A serious look at Mauricio Pochettino

[Random Task]

Also he was pretty limited with the bench, what could have been done? Maybe Lukaku uptop and push rashford out wide instead of mata? Lukaku has hardly been ripping up trees lately either, Ole clearly didn’t fancy him on there. Maybe bring Fred on to get more of a grip on midfield? Againfred hasn’t been lighting any fires so no reason for ole to drop in at the deep end against PSG.

Basically the 2 wingers Ole replaced the 2 injuries with did not cut the mustard and are not quick enough. Maybe Ole could or should have worked around that bit at least it highlighted how short we are in areas.

You're not wrong.

People went on at length about how PSG would be severely crippled without Neymar and Cavani in their attack, but when you have the likes of Di Maria, Draxler, Nkunku and Alves to call upon, it's really not the end of the world. I mean compare that to the options Ole had at his disposal when Martial and Lingard went off injured; two past their prime and distinctly underperforming footballers who the majority of the fanbase (and hopefully the management) want shot of.

You'll notice how no one wants to discuss that, though.

 

[Random Task]

Think this sums up the majority of us to be honest.

Yeah, I agree.

My heart says Ole (desperately) but my brain says we should go with the more experienced and proven Poch - if we could get him, of course, which is by no means a guarantee.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

You're not wrong.

People went on at length about how PSG would be severely crippled without Neymar and Cavani in their attack, but when you have the likes of Di Maria, Draxler, Nkunku and Alves to call upon, it's really not the end of the world. I mean compare that to the options Ole had at his disposal when Martial and Lingard went off injured; two past their prime and distinctly underperforming footballers who the majority of the fanbase (and hopefully the management) want shot of.

You'll notice how no one wants to discuss that, though.

So Sanchez and Mata are 'past their prime' but a 35 year old Dani Alves playing out of position isn't?

Also who the feck even is Nkunku? A quick glance at him this season shows me he's scored 1 goal and got 1 assist in Ligue 1. He's a talented youngster but hardly world class or better than what United have in reserve.

 

[Canagel]

Also, people aren't casting doubts on Ole because he lost to PSG.

People are just slightly concerned that in a home tie, a depleted PSG were able to beat United without breaking a sweat and by the end were showboating. Ole seemingly had no answers to Tuchel's tactical gameplan and if that was Pochettino people would be ripping in to him in this thread, 100%.

We lost two players of our own due to injury. The game was in the balance and likely headed for 0-0 until our first line of press was lost and they could push forward with no threat of ours in attack.

 

[GlastonSpur]

Take a dose of reality

I watched clips of Eriksen before he even moved to Spurs before Poch was there

He was always an amazing player

Attackers cost double the value they used to since the Neymar fee, and you're on here trolling saying that Poch is the reason Kane and Eriksen cost so much

If he was always such an amazing player and hasn't improved further that much under Poch, then how come he cost Spurs only £11m in the same summer that Bale was sold for £85m, Ozil for £42.4m, Willian for £30m and Fellaini for £27.5m?

 

[Sterling Archer]

So Sanchez and Mata are 'past their prime' but a 35 year old Dani Alves playing out of position isn't?

Also who the feck even is Nkunku? A quick glance at him this season shows me he's scored 1 goal and got 1 assist in Ligue 1. He's a talented youngster but hardly world class or better than what United have in reserve.

Thank you. There's a lot of misunderstanding here about what exactly happened midweek. It's easy to pick on Sanchez and Mata, the former was especially bad. But fact is we played with 3 in the middle against essentially 5. And that meant a noname kid and graying Alves were effective and allowed Marquinhos, makeshift shadow, to trail Pogba everywhere. Even when we had Martial and Lingard on the pitch we didn't create much in the way of chances. PSG were at bay only out of caution but still very much in calm control. Once the pace was gone - and idk how no one seems to recall both Sanchez and Mata have both always lacked searing pace - it just made PSG more adventurous without worry.

