Sister of fu wrote:Im_Spartacus wrote:Sister of fu wrote:Pep lost 9 league games in three years at Bayern. I know the premier is very different but I will happily take that over the next 3 years. There is not chance we will get battered time after time under him like we have this season, not happening. We have been a shambles in the league and anyone who thinks otherwise is deluded.
To be fair, I think Pellegrini found his true level this season.
I recall his last season at Malaga before joining us, when they were bad they were fucking atrocious defensively and would get walloped having thrown in the towel, yet somehow he got them through to the latter stages of the CL. Sound familiar?
Add in some yaya Toure style characters and you get exactly the sort of half arsed shit we had this season. Really not particularly unexpected really, and perhaps to cut the players some slack, I understand that they would admit that he didn't work them or push them as hard as he could have done - I know there's certainly been murmurs of that......player attitude is only part of the puzzle, it's still up to the boss to light the fire in them and get the extra 10% out of them that makes them the world class players we signed.
A season of highs and lows for me......we got the experience of going through 2 knockout rounds in the CL which will be valuable in the years ahead for some of the players. I can take or leave the cup win, as we were shite in the final and won on a lottery, and beyond that the season was bad. We are incredibly lucky that Chelsea imploded, or we would have a big fucking problem now re champions league.
I think today's game really summed up pellegrinis time at the club and the season overall, started off great, ended up as a bit of a damp squib
I have had some shite off rags for saying I am not sad to see him go and them saying I'm ungrateful blah blah blah. But the buck stops with the guy at the top IMO.
I have recently started a new job and have an amazing manager, who has pretty much lit a fire under me, I'm motivated, work long hours and do a shift. I didn't do that for my previous boss as they couldn't motive me. Nice person but just not able to motivate.
I'm hoping Pep has that affect on our players. Sometime it just needs that spark. Sadly Pellers didn't have that. I reckon Pep has it in spades.
In my line of work, it's about getting people in organizations to perform to their maximum through rules, carrots and sticks. Just because I'm paid well doesn't mean that every day I will perform at 100%, in fact half the time I just can't be arsed - and need a manager to keep me motivated just as much as my team rely on me to motivate them.
I really struggle with the concept that people have, that just because a player is paid 100k a week, he should perform any worse or any better than a player who is paid 100 quid a week. Whether you paid Aguero 50k or 500k a week, he would still be, and have the talent and ability of Sergio Aguero - and a good manager can bridge the pay gap to achieve the top performance even if the pay is shit.
What fundamentally concerns me in football is the lack of understanding amongst fans that on any given day a world class player may play at say 75% of their potential, which brings their level of performance down to lower standard players who may be more motivated (eg Leicester). It is the manager's job to get the players performing consistently in the 75%+ category, coaxing out the extra discretionary effort which is what makes the player and therefore team, world class.
Allied to tactics that suit the strengths of those world class players, it is the manager that will make the difference between us being greater than, or less than the sum of our parts. Pellegrini, ultimately has to accept responsibility that for the majority of this season, the team has been less than the sum of the parts. Whatever the reasons or individual issues, he is ultimately accountable for making the performances happen. I put Mancini in the same category for what it's worth.
That's why I feel very little sympathy or nostalgia for managers who consistently have us punching below our collective weight and accept long term underperformance like we have seen from Toure, Bony or others.