The Fraud That Is Pep

This topic contains 10 replies, has 10 voices, and was last updated by  Anonymous 8 years, 3 months ago.

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #738227

    Jimbob Gray
    Participant
    • :

    All I hear is “what a good manager” Pep is.

    Lets get a few things straight here, he is NOT a good manager. The guy has managed 2 clubs, both of which had an insane squad. The Barca team he had was beyond belief, and Bayern Munich, where his nearest competition at the time (Dortmund) was stripped (by his club) of their best players.

    For me, he is yet to prove anything, Sooty and Sweep could of managed the teams he had and won silverware.

    I think should he take the Man Utd job, which while they do have a pretty good list of players, it’s by no means the best in the country.

    If he can prove himself at United and get them back to winning things I think only then can we nosh Pep off.

    For me all he has done so far is had ready made squads that even Bungle Bear could manager.

    Fair play to his track record but for me when you have the best side on the planet it should not be to difficult.

    Cheers

    #738446
    Aguerooooooo
    Aguerooooooo
    Moderator
    • :

    Hi Jimbob.I’d say fraud (subject line) is to strong.

    Don’t forget Pep inherited Jupp Heynckes Bayern all conquering treble
    winning team.(They played a better brand of football imho)

    I know he’s won a lot of trophies at Barca and more recently at Bayern.
    But these are leagues where one or two teams win the league every season.

    He’s one of the obvious stand out managers in World football.
    (Klopp & Ancelotti being two more) I’d think any of the top 5 or
    6 (except LPL) would swop there current managers for PG ?

    #738605

    Jimbob Gray
    Participant
    • :

    Hi Aguerooooooo,

    I agree to a certain extent however, I just think people go overboard, I think Pep has had ready made squads.

    We have not seen him turn a team round, Man Utd would be a great test and we would see how good he really is, when he comes up against a stronger team, would he have the tactical know how to get a win? in a transfer window would he know who United would need in order to progress from 4th to possible title winners?

    Would he be able to deal with the players? yes i think he would, but from a tactical perspective I am somewhat hesitant to believe that he would succeed.

    #738899

    Mikus
    Participant
    • :

    Wouldn’t go as far as fraud, but it could be argued that he puts in too much detail at times in his preparations. That Fergie quote always sticks in the head when he said, “Sometimes with chess you can play for 3 days and still lose, know what I mean??”

    #740063

    giorgoxxi
    Participant
    • :

    Pep a fraud? What a load of nonsense.

    The squad he inherited at Barcelona was the same one that in the previous two years won nothing. He was the one that re-invented Messi from a RW to a CF. He “discovered” talent like Busquets and Pedro. He managed to get the best out of Henry, who had a shocking a first season. The style of play he implemented at Barcelona is now copied all over Europe, from the smallest to the biggest teams (before Pep, how many teams do you remember insisted in playing from the back?). His Barcelona team inspired the national team (who adopted the same style) that went on to win the WC. I could go on and on about what Pep has managed to achieve in such a short period of time.

    At Bayern I agree he inherited a winning squad, but he has kept the momentum going and has managed to reach the semifinal every year, as well as winning the Bundesliga. Lets not forget no team has ever won the CL back to back, so it was always a tall order to win the CL again.

    It would be interesting to see what he could do at a team like United, but I doubt he would go there simply because United doesn’t have the players he needs to implement his possession style football. Pep is more suited to the City squad.

    #740135
    BlueLion
    BlueLion
    Participant
    • :

    giorgoxxi, I’m sure Barca already played pretty decent football, and he certainly didn’t invent playing from the back. Frank Rijkaard put the system in place at Barca, and Pep was fortunate that players were ‘coming of age’ when he became manager.

    The only thing he has added to a formidable Bayern team is a diving culture, the same as he encouraged at Barca.

    Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s a good manager, but I agree with the OP that he is grossly overrated and we don’t really know how good he really is as he hasn’t really ever been tested.

    #740381
    srd79
    srd79
    Participant
    • :

    He’s got the results to back up his reputation, but I also tend to agree he has to develop a team or take a team to the next level that isn’t almost the finished article.

    If I’m honest, I think he made Bayern less fun watching. I liked them much better under Heynckes. Much more direct and goalseeking. Nowadays they seem to want to pass the ball into the net a lot of the time.