Truth is we got outdone tactically.

 

[Random Task]

So Sanchez and Mata are 'past their prime' but a 35 year old Dani Alves playing out of position isn't?

Also who the feck even is Nkunku? A quick glance at him this season shows me he's scored 1 goal and got 1 assist in Ligue 1. He's a talented youngster but hardly world class or better than what United have in reserve.

You're so desperate to drive this 'United were shite regardless' narrative that you are entirely unwilling to accept anything that undermines it.

The options available to Tuchel in the absence of Neymar and Cavani were considerably more favourable by comparison to what Ole had available under almost identical circumstances. Stating otherwise would be a fecking lie.

 

[MikeKing]

In your initial post, you stated that these players weren’t £10m that Pochettino developed into £100m player. But at the time they were, so I am confused about what point you are try to make. It is like United buying Dalot and turning him into a £100 player. Dalot is not regarded highly and neither were most of those players at the time as well.

They are worth that amount know because of their development under Pochettino. The point I was emphasizing was that at the time Pogba, De Gea and Martial went for record fee at the time and even though as you stated, “it may have come to £150m then,” but at this moment, that £150m would look much more extravagant now. Ali, Kane, Dembele, Eriksen, Son cost peanuts compared to these players at the time.

As I stated before, spending big improve your squad and I definitely believe Pogba and Martial in Spurs team would definitely give them a better chance not only with the league but with domestic and European competition as they are doing so well without these depth in resources and talent. De Gea is a much better keeper than Lloris. There is no debate in that, Lloris dreams of performance De Gea has shown at United where he has consistently singledly won us a point.

I'm not telling you my points again, reread if you are confused. DDG is definitely better than Lloris, I surely didn't imply he wasn't. Tedious man. Put Kane, Eriksen, Trippier and Son in United squad for under 50m or whatever and of course United would be a lot better than buying Fred, Fellaini and Mata for triple the amount. Do you disagree? My only point has really been that money doesn't reflect quality and you seem unable to grasp this. Come on now.

 

[Random Task]

Thank you. There's a lot of misunderstanding here about what exactly happened midweek. It's easy to pick on Sanchez and Mata, the former was especially bad. But fact is we played with 3 in the middle against essentially 5. And that meant a noname kid and graying Alves were effective and allowed Marquinhos, makeshift shadow, to trail Pogba everywhere. Even when we had Martial and Lingard on the pitch we didn't create much in the way of chances. PSG were at bay only out of caution but still very much in calm control. Once the pace was gone - and idk how no one seems to recall both Sanchez and Mata have both always lacked searing pace - it just made PSG more adventurous without worry.

Truth is we got outdone tactically.

You're missing the point of the argument.

We have already established that Tuchel tactically outdid Ole (you would be aware of this had you followed the discussion from the beginning) we're now debating the impact of the replacements Tuchel and Ole had available.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

You're so desperate to drive this 'United were shite regardless' narrative that you are entirely unwilling to accept anything that undermines it.

The options available to Tuchel in the absence of Neymar and Cavani were considerably more favourable by comparison to what Ole had available under almost identical circumstances. Stating otherwise would be a fecking lie.

And you're so desperate to justify a terrible performance that you're prepared to massively exaggerate the quality of PSG's backups. A 35 year old Dani Alves and a youth team player are not world class reserves for Cavani and Neymar, not by any stretch of the imagination. That's the definition of making do with what you have, didn't Tuchel call it Plan D or something before the game?

Sanchez and Mata aren't great, nor are they garbage tier footballers or on paper significantly worse options than Dani Alves and Nkunku. You're talking about a right back forced in to right midfield who is 35 years old. It's also a fact that Neymar and Cavani are better footballers (by far) than Lingard and Martial, so it's a bigger step down in quality for PSG than it was for United.

