₦airaland Forum

dmcdad:
Na wa to you oooo. We no induct am fully or for am to be a cule. Na just to help him life get back on track with all the numerous heartbreaks wey both Hazard and Chelsea dey give am.

Afterall, who e epp?

So after we don help am get back on track, na to come dey wish us bad ehn? God dey sha.

Krasid:
We are tired of Barcelona and their shenanigans.Imagine having 19! Penalties and countless red cards against the opposition teams in just one Liga season.This nonsense has to stop.

At least we are yet to be awarded a penalty for a foul clearly committed outside the box. Gerrit?

bykebyke:
Ready to Pounce.

I dey tell you
People wey no dey even watch the match go follow join once them hear red card. We don suffer walahai

Chelseafan1:
If una lose or draw pere, some of una go fyt me ds nyt cos I go too laugh una.

You say?
By the way, I thought we once inducted you into the fold? You no dey support Barca again ni

Some dudes already viewing....awon Olote

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ollah1:
Hey folks. Sergio ramos and Diego Godin. Who is the better defender in the past 2 years? No sentiments pls and try to state your reasons.

I'll go with Godin any time any day. He's calm, unassuming, solid and brilliant.

eyoniggar:
In as much as I have decided not to care if they drop points or not. You cant but hope to see them drop points in your own heart of heart. I was thinking a draw would happen, knowing fully well that this is the same socie that handed us a bitter defeat on the 9th of april, useless peepo!!

Yes, I would be happy seeing them drop points. But, I never really expected anything special from Sociedad. Na we dem dey always follow do gra gra.

SIRcumalot:
those two barca directors you mentioned are responsible for signing mangala and sterling at those outrageous price. they aren't magician.

glad you mentioned that inter team
what,happen to that team after they won Their UCL title ?
they fell apart.
that is what would happen to this city team after this season I know we make jokes about benitez but he isn't totally to blame for that inter team.


this city performance in the UCL you're watching is the last hoorah.
of a veteran team on her last leg.
have they blown you away so far?
yaya is finished,kompany is been held together by duct tape and Silva hasn't been Silva this year.
why you dey mention only Joe?
am not making excuses just adding another perspective.
i[b]f it comes down to money,everybody has [/b]money.

If it's about money, everybody has money!
You sabi walahi!

GBR1:
What clearing out? You mean like replacing Joe hart because he's not enough to be keeper in Pep's possession system or replacing Otamendi because he can't pass well enough from defense? whose fault is it that he can't make use of players good enough already and he has to replace them with quality ones enough to his taste? Squad age is not an excuse if the players are still good enough and capable of delivering. Do you know the average age of Jose's Inter side for example that won the treble in 2010?
Thers's no debate here. City currently have the best squad in the league( too bad Pellegrini is underachieveing because City were heavy favourites this season and most folks expected them to walk the league considering the quality pf their squad and those they added in the summer). City position on the league table doesn't change the truth or you can ask yourself why this same City team is in the semis of the CL and it's that simple. They have the biggest cash to spend again, and this is known too. Pep has had his work cut out for him as much as possible. He has the greatest chance of being successful at city than any other PL club and he's a genius again for taking that chance.

I know of two former Barcelona directors/folks who are at City who have worked with him previously and are already working with him again. You are only making this easier for me by saying this. Those guys there couldn't have stop him from taking the United or Chelsea job and it was more of his choice than anything though i know City have been working on it for long.
City can comfortable outspend Chelsea or even United without even blinking and i'm surprised you didn't even know this. The same Chelsea that failed to release the funds Mourinho asked for in the summer is what you are comparing to Manchester City.
Financial Fair Play FFP is basically dead for now you know what this means, don't you?

I got your point bro.
As per the emboldened, there's no doubt about City spending power. But methinks, if Baba olowo could present a blank cheque to Pep to name his price, he can definitely give him any amount he needs to prosecute his task.
All in all, the season is almost here, let's get our fingers crossed to see our events unfold.

SIRcumalot:
I honestly think he would've been better off picking us or Chelsea even.
on the surface the city job looks easy until you look at the squad's age and the amount of clearing out he'll be doing plus
the instant win now mentality the fans want,this won't be like the Bayern job.
and I think Pep knows this and want to prove his doubter wrong.
city has only two sure players and one is always injured.
his already a great coach but he somehow turns city into a European power house then nobody go talk rubbish.

I admire your assessment of the City squad. The team did not win the league last season and have already lost it this season. If Pep gets there, eliminates some big names, brings his own players, plays a style beautiful to behold and wins titles in the process, while some may be forced to admit he's genius, there are some that would still find a way of down playing his achievements.