    If he could rise to the challenge and make a succes of it at club that really needs work done like United, then I’ll be convinced.

    #740417
    evratime
    evratime
    Participant
    • :

    BlueLion, Rijkaard didn’t put anything in place. The style of play Pep brought with him from Barca B was very different. Rijkaard had them playing more like Barca play now under Enrique. More direct, less emphasis on possession. It was an enormous change when he took over. Pep’s style was considered groundbreaking, and is still attempted to be mimicked by other clubs, and mimicked poorly.

    The squad Pep inherited was bereft of confidence and disjointed by huge egos and bad attitudes. The team were in disarray. He immediately changed that. He took a lot of flack from the off because he binned superstar names, fan favourite names. Ronaldinho, Deco, Zambrotta, Thuram, all gone. Eto’o followed a year later. He built the team around academy graduates. He pulled Busquets through from the B team, an unknown entity who eventually pushed Keita and Yaya Toure out of the picture. Nobody had heard of Busquets before Pep. He’s now the best defensive midfielder in the world, and it’s not even close.

    Anyone with a passing interest in football is aware of the term “Xavi and Iniesta”. Before Pep, there was no “Xavi and Iniesta”. They were not a partnership. Xavi was the central figure. Iniesta was a makeshift wide forward. A good player, but constantly on the fringes, on the cusp of being sold under Rijkaard, not taken to by the fans. Pep brought him infield and used him in tandem with Xavi, with Busquets at the base. The team was built around that midfield. It became the best midfield three of the modern era, and possibly ever. If pulling an unknown entity from the academy and shaping a haphazard wide forward into one of the best central attacking midfielders of the modern era isn’t good management, then I don’t know what is.

    Is it purely coincidence that Messi’s best goal tally in a season was 16, then in comes Pep and it jumps to 38 goals in his first season, and since then it has never dipped lower than 41, since he changed his position and his approach on the pitch from a direct winger into the first true “false 9”? Is it just a happy accident for Pep that it just so happens that Iniesta, Busquets, Dani Alves, Messi and Pique (who returned from United with a lowly reputation, deemed not good enough) all became the very best players in their positions, all at the same time, of which Pep had nothing to do with the development of any of them? Sounds plausible…

    He sold all their star names much to dismay of the fans, he relied on players from La Masia, changed the way the team played, the way they initiated attacks and the way they stopped teams from scoring, or even having the ball, and he won 14 major trophies in 4 years in the process. More than most managers win in a lifetime. And he’s a “fraud”? Absolute waffle.

    #740624

    the bsm walk
    Participant
    • :

    Thank you, Evratime well said. If it were simply all about spending money and buying the best players, you wouldn’t need different tactics and play only one way. For instance, Man C would and should be doing better based on that logic. Pep did things to Barcelona that were revolutionary like the five second rule, 4-3-3 (albeit that was the Dutch system). He still deployed those tactics. During the time spent under him, Barcelona were better defensively also, so people need to stop discrediting his work. I would take him all day long at Arsenal even if it meant not spending a lot of money (which is not the case nowadays anyway).

    #740792
    mwake
    mwake
    Participant
    • :

    I agree Fraud might be a little harsh although i know what the OP means. There are at least two types of manager. The Jurgen Klopp type who can go into a average team and build them up. Then there is the Ancelotti type manager who is best at improving teams with solid foundations. I think Pep fits into the Ancelotti section. If he joins Man Utd it will be an interesting challenge but they already have some very good players its just that LVG isnt maximising that talent. Pep will definitely get more out of the talent with money to spend as well.

    #742787

    Anonymous
    • :

    Of course he is a top manager, but I think people do go overboard. Its not as if Barcelona have struggled since he left, and Bayern became a worser team when he took over – going from the best in Europe, to not the best in Europe.

    I also think its delusional to think any team that signs him, will start playing like Barcelona. Barcelona are Barcelona, they played great football before Pep, and after Pep. Pep knew what was needed to keep the Barcelona machine going, but he didnt invent it.

    Should Pep join either the Manchester clubs, or Chelsea, I can foresee hysteria among the fans who think they are going to start pinging it around like Barcelona, only to be severely let down by the high expectations that Pep will not fulfill, because his success has more to do with his playing personnel, rather than his management.

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)

You must be logged in to reply this topic.