 

[Amadaeus]

Take a dose of reality

I watched clips of Eriksen before he even moved to Spurs before Poch was there

He was always an amazing player

Attackers cost double the value they used to since the Neymar fee, and you're on here trolling saying that Poch is the reason Kane and Eriksen cost so much

Eriksen was one of the good players that Pochettino turned into a better players. I already stated that. Even then his value was not extravagant. Not trolling, just giving some a reality check. When you have a track record of turning multiple average players or good players better than they were before, then it is not by luck.

Spurs always beat Dortmund, it was hardly the shock result of the century

I don’t believe those Dortmund side were budesliga leader or competitive as they are now. They finished top of their group as well. Plus, Spur omission of Kane and Ali were more important than Dortmund omissions. You can even add that Spurs were not playing without both their starting fullback and central midfielder. Plus thrown in an inexperienced Foryth in their defense, but Pochetino handles this omission much better than Dortmund management team did with their which showed the huge gap in managerial quality between the two.

 

[Canagel]

And you're so desperate to justify a terrible performance that you're prepared to massively exaggerate the quality of PSG's backups. A 35 year old Dani Alves and a youth team player are not world class reserves for Cavani and Neymar, not by any stretch of the imagination. That's the definition of making do with what you have, didn't Tuchel call it Plan D or something before the game?

Sanchez and Mata aren't great, nor are they garbage tier footballers or on paper significantly worse options than Dani Alves and Nkunku. You're talking about a right back forced in to right midfield who is 35 years old. It's also a fact that Neymar and Cavani are better footballers (by far) than Lingard and Martial, so it's a bigger step down in quality for PSG than it was for United.

Oles system is heavily depended on the pace in attack. We weren't getting behind enough the 1st half but neither was they. The two teams nullified each other.
Sanchez and Mata are not suited to our new system. It had nothing to do with age. We had struggled in games like Burnely with few attacking rotations so why should we expect to not struggle against even higher calibre of team? The game plan was effectively lost with two injuries.
Plus losing two players in mid game is different to preparing before the game without them.

 

[Zlatan 7]

Thank you. There's a lot of misunderstanding here about what exactly happened midweek. It's easy to pick on Sanchez and Mata, the former was especially bad. But fact is we played with 3 in the middle against essentially 5. And that meant a noname kid and graying Alves were effective and allowed Marquinhos, makeshift shadow, to trail Pogba everywhere. Even when we had Martial and Lingard on the pitch we didn't create much in the way of chances. PSG were at bay only out of caution but still very much in calm control. Once the pace was gone - and idk how no one seems to recall both Sanchez and Mata have both always lacked searing pace - it just made PSG more adventurous without worry.

Truth is we got outdone tactically.

But what could he have done differently for that midfield? Yes we all know mata and Sanchez are slow as hell.

Who was there to sort that midfield out? Bring Fred on in midfield?

Ole may have been outdone tactically but what real options did he have to change it? To make that needed difference.

 

[Stacks]

He is a very capable manager period. He makes every team better and copes well with adversity. Just needs to make that next leap and become a champion. He will eventually and obviously with our resources it would be easier. I would genuinely love it if they stole the title away from the others and yes I'd accept @GlastonSpur gloating for what it takes. I have close pals who are Spurs fans and had season tickets 16/17 years ago when they finished bottom half and it would be nice to see his joy if they won the league

 

[Random Task]

And you're so desperate to justify a terrible performance that you're prepared to massively exaggerate the quality of PSG's backups. A 35 year old Dani Alves and a youth team player are not world class reserves for Cavani and Neymar, not by any stretch of the imagination. That's the definition of making do with what you have, didn't Tuchel call it Plan D or something before the game?

Sanchez and Mata aren't great, nor are they garbage tier footballers or on paper significantly worse options than Dani Alves and Nkunku. You're talking about a right back forced in to right midfield who is 35 years old. It's also a fact that Neymar and Cavani are better footballers (by far) than Lingard and Martial, so it's a bigger step down in quality for PSG than it was for United.