GBR1:
When Pep decided he was leaving Bayern, he had the choice on a platter to chose from United, Chelsea and City etc but he picked City who currently and undeniably have the best squad in the league and this package comes with almost unlimited funds for him to spend as he pleases. Regardless, he still gonna spend so much money and sign the very best players for him to compete and we both know why; he has always had the best of the crop to work with and City is the club in the PL that comes so close to guaranteeing that.
He has had his work cut out for him obviously and saying the contrary is very deceitful.

If you know the Barca connections in City, you will not question his choice of going there. Besides, I don't know the amount he needs to spend at City that The baba olowo of Chelsea cannot supply.

raumdeuter:
The only thing he would do at City is win in England maybe win 2 league titles

I doubt City would win the CL

City might not win the CL, it's no guarantee for any club. But, trust him to always push the team to the semis. I am just interested in what his success would be attributed to when he gets there.

diggz:
Ok. Great.....!

@ Nihililist, afrodoc,A40,GBR1

Sebod has agreed to a deal. Na to wait make pep reach city remain oooo...!

Yes I agreed because I am sure he'll dominate EPL and do well in Europe. But, I'll also be here to remind you guys when his success is attributed to something else....like working with great materials already prepared by his predecessor... God sparing us all till then.

diggz:
What are u fixing sir?

Or what did u fix sir?

U funny sha

You didn't get it? I actually agreed with the emboldened as I am sure he'll succeed in City.

jstbeinhonest:
Just as i feard. RIP Vich. cc sebod.
.

I dont see how sociedad would score,Vela,Carlos Martinez and
Imanol Agirretxe are all out .

I didn't even see them winning Madrid with the aforementioned guys on ground let alone when they are not. We just must keep winning if we must retain the tittle rather than hoping the Madrid clubs drop points.

diggz:
@ sebod...

I don't care about the comparison BTW MOU and pep for the records.

The post you responded to never indicated any comparison BTW both coaches so pls don't deviate.

The fact is I and many orders are in doubt of the bogus genius title you gladly dash pep at will bro. I personally wont judge him till I see what he does with the city team down 2 to 3 seasons.

If he fails to replicate the dominance he had with barca team or win at least a UCL cup for city or qualify them for finals and minimum of the semis. Then you and I will have to agree he doesn't deserve the genius title.

Agreed??

Fixed sir!

ollah1:
A barca team that fought for all trophies but lost 2 on the final day and it's been branded the worst barca team. If thats so Mou shouldnt celebrate winning barca thag year too. Abi no be so? Lol, it was Mou's choice to buy Etoo and use torres. If he wanted better players, he would have.

So you a Chelsea fan didn't know Chelsea won CWC. You are a disgrace, your fellow fans here must be disappointed.

Madrid were loosing out in group stages pre mou? Whew!! I learnt new things today

They lost the CWC to Corinthians.

SIRcumalot:
who tell you say SAF dey fear to play Barca ?
like say we never beat una twice on our way to win this thing.

there is nothing like pep style

Man U haven beaten Barca before but no team wanted to face Barca in 010/11 UCL.

pamcode:
Well there have been lot of great managers some reach the top doing extra ordinary stuffs. One thing i know is that all this great managers gave their 'BUT'. This makes the job of Camparing managers very tiresome and debatable.

Nevetheless I believe Mou and Pep are both genius of their generation and trying to Find the better one is just like trying to Find the better between Messi and Ronaldo. No compromise can ever be reached.

I give it to you bro!
What makes Mou genius despite his shortcomings also makes Pep one as there's no coach anywhere in the world who achieved and won it all every time.

diggz:
Let's even assume pep beats athletico and fails to win the final or athletico knocks him out and he fails to reach the finals. Will A40 be justified? I had say,Yes!!!!

However,for many who are still skpetical about Pep's genius as a coach regarding the round leather game(I inclusive),I say we wait till next season.

He will be inheriting a multimillion pounds squad in Man city. Plus,he will also have the resources required to buy whoever he needs.

For us the skpetics we would love to see him prove us wrong by dominating Europe and the league with man city.

If he does,he gets crowned a Genius. If he doesn't,then Nihilist,afrodoc,I and several others would have being justified.

Agreed?

