Gurgen football has been around for over a century. We’ve seen lots of innovations in that time from Chapmans W-M, to Socialist Football, Total Football, Catenaccio, snd Tikitaka. What you see is a lot of these systems build on each other. Total Football is borne of Socialist Football. But none of them are exactly like precedents because they add new elements which create a fundamentally different look and feel. That’s how most innovation works.

The part about the club in trouble - let’s see. City have structural issues that are showing up a season or two earlier than I expected, plus this Rodri issue. He has a job on his hands. Hope he flops

      Gurgen Many of the things you list existed decades before he first managed a game. He is a fantastic manager but he has never managed a club in trouble, so we will never know how good he really is.

      That is the thing, in this country managers like Shankly, Fergie and Wenger took clubs which were historically big but nowhere near the top and transformed them into footballing superpowers. From a purely footballing perspective Pep may be better than them but he's taken over clubs with deep pockets and great players, clubs who has won titles a year or two before he took over. No doubt he has taken them up a level or two while he was there but he's never built a club from the foundations up.

      At Liverpool Shankly is seen as a bigger figure than Paisley who won a lot more than Shankly. Nowadays people have a very simplistic way of comparing with stats/trophies.

        Claudius "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun..."

        Who knows, Claude. Soon we might be back to flying wingers and paired strikers in a good ole 442, eh? 😛

            7 days later

            This is fucking rich. Hilarious. I will give him Porto.

            That said, when even Chelsea people are calling out your corruption...

              Sicario2 - Tier 1 He also won a CL with Porto with minimal spending. Something Pep could never do.

              During a season which it later transpired that they were bribing officials and docked points. They were also subsequently banned from the CL in the 2008 season albeit before winning an appeal which allowed them back in.

              Claudius I will give him Porto.

              I wouldn't.

                    He cheated to the CL with Porto too, just a different flavour of cheating.

                      Sicario2 - Tier 1 it was genius. He stacked 10 players in front of the goal and had them lump it up to Milito.

                      Il Principe won that title single-handedly in a team that played OG terrorist-ball. Fair play if that impresses you. I guess the Special One had to choose not to play football, so in that sense, he succeeded.

                          Sicario2 - Tier 1 Ok now fault him winning the CL with Inter (the last time an Italian team won the competition).

                          By spending loads of money on great players near the end of their careers resulting in the club needing to replace everyone within the next 2 seasons. Mourinho saw this and left immediately after winning the CL, similar to how Fergie did the same thing at United by quitting right after winning the PL when he knew he just assembled an over the hill team for their last hurrah. after the expected 3rd season sharp decline the next 2 seasons

                              Coombs

                              Bro football is about winning. What has Artera won bar an FA Cup in 5 years and spending £800m?

                              I’m sure none of us would mind if we went Set Piece FC all the way through the season and won the title?

                              Mourinho masterminded a win against Barca, that Barca, in the Nou Camp as well. Terrorist ball or not that deserves huge credit.

                              I get it, you guys don’t like Jose because of his interactions with Wenger and the fact he’s a cunt (I hated him too) but you can’t deny his record whatever excuse you want to use.

                                Big Willie

                                I’m sure the fans would have taken ten years of being average if they won the CL.

                                If you give me the CL this season, I will sign for us to be shit for the next ten years.