Point missed (again).

You're wrong, I'm not trying to justify the performance (it was shite and I have admitted as much previously) merely I am attempting to point out that our performance dropped immeasurably in the second half following the injuries to Martial and Lingard. Why? Because the options Ole had to replace them were not up to standard - not by a country mile. Tuchel, by comparison, had vastly superior options with which to call up on under similar circumstances and their overall performance was not affected as a result.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

Oles system is heavily depended on the pace in attack. We weren't getting behind enough the 1st half but neither was they. The two teams nullified each other.
Sanchez and Mata are not suited to our new system. It had nothing to do with age. We had struggled in games like Burnely with few attacking rotations so why should we expect to not struggle against even higher calibre of team? The game was effectively lost with two injuries.

Then you need to change the game plan, you can't continue to play counter attacking football if you lack the pace. Even with your quick players in the first half you were failing tactically. PSG always looked more dangerous on the counter than United did - Di Maria/Mbappe were getting in behind and had a couple of very close offside calls, they pretty much always looked more likely to break the deadlock. PSG had the defenders to deal with Rashford/Lingard/Martial on the break, but United did not look like they could handle Mbappe.

The injuries obviously made it significantly easier for PSG to push a few players forward and trap United, but for me they always had the edge in this game, even when United were at full strength.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

Point missed (again).

You're wrong, I'm not trying to justify the performance (it was shite and I have admitted as much previously) merely I am attempting to point out that our performance dropped immeasurably in the second half following the injuries to Martial and Lingard. Why? Because the options Ole had to replace them were not up to standard - not by a country mile. Tuchel, by comparison, had vastly superior options with which to call up on under similar circumstances and their overall performance was not affected as a result.

I fundamentally disagree though. I don't think Nkunku and Alves can be described as 'vastly superior options' to Juan Mata and Alexis Sanchez, I just don't.

What I do think is a point, is that Tuchel had time to base his gameplan around the fact he was missing Neymar/Cavani (sit relatively deep, use the pace of Mbappe/Di Maria on the break and remain disciplined and resolute) , and was able to adapt to that, whereas Ole was forced in to two changes without much time to change the way United approached the game.

 

[charlenefan]

I don’t believe those Dortmund side were budesliga leader or competitive as they are now. They finished top of their group as well. Plus, Spur omission of Kane and Ali were more important than Dortmund omissions. You can even add that Spurs were not playing without both their starting fullback and central midfielder. Plus thrown in an inexperienced Foryth in their defense, but Pochetino handles this omission much better than Dortmund management team did with their which showed the huge gap in managerial quality between the two.

How is Spurs missing their two best attacking players at home even remotely more important than Dortmund missing their two best attacking players away from home?

As for Foryth starting and Spurs' first choice full backs not, that's on Poch no one forced him to play the back line he did both Trippier and Rose were available to play had he wanted to.

you're certainly living up to your tag

 

[Amadaeus]

I'm not telling you my points again, reread if you are confused. DDG is definitely better than Lloris, I surely didn't imply he wasn't. Tedious man. Put Kane, Eriksen, Trippier and Son in United squad for under 50m or whatever and of course United would be a lot better than buying Fred, Fellaini and Mata for triple the amount. Do you disagree? My only point has really been that money doesn't reflect quality and you seem unable to grasp this. Come on now.

With regards to the bold part, I disagree and they wouldn’t be as good as it depends on the type of manager United have at the time.

We saw how Mourinho made United players look average, but with Ole they look completely different. Pogba looked like a joke and most fan was ready to sell him. Same with some players under Van Gaal and Moyes. You can’t just say that these players would do better because these players were developed under Pochettino and they understand his philosophy more than that of any other manager. If any of these players were at United during these past year, they may have been sold to another league and careers hampered because of the lack choosing the right manager to help develop their game.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

How is Spurs missing their two best attacking players at home even remotely more important than Dortmund missing their two best attacking players away from home?

