The Managerial Merry Go Round™

[brummie]

I bet he knew the Spanish for “what time’s your husband home?” too. 

[Pata]

Pep has no need to innovate while coaching the best team in the world but he suddenly decided that fullbacks are not needed anymore and started to play four centrebacks, moving one of them to midfield when in possession of the ball. And Cancelo had been instrumental to them in previous seasons. I know he has a habit of tinkering too much but it just boggles my mind. As we are piling on them, would Lampard or Gerrard find it necessary to come up with new formations while coaching the best team in the world?

 

Maybe he knows they are so much better than anyone else that he tries to lower the variance on set pieces against them by having four CBs defending them, who knows. 

 

 

Edited April 16, 2023 by Pata

[The College Dropout]

23 minutes ago, Pata said:

Pep has no need to innovate while coaching the best team in the world but he suddenly decided that fullbacks are not needed anymore and started to play four centrebacks, moving one of them to midfield when in possession of the ball. And Cancelo had been instrumental to them in previous seasons. I know he has a habit of tinkering too much but it just boggles my mind. As we are piling on them, would Lampard or Gerrard find it necessary to come up with new formations while coaching the best team in the world?

 

Maybe he knows they are so much better than anyone else that he tries to lower the variance on set pieces against them by having four CBs defending them, who knows. 

 

 

 

I think he just fell out with Cancelo and no other fullback can play that role well and Stones is the next up. And then with a pure 9 they don’t control the possession as well because they have 1 less player contributing to keeping the ball so they need more players that are actually good at defending.  And lastly I think Pep considers Ake and Akanji the most ‘hungry’ of his players. City keep winning but the personnel does evolve as par for the course. 

[Pata]

https://theathletic.com/4395427/2023/04/11/pep-guardiola-tactical-evolution/

 

Just read this amazing article and you are probably spot on. Didn't realise they had conceded more than usual playing with a pure 9 and also not on pace to score as many as they usually do, same happened when Lewa had his best season in Bayern under Pep. Haaland just has that x-factor for CL where he can be unstoppable especially when he has all that talent playing the throughballs, even if as a whole they are worse team with him in the lineup.

[Dr Venkman]

@Bimpy474’s quiet 

[toon25]

2 hours ago, rgk_lfc said:

 

One very basic thing we can look for is how many of the PFM's are multi-lingual. Because language and communication are key to managing a diverse squad.

 

I know their stock is low, but Rodgers can speak fluently in Spanish, French, and English. Potter can speak multiple European languages. I can't talk about Howe, but given his obsession with Spanish football tactics and training methods, I would be surprised if he cannot speak Spanish at a basic. Not surprised the most progressive British coaches are multi-lingual.

 

Most of the great European coaches can speak around four languages. I know there are some advantages as some of the mainland languages are related and easier to pick up if you know one. But still. For example, Pep and Xabi Alonso can speak Spanish, Italian, German, and English. And they put effort into being fluent in German before they went to Germany. Alonso was answering questions in English at 21 at press conferences which he picked up in a month or two. 

 

What does it have to do with football coaching? It indicates how much they value the communication of ideas and how much effort they are willing to put in.

 

In comparison, most of the PFMs can barely speak English. If you take a college-level English essay assignment and hand it to several managers, I am sure Mourinho, Rafa, and Ancelotti will turn in a significantly more articulate English essay than Gerrard and Lampard. I bet "Good ebening" Emery turns in a better essay than PFMs. 

 

I know some of you will retort by saying that Pardew can speak Spanish. But I am sure he is as obnoxious in Spanish as in English. 

 

Excellent post!

 

There's only one person to ask @Alan Pardew

 

I can imagine his grasp of the language extends to "cuatro, cuatro, dos' or, if you're lucky, 'ir directo' 

[Rich]

1 hour ago, rgk_lfc said:

 

Alan Pardew has been brushing up on his Spanish as West Ham prepare for their first big European jaunt for seven years.

And in a bid to make new Argentinian signings Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez feel at home, Pardew has set his staff a Spanish test for the end of this week.

'I have been speaking Spanish this week,' Pardew revealed proudly.

'It all went down well with the lads and all the staff have a little test on a few football terms!'

 

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/pardew-sets-spanish-test-2313362

 

 

Was more meant as an eye roll at Pardew, not you.

 

Wasn’t doubting you at all, but that article is still appreciated Favourite bit:

 

“Pardew revealed proudly”

 

Fucking hell I hated him.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, The College Dropout said:

I don’t have concrete evidence or proof.  But there is a lack of thought and application to the managerial approach of 99% of English managers.  
 

There’s not been a genuine world class English manager in my lifetime. There’s something deep rooted in the English footballing culture that is not curious about innovating ANYTHING about the game on the pitch.
 

Direct opposition to Italy where it seems like every decade a manager or team popularises something that changes football management in some aspect. 
 

Call it laziness, lack of intellectual curiosity it’s something.  I don’t even think it’s just tactically - it’s every aspect.  

 

In terms of club management there's only pretty much Howe and Potter who go against the grain. 

[Alan Pardew]

Hola. 

