Hear me out.
Has Pep ruined football? Is there a better system and style of play implemented by a manager ever? It feels like he has perfected the strategy. Is there a system out there than can go head to head with Pep? And I’m not talking about a one-of game against a Madrid or a Tuchel or a Ancelloti. If 10 games were played, how many would pep lose against the same team. And I get it - in a football match anything can happen.
However, all fans want to see their team play beautiful football and see them win (aka how man city plays). At Barca, one could point to the genius of Messi, Iniesta, Xavi & co. But I would argue this Man City is Peps greatest success. There is no team nor has there ever been a team, as it is presently constructed, than can beat city (my opinion)
I dont know what strategy or system is robust enough to beat Man City regularly. The Era of man-management which was at its peak with Jose is over. Now the game is about tactics, way of playing and strategy. Has Pep figured it out? Is it a forgone conclusion that there would never exist a system superior to that of Pep? In other words should we just wait for Pep to retire for any other team to have a chance?
I personally find his teams style really boring to watch-Especially if it’s against weaker teams because it’s like picking the wings off a fly and watch it squirm around.
His ultra disciplined using the players as chess pieces while he controls the game is not why i fell in love with football and i think if it weren’t for the fact it’s so effective and he guarantees trophies the players probably don’t enjoy it too much either.
look at the lack of variation in goals now, how often to you see a player take 1 man on let alone 3, or try audacious shots or passes.
It’s too predictable yet you can’t beat it so he wins i guess but football loses
Send Pep to Luton and see how much is the style and how much the execution by the players. He’s a great manager, but he has also managed teams loaded with talent. Certainly over the last few years at City.
The thing that impresses/scares me about Pep is how well he can adapt his tactics over a long period. There have been lots of dominant managers throughout the years, but it seems like they eventually fall off, especially with how fast the game changes tactically now. Other great managers like Conte, Jose; its other teams adapting to their tactics, differences in managing different generations of players, etc.
Pep keeps adapting and setting the meta for tactics throughout the world. I’m not saying City is invincible and you must remember he has more resources than almost every other team, but he has consistently been dominating Europe for a long time now. We just did a whole podcast episode on why/how Pep and dominant City are.
But I see where you’re coming from and its hard to see a path for City to fall off as long as Pep is there. Who knows where the game will go/change, that’s the fun part of the sport!
Did they say this about Sir Alex Ferguson? I respect the dominance. Pep raising the standard has only improved the sport.
wolves soccer is different with pep’s soccer, and it is very attractive
Lol no on everything.
He hasn’t ruined anything, and he certainly hasn’t perfected anything
Did usain bolt ruin 100m races? Federer, Nadal, Djokovic trio ruin tennis? What kind of warped thinking is this blaming someone for succeeding in an absolutely volatile, dynamic environment?
Chattering just to create chatter.
Fernando Diniz has an interesting style of play that could become the antithesis of Pep ball. I don’t really see how any European team can really deal with that style of play when everyone knows their roles.
Ruined by being successful via cheating for most of his career? Yes.
When you factor in the blood doping scandal, the bribing refs scandal while he was at Barcelona, and the 115 charges City are facing, you have to say that his entire career is one big asterisk.
He is ruining football, just not with anything his teams have been doing on the pitch.
1 CL in a jammy final against Inter Milan and suddenly its the greatest team of all time lol.
People are so reactive, no this isnt the best team ever and no theyre a long shot from unbeatable.
I want to see pep go to the national league and bring a team up to the top. That would be sick
Pep has made football gameboty you have to setup/do things a certain way in order to win case in point Arsenal tried entertaining but didn’t win it’s a new cold style of winning without much home crowd emotion…
Billionaires have ruined football. Pep can do what he does because he has unlimited funds to build his squad. I’m not denying he’s talented but he’s never had to work with a limited budget.
Are you asking if football is a solved game? In which case the answer is absolutely not. Are you asking if Pep is beatable? Well he hasn’t won the league every season he’s been here and, while it seems crazy to use it as a criticism, he’s never won the quad so even the great man himself has his limits.
Pep is the best manager in the world today and man city are the best team in the world today. It’s not surprising they win most things. If Pep starts to win every single competition every single year then we can have this discussion.
Pep is not doing anything Rinus Michels or Cruyff werent doing before. Hes a good manager but the circlejerk over him is insane, some people act like hes invented football. Hes also had some form of monopoly at every club hes been at and never built anything from the ground up.