As for Foryth starting and Spurs' first choice full backs not, that's on Poch no one forced him to play the back line he did both Trippier and Rose were available to play had he wanted to.

you're certainly living up to your tag

Rose was injured. He made the bench in case of emergency but he wasn't fit to play, certainly not to start.

 

[charlenefan]

So Sanchez and Mata are 'past their prime' but a 35 year old Dani Alves playing out of position isn't?

Also who the feck even is Nkunku? A quick glance at him this season shows me he's scored 1 goal and got 1 assist in Ligue 1. He's a talented youngster but hardly world class or better than what United have in reserve.

How was Alves playing out of position?

 

[Boycott]

I'm not telling you my points again, reread if you are confused. DDG is definitely better than Lloris, I surely didn't imply he wasn't. Tedious man. Put Kane, Eriksen, Trippier and Son in United squad for under 50m or whatever and of course United would be a lot better than buying Fred, Fellaini and Mata for triple the amount. Do you disagree? My only point has really been that money doesn't reflect quality and you seem unable to grasp this. Come on now.

No one was clamouring for these players when Spurs signed them. Evidently no one thought so highly of them at the time.

When they signed Trippier for 4m we signed Darmian for 12m. We thought we got a good deal because our other option discussed was Clyne.

Same summer they signed Son, we signed Depay. No one was disappointed. In fact the other option discussed a lot was a forward from Germany - Firmino, not Son.

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

How was Alves playing out of position?

He's a right back/right wing back, not a right sided midfielder. He plays advanced enough for that not to be too much of an issue, but he's still never been a natural right winger.

 

[MikeKing]

Eriksen was one of the good players that Pochettino turned into a better players. I already stated that. Even then his value was not extravagant. Not trolling, just giving some a reality check. When you have a track record of turning multiple average players or good players better than they were before, then it is not by luck.

If you really think that is what you are doing, you're post pretty dumb. Stop it. No need to be this provoking. Admit that money doesn't always reflect players quality by it self and I have no issue with your posts, you can keep your fan mentality too.

According to your logic, it would be plausible to say something like Rashford was a 600 000 pound player that Van Gaal turned into a 20m player, and Mourinho turned that 20m player into a 75m player. How about you give the players some credit too, you know, for their talent, hard work and persistence will you?

 

[Amadaeus]

How is Spurs missing their two best attacking players at home even remotely more important than Dortmund missing their two best attacking players away from home?

Those Spurs players are significantly better than those Dortmund attackers. Kane and Ali are more likely to make greater contribution than Reus and Paco. That is why Kane and Ali are now value near half a billion combined.

As for Foryth starting and Spurs' first choice full backs not, that's on Poch no one forced him to play the back line he did both Trippier and Rose were available to play had he wanted to.

you're certainly living up to your tag

Actually some of those players had injuries. Rose(gashed shin), Dier(virus) and Lamela(back injury) were not fully fit and if they were, I definitely believe they would have started. Wanyama may not be match fit and Trippier was perhaps rested.

 

[MikeKing]

No one was clamouring for these players when Spurs signed them. Evidently no one thought so highly of them at the time.

When they signed Trippier for 4m we signed Darmian for 12m. We thought we got a good deal because our other option discussed was Clyne.

Same summer they signed Son, we signed Depay. No one was disappointed. In fact the other option discussed a lot was a forward from Germany - Firmino, not Son.

Sorry what?

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

Those Spurs players are significantly better than those Dortmund attackers. Kane and Ali are more likely to make greater contribution than Reus and Paco. That is why Kane and Ali are now value near half a billion combined.



Actually some of those players had injuries. Rose(gashed shin), Dier(virus) and Lamela(back injury) were not fully fit and if they were, I definitely believe they would have started. Wanyama may not be match fit and Trippier was perhaps rested.

Nah he's just been poor recently. Poch often also goes with Aurier for tactical reasons because he's the superior athlete and better defensively (aside from his brain farts).

