AuthorSports Billy Has Pep been found out as a manager now that he is with Manchester City? This may seem like a rather knee jerk reaction to a 4-0 loss to Everton on the weekend, but judging by his reaction afterwards and the overall performance so far this season, something just doesn’t seem right with him or the squad. Now, no one doubts the pedigree of Pep as a manager as he has won things with two of the worlds biggest teams in Barcelona and Bayern Munich; however it could be argued that winning things with those sides isn’t particularly difficult for the following two reasons:
1) Both those sides played in leagues with very little competition. By this I mean that with Barcelona he only really had Real Madrid (and to a certain degree Atletico) pushing them for the league, and with Bayern it was Dortmund who were the main title rivals in that League; and 2) Both Barcelona and Bayern had star studded squads which were far and away better than those of their nearest league rivals. Now, in response to the above, although the Premier League may not be blessed from top to bottom with quality in its 20 teams, the recent TV deal money has certainly allowed the traditionally “smaller and less attractive” sides to punch well above their weight in the transfer market and allowed them to be at least competitive to a scale that the likes of Getafe and say Mainz 05 weren’t able to when Pep’s sides came up against them in the past. He has also come into the league at a time where at least 6 or 7 sides are looking very strong and could be considered contenders for the title: Klopp has LFC playing exciting stuff, Koeman has an Everton side packed with potential (as Pep found out on the weekend!), Arsenal are always up there, Spurs are looking ominous as dark horses for the title, Chelsea are the team to beat, and Jose has Man United’s expensive squad ticking now and putting a run together to push them back in to the top 4 again. It’s tough at the top, and these sides are all strong, quality teams which are all arguably better than Man City currently. Squad wise, Manchester City seem underwhelming. Considering they have effectively got a bottomless pit of cash reserves to spend on talent, a lot of their squad choices are baffling and not really what you would expect for one of the worlds best sides? Despite having an exciting front 5 or 6, the defence and goalkeeper situation at the club beggars belief and they have been proved to not be good enough for the last couple of seasons. Would Zabaletta get in to the sides of Barcelona or Bayern? I doubt it, especially in midfield! Given Peps reaction to the weekend, where he called out his defenders (and attackers) he knows this is an area of weakness and with the Premier League being renowned for its poor defending (or more accurately lack of it!) this is something he is going to need to rectify sharpish. I think most worrying for Manchester City and its fans is how half a season at the club appears to have broken Pep already! During the game against Everton on the weekend at 2-0 down he had given up watching the game and had zoned out, staring at the floor. His post-match interviews in recent weeks have been equally down beat as well, painting the picture of a man that just isn’t enjoying his footballing life at the moment. He has been known to burn out in the past, but has the Premier League managed to do this to him already in record time? He even mentioned retirement a few weeks ago. As I touched on at the start, the Everton result is just one game, so I can’t see him being sacked or even walking away from the club, but unless some real changes are to occur at the club fast, this season is one that may need to be written off as a transition period for the club ready to rebuild over the summer and come back much stronger for the following campaign. The question is though, will Pep return for next season? |
AuthorsJust Some Fans Writing About Football. Archives
June 2018
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