If dominating Europe is a strong yardstick for measuring genius, then Mou is never a genius. Mou never dominated Europe despite winning UCL with two clubs. Nobody feared his team, nobody talks about the style he won with, you dominate when other clubs pray never to be drawn against you.
When Pep was at Barca, every coach including the great SAF never wished to play his team, that's dominance.
By the way, Mou too took over a Madrid team that was an assemblage of stars with enough money to get who ever he wanted because Madrid wanted to dominate Europe at all cost as Barca were doing, we all know how it ended. Mou had to play dirty even to rescue something out for his team and still got fired while Pep's style of play still remains the reference point till today.
If Mou is genius, so is Pep regardless if he wins UCL with Bayern.

GBR1:
So now spending money or signing players is now your criteria or determinant in achieving success? Just listen to yourself. You are the same dude who goes about dissing EPL clubs for spending so much with little to show for it and now you are using that same premise conversely to argue that Chelsea were the strongest then because no one could match them financially.
I'm not surprised this is coming from you. The hypocrisy left unchecked in your past is always coming to hurt you.

You obviously didn't get the point bro.
Mou got to Chelsea and spent big to bring in proven players, he won some tittles albeit not winning it all, he's termed a genius.

While Pep inherited a poor team who had no confidence left in them after finishing 3rd on the log, sent away the super stars, built a fresh team and won it all in style. He's just a good coach.

afrodoc2:
It seems you are unaware that Rijkaard one of the greatest failures of them was there before Pep. If you want to talk about foundation he did the laying

Yes I am aware Rijkaard was there before Pep, but I won't agree he did any laying.
Rijkaard had a team that had Dinho, Eto and Deco as the brain behind the team while Pep had Xavi, Iniesta, Busi and Messi as his pillars. Rijkaard had Thuram, Puyol, Zambrota, Oleguer and co as his defenders while Pep had Abidal, pique, Puyol, Alves and co as his.
Rijkaard never did any laying as he handed over a team dead in confidence to Pep.

afrodoc2:
Let me simplify Nihilist point.
All these FAILURES as managers come to Barca and suddenly start winning titles and they go elsewhere and continue as failures
This makes us believe that you do not have to be a genius to be extra successful in Barca. U only have to be good or great.
IF FAILURES CAN BECOME SUCCESSFUL IN BARCA THEN ANYONE CAN

While those that came to Barca after Pep and won tittles could be termed any name, the guy that laid the foundation to make things easy for them must be a genius. He got the best out of the guys, built a lasting legacy that became the benchmark of footie while those that came after him have not been able to replicate his feat.

Nihilist:
No doubt he put the team together, but this was mainly a team of already existing world class talent. Dayo is mentioning Hleb and Caeceres. How many games did they play?

Sebod, the talent was already on ground, the talent already knew try Barca way. Pep just happened to be there at the time.

Bar Tata, Pep's successors have been Barca insiders. One could argue that Any single one of them could have been Pep.

I mean look at Donkey Enrique, sacked from 2 clubs, all of a sudden winning back to back trophies in 2 seasons.

Come on mehn...

The talents were already on ground admittedly, now let's look at the talents on ground and analyse them.
If another coach, let's say Mou had taken over the team then;
1. Xavi( a talent) who was already on his way out would have been allowed to go.
2. Iniesta( a talent) who was always dragging a spot with Dinho, Deco, edmilson and co would probably have been let go too to pave way for a bigger player.
3. No one would have even heard of Sergio Busquest(a talent) till date.
4. Pique wouldn't have been bought and,
5. Messi(a talent) would have remained a winger producing 20-25 goals per season.
There would have been no talents to make reference to today.
With the team giving to Mou, Barca would have won some tittles with no particular style. Barca would just be there as just another club that won titles.
The fact that we now have a style the world is is praising and trying to emulate today in itself makes Pep a genius.
He already made the team and the talents strong, a foundation which other coaches built/ are building on.

afrodoc2:
Dayo by the time Barca faced us they had scored 105 goals in the league alone and you want to lie to the younglings here that they were underdogs?
Your 419 no be here

Man U were clearly the favourite as the defending champions. They had a full squad as against a Barca team that had Iniesta playing on injection, and have to improvise with Sylvinho and Puyol playing as the full backs.

Nihilist:
I think you lack basic comprehensive skills.

The point here is that Barca are a team so strong that even when their manager was dying, and they were managerless In a manner of speaking, they were still able to romp to the title.

Vilanova's successors were able to replicate Pep's success in varying degrees despite a crucial lack of winning experience.

How many managers win the Apex league of a major European country at first attempt? How many won the European trophy at first attempt? How many coaches did this with a team not called Barca?

The rest of your post is either irrelevant or hot garbage. I can see you going on about some cockroach or what not. Please don't quote me again

The point is that there wouldn't have even been a team so strong without Pep. He got a losing team that finished 3rd on the log, transformed the team, made the team strong and won it all in the process. The team he made strong became the bench mark of football.