Trippier is a fantastic asset against teams who sit deep due to his crossing ability, but too often he is a liability against sides with genuine pace out wide.

 

[Canagel]

Then you need to change the game plan, you can't continue to play counter attacking football if you lack the pace. Even with your quick players in the first half you were failing tactically. PSG always looked more dangerous on the counter than United did - Di Maria/Mbappe were getting in behind and had a couple of very close offside calls, they pretty much always looked more likely to break the deadlock. PSG had the defenders to deal with Rashford/Lingard/Martial on the break, but United did not look like they could handle Mbappe.

The injuries obviously made it significantly easier for PSG to push a few players forward and trap United, but for me they always had the edge in this game, even when United were at full strength.

There was few close offside calls but our high press had clearly unsettled them into rushed passes and they had to make sure to kill our flow each time we tried to turn. Both teams had 1 shot each in 1st half and it was 5 to 2 in the 2nd half..
Our decision making in passing wasn't good and we failed to capitalise- for example Lingard pass with 3 vs 2- when we got in good positions but I thought we was set up well enough. It couldve gone either way imo. Any change we made was going to weaken us as none of the alternatives on the bench could effectively press which was bare minimum we achieved in the first half.

 

[KM]

Question for United fans:

If we had drawn PSG instead, and like you faced them with no Neymar and no Cavani, and put in the same performance at home (1 shot on target, PSG oleing it towards the end) would you honestly not be criticising Pochettino for being tactically outdone?

Say PSG marked Eriksen out of the game and we struggled, would people really not be accusing Pochettino of being one dimensional and for failing to adapt tactically?

As big a fan I'm of Pochettino(you can check my previous posts in this thread regarding him), his team was getting eliminated by a Belgian team in the Europa League.

Spurs are Poch's team and has been molded in his way. This isn't Ole's team. There's no comparison between the two so that's why Pochettino would've gotten more criticism.

 

[Amadaeus]

If you really think that is what you are doing, you're post pretty dumb. Stop it. No need to be this provoking. Admit that money doesn't always reflect players quality by it self and I have no issue with your posts, you can keep your fan mentality too.

According to your logic, it would be plausible to say something like Rashford was a 600 000 pound player that Van Gaal turned into a 20m player, and Mourinho turned that 20m player into a 75m player. How about you give the players some credit too, you know, for their talent, hard work and persistence will you?

Money on most cases reflect quality. Under proper management team, the percentage is so high that is is hard to argue against it. These scout and financial advisors are experts in their field and most club are willing to forgo a player if they don’t see that he is worth their quoted figure. I m not giving all the credit to the manager, there players deserve some as well. But without a proper manager at the helm, it will be very difficult to motivate these player.

 

[Boycott]

Sorry what?

Put Kane, Eriksen, Trippier and Son in United squad for under 50m or whatever and of course United would be a lot better than buying Fred, Fellaini and Mata for triple the amount. Do you disagree? My only point has really been that money doesn't reflect quality and you seem unable to grasp this

All of these players for Spurs were signed without much fanfare at all (Eriksen aside). I have listed two examples where we have signed a different player in the exact same position and it didn't work out. But that's with hindsight. You'll struggle to find a United fan who wanted Trippier or Son when they were sold. It's easy to say seeing how Spurs players have developed but the fact it is so many, and other clubs like Chelsea and Arsenal have the same feelings of burning money on shite and falling behind whereas at the time no one was complaining.

 

[charlenefan]

He's a right back/right wing back, not a right sided midfielder. He plays advanced enough for that not to be too much of an issue, but he's still never been a natural right winger.

He played right wing loads for Barca

 

[MikeKing]

Money on most cases reflect quality. Under proper management team, the percentage is so high that is is hard to argue against it. These scout and financial advisors are experts in their field and most club are willing to forgo a player if they don’t see that he is worth their quoted figure. I m not giving all the credit to the manager, there players deserve some as well. But without a proper manager at the helm, it will be very difficult to motivate these player.

