Probably going to get this new book. Have the Guillem Balague one yet to read, but that one just covers his time at Barcelona.
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I've read the book by Guillem and I found it to be very good. Sir Alex wrote the foreword. It focuses not just on his managerial career, but also on his playing days at Barça as well as other clubs. From memory the 11 hour chat with Bielsa is covered too.
The best Pep team I've seen was Barcelona circa 2009-11, when Messi was the best in the world yet still getting better and better every game, both Xavi and Iniesta were at their peak, Puyol was playing regularly and was basically their one-man defence, and teams weren't regularly dropping super deep to combat their passing. Manchester United won't have any of those things, so it's doubtful that Pep would turn us into Europe's next great team. Still, would be infinitely better than entrusting Giggs with the club.
Yeah. Looking forward to reading it.
This one came out on Thursday, so I'll probably wait to see what sort of reviews it gets before I buy it. Should be good, and shouldn't be very similar to Balague's book, but I'll still wait.
This team would suit him fine:
----------Rooney/Falcao-------
--------------Mata---------Januzaj
-DiMaria----------Herrera------
--------------Blind--------------
Shaw-----------------------Rafael
--------???--------Jones/Rojo----
--------------De Gea------------
Have to think he'd want a better passing CB and just one of Jones or Rojo starting, though they fit his style of pressing high well in that they should be relatively quick and aggressive in cleaning up clearances from opponents forced deep and hitting long balls that need to be picked off.
I do think a big issue would be that Di Maria and Herrera are high-risk passers who will create chances but also give the ball away, so a manager better suited to those sort of CM's makes sense, and that's not Guardiola.
Sorry for the bump but with Klopp stepping down from Dortmund at the end of this season it looks to have City or Arsenal wrote all over it. So..
It's no secret Pep likes United but what are the chances of him leaving Bayern in a few years? Due to our newly found style (philosophy) I don't think there is a better manager in the world to continue on after LVG than Pep.
It's no secret Pep likes United but what are the chances of him leaving Bayern in a few years? Due to our newly found style (philosophy) I don't think there is a better manager in the world to continue on after LVG than Pep.
Lets give LVG a full chance to show what he can do first.
I said a few years. LVG said he's retiring after United so I can't imagine him putting in more than 3-4 years.
If United's next manager isn't the internal appointment it has to be Pep.
Agreed. Who knows what's going to happen with LVG. We could be playing scintillating football and have the premier league and champions league trophies in the cabinet by the end of his 3rd year and under those circumstances what would make him want to stop or us want to replace him.
When it is time for LVG to move on I think we are made for Pep though.
Pep would be the obvious choice whenever LVG does leave alright.
Van Gaal won't be there for more than 2 seasons. I'm dead certain. You accept his Antics now, just like we did (his First season here is actually very similar to our experience), but he's bound to bust it. Wether Guardiola will be the successor, I don't know. We have to wait for the contract talks in the summer, he will probably be with us till 2018 and leave. If he will win the CL this year, he won't renew. From then on, it will depend on your manager situation at this point.
Agreed, but it should not be internal. It has to be Pep.
That's one approach. But given LVG is unlikely to be around long, I think management at least, if not the fans, need to think about his replacement. We can't leave it to chance, hope when he leaves someone good will be available. We need to think about who we want and try to manoeuvre things so they'll end up with us, not our rivals. I'm not advocating pushing LVG out as soon as Guardiola comes onto the market. But it is surely worth considering, and looking at maybe 2 or 3 managerial options, to maximise our chances of getting someone top quality in when LVG goes, not whoever happens to be available when he goes.
It's interesting you say that, So do you think from next season he will just be hard work?
Yeah, can't see van Gaal managing in his 70s, and from his comments a while back I can't see him staying here past 2017. Fits nicely if Guardiola does leave Bayern when his contract ends and maybe goes for another sabbatical.
Pep replacing Wenger is still an option. I think Klopp could suit Arsenal well, but the timing doesn't seem right. I'd like Pep to take us over once LvG retires though.
How so?
I would argue that Klopp doesn't suit Arsenal well at present in terms of footballing continuity, however, if we're talking about a complete renovation of footballing approach from the ground up, then Klopp would be good for Arsenal.
If we're talking in terms of suitability, Pep is the best person for the job at Arsenal since he will do for Arsenal post-Wenger, what he did for Barca post-Rijkaard; take an existing working concept and perfect it, rather than renovate it.
I have a strong feeling about Klopp and Arsenal, seems a very good fit.
Would love to see Guardiola come to us. Might be be wary of being seen to follow LVG around? He took over at Barca and many credit the way Barca played under him to LVG to some extent. Similarly, LVG is said to have laid the groundwork for him at Bayern. Does he want to have people saying the same thing for his third job as well? Would be care?
Would love to see Guardiola come to us. Might be be wary of being seen to follow LVG around? He took over at Barca and many credit the way Barca played under him to LVG to some extent. Similarly, LVG is said to have laid the groundwork for him at Bayern. Does he want to have people saying the same thing for his third job as well? Would be care?
Cruyff is Pep's biggest influence along with Bielsa and Sacchi. Louis van Gaal has played a part, but not the role the other three i mentioned. Second part in bold i doubt he'd care.
What antics though?
He isn't playing up at United at all. There has been no rumour whatsoever of any unrest at any level with Van Gaal and the fans are behind him.
Van Gaal said the difference between United and Bayern is that the powers that be in Munich had him in their office after three games demanding an explanation for the poor results. I believe that the relationship was poisoned between Van Gaal and Bayern from that moment on.
At United we have the legacy of Ferguson where the manager was all powerful. I could be wrong but I think that United could be the right club for Van Gaal because there are no opposing forces or egos within the club like there are at Barca and Bayern.