Nihilist:
Sebod thank you, you have spoken well.

I think I already countered all those points though...

Yea, just seeing that you guys have really moved far.

Nihilist:
But what has Pep really done sef?

Like we've seen after he left, any donkey off the street can replicate his success at Barcelona.

The tiki-taka philosophy is instilled from an early age at la-masia, and most of the members of that team are la-masia including pep himself...

OK so he kept Xavi, moved Messi inside, promoted Busquets..but an argument could be made that being a la masia insider, he was more intimately acquainted with the original Barca/Cruyff philosophy than say LVG and Rijkaard, and thus in a better position to identify la masia graduates that would fit the philosophy.

With the array of world class talent at his disposal at Barca, should we even be lauding his 'achievements'? I mean Messi is clearly a freak of nature...

At Bayern, Pep once again has access to the best players in the world, but is competing in a one horse league. Can we genuinely expect anything less than domestic clean sweeps from Bayern with that squad? especially with their tendencies to cannibalise their closest competition

Why does pep keep failing in Europe when he faces competition that is either at par or slightly superior to his squad?

Is Pep really that much of a genius at all?

Compare to Jose who has won UCL TWICE in thr capacity of an underdog.

Oya Barca boys - sebod dmcdad homesteady fall in. BAYERN boys, you too.

In the 06/07 season, Barca finished 2nd on the log, crashed out of the UCL in the round of 16 with Ronaldinho being the highest goal scorer with 24 goals. Barca finished 3rd on the log in the following year, got knocked out of UCL with Henry as the highest goal scorer with 19 goals.

Pep took over in 07/08 season as a young untested coach. He declared the brains behind the team( Dinho, Deco and Eto) surplus to requirements to the chagrin of many. Dinho and Deco departed while Eto stayed, many players were also sold to accommodate the new ones.
Xavi had almost signed for Milan, Pep talked him to staying. Pique, who was sparingly used at United was bought back, Busquest was promoted, Iniesta was handed a full role by the departure of Dinho,Deco, Edmilson and Mota.
Pep assembled his team, made an inexperience Busquest his fulcrum, committed the midfield to Xavi and Iniesta and reshuffled them upfront.
Many queried his decisions, but asked to be judged at the end of the season. He played the best kind of football, the team became the talking point in the world of football, he had no other way of playing beside playing beautifully.
He got to the UCL finals where many thought his team(affected with injury) would be destroyed by Man U that had a super star in CR7. He showed the world how footie should be played and won the great sir Alex team. He went on to win the treble (the 1st in the history of La Liga), later won the sextuple ( a feat that has never been achieved). His team became the benchmark and every coach started thinking of how to stop him.
He won his 2nd UCL in 3 years and became the most sought after coach in the world.
Call him over rated, but I will say he packaged himself so greatly that even the so called great coaches are envious of him.
It's so easy now to allude every success the team has made from from 2008 to the brilliance of the team(even though majority of the players are termed average) and claim anybody can coach Barca, but trust me, without the work Pep did on the team, the team would have won some trophies but definitely not in the way and manner at which they have won and nobody today would be talking about the team that defined an era.
What has Pep done? He took over a team that was not winning, transformed the team and won everything there is in the world of football albeit with style and grandeur.
As regards Mou winning same UCL with smaller teams, yes, he won 2 UCL, but we all know whose team is the envy of all coaches, players, fans and even rivals. We know whose team gave many coaches headache on how to face, we all know whose team every other club wanted to avoid then.

airmark:
You are a very unserious person.

airmark:
He failed woefully ? but none of the goals was his fault. Failing woefully must have got a new meaning.

I saw the game, all I saw was a DM that lost possession, exposed his back line, gave ill timed passes, lost control of the game, miss-calculated tackles and the funniest was mopping the grass in the box when he should be standing firm in marking out his tormentor. And, at that pointed, I just shook my head and said 'airmak must be a joker' and guess what? Wifey asked 'who is airmark'

homesteady:
I don't want to even talk about the krychowiak exploits during their match against Sporting Gijon!
I'm sure this airhead didn't watch it or border to see the highlights! There is a high probability that he didn't even know about the match! Because he would have stopped disturbing us with his name by now!

I wouldn't know if he's really a great player, but, if what I saw him play last night is anything to go by, I'll prefer our Song playing in front of my defence.

dmcdad:
Na true jare. Besides, na we dey allow them do gra gra for our side, honestly.

I concur!