Proper management team? How do you calculate if a team is properly coached or not, statistically, in relevance to the high percentage cases where money reflects quality, in each case. You are so full of shit you don't even know it.

It is very easy. Spurs have low pressure environment, a lot of time to develop players. They use their good scouting network to get good deals for players with potential then use the time and the right manager for them to develop them and make the most of their squad. They make it work with that model and deserve credit for it. That doesn't mean other clubs who is not following that model and instead spend a lot more money have automatically better teams, because they spend more money. That is what you have been arguing for, you see that right? You won't admit it though.

Spurs have a lot of good players, no matter how much they originally cost. Rashford is more important for United than Fred, no matter who is the manager. And the amount of money we paid for Fred will never have a say in that, only performances and player quality! This is just an easy example to disprove your logic. Money spent doesn't reflect player-quality. Take off your crazy-glasses mate.

 

[MikeKing]

Put Kane, Eriksen, Trippier and Son in United squad for under 50m or whatever and of course United would be a lot better than buying Fred, Fellaini and Mata for triple the amount. Do you disagree? My only point has really been that money doesn't reflect quality and you seem unable to grasp this

All of these players for Spurs were signed without much fanfare at all (Eriksen aside). I have listed two examples where we have signed a different player in the exact same position and it didn't work out. But that's with hindsight. You'll struggle to find a United fan who wanted Trippier or Son when they were sold. It's easy to say seeing how Spurs players have developed but the fact it is so many, and other clubs like Chelsea and Arsenal have the same feelings of burning money on shite and falling behind whereas at the time no one was complaining.

Ok. ?

 

[Zlatan 7]

He played right wing loads for Barca

He also doesn’t look like he’s running through sand.

 

[charlenefan]

Those Spurs players are significantly better than those Dortmund attackers. Kane and Ali are more likely to make greater contribution than Reus and Paco. That is why Kane and Ali are now value near half a billion combined.

Better doesn't mean more important.

Kane and Alli are out for Spurs yet they can still call on a player like Son. Dortmund's injuries mean they had to play Gotze as a 9 and Pulisic who's in single digits in terms of starts in 2019

 

[Gentleman Jim]

I genuinely believe we are going to batter them.

This thread has been relatively quiet in recent weeks, only to grow 10 pages overnight because Ole lost a game against arguably the best team in Europe.

Fickle.

Note the addition of 'arguable' to the post.

For me, PSG is as strong as any team in Europe this season. I'm guessing you would claim otherwise. Opinions.

Let’s just get this straight.

Despite PSG being arguably the best team in Europe, your opinion is that you were going to batter them on Tuesday but when you didn’t the posters who are concerned that Ole may not be the answer are fickle?

 

[Gentleman Jim]

I agree with you. There's no way they're the best side in Europe but they're in the top 5, you can't dispute that.

For them to be top 5 they would need to be better than at least 2 of the following;

Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City, Juventus and Bayern Munchen.

Which of them are they superior to?

 

[Fridge chutney]

You're missing the point of the argument.

We have already established that Tuchel tactically outdid Ole (you would be aware of this had you followed the discussion from the beginning) we're now debating the impact of the replacements Tuchel and Ole had available.

There's also something to be said for the fact that Tuchel had all month to prepare a team and gameplan without Neymar and all week to prepare without Cavani. We lost 2 essential attacking pieces in-game at the same time! Not equivalent propositions, and Ole's adjustment would have been significantly more difficult and stressful.

 

[Fridge chutney]

For them to be top 5 they would need to be better than at least 2 of the following;

Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City, Juventus and Bayern Munchen.

Which of them are they superior to?

Everyone bar City, Barca and perhaps Liverpool. Although PSG in depth they are vastly superior to Liverpool. If Liverpool lost Salah and Mane, for example, they'd be scuppered.