All coaches need the absolute trust and respect of their players.Yes, it was a whore's abortion. I am not trying to be glib, but you cannot compare Pep with Poch. Pep has been a stinking failure in the CL over the last 9 years, but in that time, he has still managed to win trophy after trophy while serving up fabulously entertaining football. He is a flawed genius, whereas Poch is just a very good coach.
Leeds players still bought into Bielsa and his psychopathic ways despite missing out at the last hurdle last season, and reaped the benefits with promotion this season. But historically, Bielsa has lost the confidence of other groups of players and been sacked.
When players challenged Ferguson - eg Stam and Keane - he got rid asap.
I lost a huge amount of respect for Pep last night. His team selection and tactics were a betrayal of everything he's spent years showing and telling us he stood for. And his stubborn refusal to acknowledge he'd fucked up meant Sterling missing a sitter was about the only clear cut chance they had. If he'd gone with his normal 4-3-3 stuffed full of creative sparks, they'd probably have made 5 or 6 great opportunities. And if they still lost, at least the fans would have thought "we gave it our best".
My point is that some senior players may have lost some confidence and respect for Pep last night. KDB did not look happy.
It's a very fine line for all coaches.
When our players bought into Poch and the high press, we literally blew away some great teams despite some flawed game plans. But once the doubts crept in, and Poch started to lose his own focus and MoJo, we became a shadow of what we had so recently been.
And yes, some of the players were / are not good enough at the very top level.