If we win the CL this year, I think it's very likely he will leave in 2016. He seems to be someone who wants a mission, winning the silver in Berlin might be just 'mission accomplished'. After 2016 we will need a rebuild regardless of Guardiola staying or not, he left Barca in a similar situation.
Yep, our club is basically built around the manager in many ways. If LVG isn't comfortable here then there was never much chance for him anywhere else.
Yep I'm pretty sure I've heard LVG in interviews(Although I could be wrong)downplay his role and contribution in both those teams.
As for how long LVG will be here, I image as long as United are in the 'Top 4' and LVG is happy to carry on then really as long as he wants. It's been a long time since LVG has had free range at a big club.
Look at his clubs. He left every single one of them, except Alkmaar, in anger. At some point, when the stars aren't shining, he will abuse the media and the fans and will make senseless decisions. After all, he's a prick. Highly competent one, but nonetheless.
I suspect that his departure from Bayern and Barcelona had more to do with the fact that the board of those two clubs will meddle with the football side of things. That doesn't happen at United. Either way, LvG is most likely here for 3-4 years so I can't see there being any critical problems.
Also, we "accept his antics" for now? There has not been any "antics".
You can see my point though? His first job, he perfects a team many trace back to Van Gaal, as far as style goes. He goes to Bayern, everyone says Van Gaal started them off playing possession football. If he came to United it would be the same thing again. People wouldnt necessarily say Van Gaal was his biggest influence. But there is a pattern there, people are sure to pick up on it and spin it in various ways, just to sell newspapers if nothing else. These things can take on a life of their own, who knows how it would be interpreted. I agree with you it looks fairly innocuous, its hard to see how it could be used as a stick to beat Guardiola with. But at the same time I can see someone being wary of tying their successes to someone else that way. You could easily imagine some hack suggesting he needed that platform to build on, that he couldnt teach the style to a group of players, he had to go to clubs where they already played the way he wanted them to play. I dont know, if it was me its something I would think about.
Not really, he had problems with his captain, Van Bommel, and he unfairly benched Butt who was loved by the locker room. In Munich he provoked his fate, the team wasn't in the right state of mind, because of him.
Yeah, as @SirAF said, I think the situations at Bayern and Barca have a lot in common, in a way that both are completely different to us. We have, what, Charlton, and he doesnt interfere.
I dont think the problems will come from power struggles at the senior management level, but if our results are poor for any period of time - as they did at other clubs before he left them - he will be under the same pressure here as he was elsewhere.
Yeah, I think Pep would be ideal. Maybe Klopp is not good so much in terms of style of football. But I think he has the sort of personality to fit in well there and Arsenal could probably change things up anyway. I think they'd give him plenty of time as well, provided he doesn't make them implode ala Moyes.
It might help Klopp too, adjusting his management style to a different type of football. With some of the personnel Arsenal have, I think it could work.
I don't want to step any Bayern fans on the toes but that club is not called FC Hollywood for nothing.. I'm not really fussed about the past to be honest -van Gaal seems to have mellowed a bit in comparison to his reputation also so I seriously doubt there's going to be any problems of that sort at United.
I think Van Gaal has perhaps mellowed with age.
All this chat about him being a prick seems odd, he's never once came across this way whilst in charge of us. Everyone speaks highly of him, even the likes of Zaha have said good things about him. All the players seem to like him.
I think Pep will see out his contract with Bayern, take a year out, and come take over United when LvG retires.
Or am I just being overly optimistic?
All this chat about him being a prick seems odd, he's never once came across this way whilst in charge of us. Everyone speaks highly of him, even the likes of Zaha have said good things about him. All the players seem to like him.
I think Pep will see out his contract with Bayern, take a year out, and come take over United when LvG retires.
Or am I just being overly optimistic?
Just curious, those people who didn't want Mourinho because he doesn't stay anywhere for long now want Pep Guardiola? 
How many managers leave a club in a great state? Ususally a manager leaves because he's been forced out or because its an end of an era, things have run their course and a new man is required to freshen up the team. I can't think of many cases where a manager has left a club in rude health.
The reality is that Van Gaal is a force of nature and with that comes drawbacks. He's evidently got an ego and that can also cause problems. For me, if there's a club where he can do a good job at and leave gracefully without those type of problems then its here. The likes of Bayern and Barca (as with a lot of European sides) are run differently as you have other "club" people involved in decision making. Those people often themselves have big egos so you can see why there would be a clash.
And the press issue doesn't matter over here as much as in the rest of Europe. The press will like a controversial manager because they have things to write about - good or bad. It makes it easy to sell papers if a manager is prickly, but they're not powerful enough to get someone sacked for a club job in my opinion.
It might all go belly up here - but it also may not. The players seem now to be responding to him and the managment of the club will let him get on with his job without interfering. And we had a similar character in Fergie for decades and it worked well.
It's true they are called FC Hollywood and Van gaal was an active member, in this Hollywood thing.
Just curious, those people who didn't want Mourinho because he doesn't stay anywhere for long now want Pep Guardiola?
I think people may be coming around to the idea that we don't necessarily need another "Ferguson" in terms of a manager staying for a decade++
I would be very comfortable if we keep building on van Gaal's style with the right type of managers succeeding him (Pep would be the obvious one first out). I'm not talking about a future manager merry go round, but I don't think it has to be a bad thing to get fresh leadership and ideas every 5-6-7-8 whatever years.
"When in Rome"
He did it before, though.
Good that many people have come round to a rational way of thinking, trying to replace Sir Alex with "another Sir Alex" was always going to be a fools errand and it cost us very very dearly with the disastrous 13/14.
That was also "Rome". Manchester United is less likely to generate that kind of atmosphere - not saying it is 100 percent impossible, but it's not likely.
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