version

Well-known member
Olmo was decent for Spain in the Euros. The other two don't strike me as Xavi's type of player at all.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I was very impressed by him too.
Maybe it was just bollocks. I guess maybe anyone would happily take Haaland even if his style is not theirs.
 

wild greens

Well-known member
Pogba is on a free in the summer isn't he, he's going to be linked with every big club most likely. I'd assume he goes to PSG to replace Mbappe as the French star in the side
 

version

Well-known member
City and PSG feel like examples of how and how not to pour tons of cash into a football club. One spends big, but actually seems to have some sort of strategy and organisation, the other just throws money around.
 

wild greens

Well-known member
I've watched PSG a few times this season assuming the Messi/Neymar/Mbappe combo would be unstoppable and they're just dull more than anything else. Very workmanlike midfield considering the amount of money they spend
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
City and PSG feel like examples of how and how not to pour tons of cash into a football club. One spends big, but actually seems to have some sort of strategy and organisation, the other just throws money around.
I think that City have managed to get to a settled position and then they are constantly having to maintain that level, whereas PSG have never really got a good solid base and they keep splurging in different directions to somehow arrive at it. I dunno if City had a bit of luck there or have had more patience with managers or perhaps Pep is just better.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Pogba is on a free in the summer isn't he, he's going to be linked with every big club most likely. I'd assume he goes to PSG to replace Mbappe as the French star in the side
He's a great player of course but I feel that he never quite produces his top level consistently enough to be as good as he should be and to justify the money spent on him.
 

version

Well-known member
I think that City have managed to get to a settled position and then they are constantly having to maintain that level, whereas PSG have never really got a good solid base and they keep splurging in different directions to somehow arrive at it. I dunno if City had a bit of luck there or have had more patience with managers or perhaps Pep is just better.
Pep's one of the best, but City also went out of their way to plan for him specifically. They went and hired a bunch of the higher ups from his time at Barca and had the whole thing set up for him when he got there. It sounds as though they organised the club around him the way you might organise a team around a player.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I'm not necessarily saying he's lazy or uninterested or anything like that. Players get stuck with that sort of tag cos of the way they look when they run or cos of one influential article or whatever and really it's a lot of guesswork from people outside the situation who don't really know what is going on.

I think it's just as likely that he is trying too hard and overthinking things or is geing affected by the pressure or one of a million other reasons.

But whatever the reason, he's never been the Roy Keane style leader of the team, someone whose very name on the teamsheet reassures your players and scares the opponents... and when you spend 100 million on a world cup winning central midfielder that's what you hope you're buying.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Pep's one of the best, but City also went out of their way to plan for him specifically. They went and hired a bunch of the higher ups from his time at Barca and had the whole thing set up for him when he got there. It sounds as though they organised the club around him the way you might organise a team around a player.
Yes absolutely. A solid foundation. Though he needs to win the CL to be considered truly successful there... and it is conceivable that PSG could do that first. But for me it feels as though PSG will need a large slice of luck to do that whereas if City win it they will do so by simply being the best team.
 

version

Well-known member
Yes absolutely. A solid foundation. Though he needs to win the CL to be considered truly successful there...
Yeah, although I wouldn't hold it against him if he didn't. He's been a success there with or without it and it's a tough one to win.

The money argument comes up a lot too and he obviously does have absurd spending power, but you only have to look at how Poch is doing at PSG or how Koeman did at Barca to see that an expensive squad isn't everything.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
What happened at Bayern? Why did he move on so quickly? The managers before and after him both won the CL I think.
 

version

Well-known member
What happened at Bayern? Why did he move on so quickly? The managers before and after him both won the CL I think.
It just didn't happen. The squad had lots of injury problems, he got some things wrong tactically and the Spanish teams were still on top of the world.

And nah, Heynckes won the treble the season before, but Bayern didn't win the CL again until last year.
 

version

Well-known member
Three. They appointed Ancelotti after Pep then Heynckes came back then Kovac then Flick, who won it against PSG last year.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Portugal took an almost instant lead against Serbia and the manager totally lost it, got so angry the ref booked him.
 
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