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Tyrannosaurus Dan said:
Is Lopetegui really all that or are we just getting excited because he's managed some big clubs? He was sacked by Porto after winning no trophies, he was sacked by Spain after pissing off the Spanish FA, sacked by Madrid after bad results and now it's not going too well at Sevilla. Plus, the reports are that his football is a bit uninspiring with a lack of goals.

I'm not trying to be knob, this is a genuine question btw as I think the only time I have watched one of his teams was when we lost in the Europa League.
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Can't comment on Porto as I don't know much. The Spain sacking was because he spoke to Madrid about taking over after the WC. At Real he was changing the style of play but wasn't afforded the time to implement his plan as they expect instant results.

At Sevilla he took a team who finished around 6th-7th for the previous 5 years and finished 4th 3 times consecutively including winning the Europa League. The style is slower paced possession heavy rather than outright defensive, they weren't free scoring but I wouldn't say lacked goals, they averaged 1.5 goals per game across his tenure. A target we can only dream of currently.

They sold the cornerstone of his team off and replaced them with significantly worse players which is partly why this season has been poor but he's also coming to the end of cycle, 3 years is a long time for a manger imo.
 
WsWolf said:
Can't comment on Porto as I don't know much. The Spain sacking was because he spoke to Madrid about taking over after the WC. At Real he was changing the style of play but wasn't afforded the time to implement his plan as they expect instant results.

At Sevilla he took a team who finished around 6th-7th for the previous 5 years and finished 4th 3 times consecutively including winning the Europa League. The style is slower paced possession heavy rather than outright defensive, they weren't free scoring but I wouldn't say lacked goals, they averaged 1.5 goals per game across his tenure. A target we can only dream of currently.

They sold the cornerstone of his team off and replaced them with significantly worse players which is partly why this season has been poor but he's also coming to the end of cycle, 3 years is a long time for a manger imo.
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And, to be fair, his time at Porto coincided with the best teams Benfica has ever had. The quality of Benfica's team in those years was legendary.
 
GLASGOWOLF said:
Muy Predictive text
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17-jar-jar-binks.w1200.h630.jpg
 
Pretty sure you can check what you post before you press send, regardless of predictive text...

Revolutionary thinking I know, though I'm not sure there is a cure for posting regurgitated made up Daily Mail drivel about Sir Beer Korma out of nowhere.
 
Takes me back to the glory days of “ZaNu Labour”.
 
Tyrannosaurus Dan said:
Is Lopetegui really all that or are we just getting excited because he's managed some big clubs? He was sacked by Porto after winning no trophies, he was sacked by Spain after pissing off the Spanish FA, sacked by Madrid after bad results and now it's not going too well at Sevilla. Plus, the reports are that his football is a bit uninspiring with a lack of goals.

I'm not trying to be knob, this is a genuine question btw as I think the only time I have watched one of his teams was when we lost in the Europa League.
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I'm already somewhat on the Lopetegui train so I'll try and give another side to some of this.

Porto: The Benfica side he lost out to in his first season was very very strong, and his Porto team finished narrowly behind - 82 points, 3 fewer than Benfica. Also only lost 2 games all season and did get to the CL quarter-finals (beat Bayern 3-1 first leg then lost 6-1 in the second).

Spain: Highly-rated as the youth coach and won some tournaments. Qualified for the World Cup rather comfortably with 9 wins from 10 and they didn't lose a game in his 2 years. They scored 61 goals in his 20 games (England scored 35 in Southgate's first 20 games by comparison) and he was also making the transition from their golden generation and bringing through younger players. Can't say for certain what would have happened at that World Cup but I that Spain team looked very good and played really attacking football.

Madrid: Club was in the lurch, Ronaldo had gone and Zidane walked as he didn't think the backing was there for the club to remain competitive. Benzema was nowhere near as good as he was now, people were saying Bale would have to be the new talisman. That team was at the end of the road after those 3 CL wins. It went terribly without a doubt but it wasn't much better under Solari and Zidane that season either. Real then went on to spend a massive amount the following summer to rejuvenate the team.

Sevilla: All 3 seasons has got top 4, won the Europa League in 2020. This season both of the CBs were sold and the spending has been relatively low.

It's a better record than Nuno for comparison. He was sacked after 1 trophyless year at Porto with 76 points (6 behind Benfica), top 4 in his first year at Valencia and then things went to shit and he had resigned by November in the second.

I personally think Lopetegui has a very strong track record as a coach and could be quite good for us. There are not many better who would come to us right now.
 
That final point is the most compelling one, IMO. Nuno was in several ways the budget Lopetegui when he came to us - a similar career, a similar tactical and coaching approach, but inferior in terms of actual results.

If it is him, then it does raise some uncomfortable questions for the board - have we just wasted a lot of time and money on shifting out key players who would still be key players in a similar system for Lopetegui, in pursuit of switching from a counter-attacking to a proactive, pressing team? - but on paper it makes a lot of sense to expect him to be the top target still, besides the timing of him leaving Sevilla.
 
Have we wasted time?

Yes, absolutely. Lage was a ridiculous idea from day one. But real life doesn't come with erasers. As I said the other day, Leicester managed to appoint Craig Shakespeare and Claude Puel, but then go on to recover, finish top five, win the FA Cup.

It's not terminal, but we have thrown away 18 months or so for no reason on a complete nobody.
 
proslo said:
That final point is the most compelling one, IMO. Nuno was in several ways the budget Lopetegui when he came to us - a similar career, a similar tactical and coaching approach, but inferior in terms of actual results.

If it is him, then it does raise some uncomfortable questions for the board - have we just wasted a lot of time and money on shifting out key players who would still be key players in a similar system for Lopetegui, in pursuit of switching from a counter-attacking to a proactive, pressing team? - but on paper it makes a lot of sense to expect him to be the top target still, besides the timing of him leaving Sevilla.
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Lopetegui plays proactive pressing style so.... They don't sit deep or have long periods without the ball like we did under Nuno.
 
Deutsch Wolf said:
Have we wasted time?

Yes, absolutely. Lage was a ridiculous idea from day one. But real life doesn't come with erasers. As I said the other day, Leicester managed to appoint Craig Shakespeare and Claude Puel, but then go on to recover, finish top five, win the FA Cup.

It's not terminal, but we have thrown away 18 months or so for no reason on a complete nobody.
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Agree with all you say, but what the fuck is an eraser? #miserableoldbastard
 
sycophantia said:
Agree with all you say, but what the fuck is an eraser? #miserableoldbastard
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"Real life doesn't come with rubbers" is not a sentence I ever want to type in good faith.

It's only been three days since Lage's last game and it's already got that Saunders/Zenga-esque haze of "how the fuck did that happen, seriously?"

It was an insane decision. Sack the best manager you've had in 40+ years and replace him with a shite youth coach who can't speak English properly.
 
At least we haven't rushed into the Saunders appointment after Jeff has a quick game of golf.
 
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