[Donut]

 

 

 

[Alan Pardew]

8 minutes ago, Donut said:

 

 

 

Lads you’ve got me all wrong. I’m an excellent communicator - That old Chilean twat had no problem understanding me. And my Spanish is better than Moyes’ for sure. Fucking old cunt. 

[The College Dropout]

Gary O’Neill if he had better PR would be spoken about for manager of the year.  
 

The Forest coach gets a lot of credit in the media. O’Neill doesn’t. 

[Disco]

5 hours ago, The College Dropout said:

Direct opposition to Italy where it seems like every decade a manager or team popularises something that changes football management in some aspect. 

In Italy there’s a school for coaches, Coverciano, all the big Italian managers have written thesis’ on an aspect of football or coaching. It’s completely different. 
 

 

[Yorkie]

Curious to know what @WillDanceForChocolate makes of these O'Neil for MOTY claims, after his apparent despair only a few short months ago. 

[Bimpy474]

3 hours ago, Dr Venkman said:

@Bimpy474’s quiet 

 

Doing the bathroom mate, whole new one. Ridiculously i'm giving a go, ripping the whole thing out and fitting a new one. What i missed ?

[Dr Venkman]

6 hours ago, Bimpy474 said:

 

Doing the bathroom mate, whole new one. Ridiculously i'm giving a go, ripping the whole thing out and fitting a new one. What i missed ?

Oh shit, good luck, that’s hard work.

[Bimpy474]

25 minutes ago, Dr Venkman said:

Oh shit, good luck, that’s hard work.

 

I'm definitely thinking I've rather over estimated my skills  

 

Very Lampard and Gerrard-esq you could say 

[Rich]

10 hours ago, Alan Pardew said:

Hola. 

Simple, but so effective .

[brummie]

10 hours ago, Disco said:

In Italy there’s a school for coaches, Coverciano, all the big Italian managers have written thesis’ on an aspect of football or coaching. It’s completely different. 
 

 

 

Coverciano is basically just the HQ of the Italian national team (it's just outside Florence). Their equivalent of St George's Park. 

 

There's no reason the English FA couldn't be inculcating deeper thinking in our managers using those facilities, but I bet they don't.

 

I mean, look at some of the coaches involved in the national team at youth level for an idea of the mindset.

[Kid Icarus]

Dunno if they're all available to read, but loads of them are here: https://www.figc.it/it/tecnici/aula-multimediale/documenti/

[The College Dropout]

16 hours ago, The College Dropout said:

I don’t have concrete evidence or proof.  But there is a lack of thought and application to the managerial approach of 99% of English managers.  
 

There’s not been a genuine world class English manager in my lifetime. There’s something deep rooted in the English footballing culture that is not curious about innovating ANYTHING about the game on the pitch.
 

Direct opposition to Italy where it seems like every decade a manager or team popularises something that changes football management in some aspect. 
 

Call it laziness, lack of intellectual curiosity it’s something.  I don’t even think it’s just tactically - it’s every aspect.  

Example of this.  
 

Good video covering points we’ve been discussing across different topics in the last few days. The end scaenarios is similar to what Villa did to us on the weekend.  Continually waltzed pass our press and we were regularly 4 vs 4 ok our backline. 

[The College Dropout]

1 hour ago, brummie said:

 

Coverciano is basically just the HQ of the Italian national team (it's just outside Florence). Their equivalent of St George's Park. 

 

There's no reason the English FA couldn't be inculcating deeper thinking in our managers using those facilities, but I bet they don't.

 

I mean, look at some of the coaches involved in the national team at youth level for an idea of the mindset.

We need a cultural shift.  Grass roots coaches and players aren’t encouraged to think about the game tactically.  Steven Gerrard was a tactically undisciplined player for his entire career and fell off as soon as he lost his athleticism but he’s lauded as the best English central midfielder of a generation and his play style is encouraged to youngsters.  It’s no surprise Alonso and Arteta - tactically astute footballers have become tactically astute managers. I can imagine Rafa spending lots of time talking through positional play with Alonso and just thinking ‘we’ll build a solid base and just let Stevie do Stevie because he doesn’t have the capacity to do anything else and he can win us the game doing that anyway’.  

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I’m amazed we’re still telling people to play like Gerrard. I thought everyone was being taught to tiki-taka like Foden now?

 

 

Edited April 17, 2023 by AyeDubbleYoo

[The College Dropout]

1 hour ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

I’m amazed we’re still telling people to play like Gerrard. I thought everyone was being taught to tiki-taka like Foden now?

 

 

 

Tbh this is probably true about Foden but it’s not tiki taka.  It’s still essentially an attacking player with individual quality which is what Gerrard did at his peak in Liverpool. 
 

we still don’t produce players in the mould of Kroos, Thiago, Xabi Alonso etc. The biggest criticism Rice gets in the media is that he doesn’t score enough goals or get enough assists. Not that he doesn’t dictate play enough. Use his positioning rather than his athleticism to sweep up. 
 

Funnily enough Fabregas ended up being a Gerrard style player rather than a Xavi style player people expected. His tactical indiscipline was a big issue at Barca and under Conte. His game ended up being all about goals and assists and awful off the ball. Toni Kroos lost his legs at 28 but can still compete at the highest level due to his positional sensibilities. 

[SUPERTOON]