the sheep who are still constantly attending. He's a sellout. He sounds ignorant. He's right in the sense that negativity isn't good for the football team that he's captain of. He's silly for backing Ashley on a personal level the way he did. Aye it was his choice to come out and talk. But that doesn't mean he's bulletproof and it won't affect his mental state and confidence. When he first kind of burst on the scene, he was lauded for digging into the team. That demonstrably built his confidence and he played in an assured manner. Now his public remarks have backfired and he's looked jittery since. I think there's some correlation imo. Btw Terry and Maguire are/were very good on the ball. John Terry was an excellent passer. He just wasn't the type to take it into midfield.

What's to suggest he's getting too cocky? IMO he looks bereft of confidence. I think the negative pushback from the fans has got to him a bit and its affecting his performance.

Foden has decided to sit on City’s bench cos Southgate has shown him the route into the team. Eric dier has played has started 13 out of 16 league games. All in midfield. I’ll say he’s never convinced me Dier. On their best days, I’d have Diame.

So you're saying as the deepest in a midfield 3...... he's better than Dier? Maybe Poch should try that out.

Short of Enrique, he's been the best LB of the Ashley era. That's damning. And i've defended the lad a lot. I even think had he stayed fit for the last relegation season we would've got an extra 2 points to keep us up. That's another thing. He's been first choice FB for 6 years. 5 pl seasons. He's not managed more than 25 starts in a campaign. The lads always injured for 2 months in a season. Only managed one 30+ game season once for us.

More excited about him than any of the others, he could be seriously special like. It's mad how the landscape of English football has changed overnight purely because Southgate's showing them a route through, he deserves so much credit for that. Mostly the work done at grassroots though no? What's Southgate got to do with Sancho and Foden? These lads need first-team football though. Lookman needs to leave Everton imo.