We sacked him because we started the PL season off like shit and levy didn’t want to admit it was his fault for not rebuilding the squad.
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Maybe this is just a question of defining terms.
"Rebuild", to me, is getting worse on purpose in order for there to be future gains. Which I think is simply not a thing at this level of this sport.
You just try to get better, and whether it happens in three months or five years or never is ultimately down to the quality of the plan and the people implementing it.
The Liverpool blueprint was not "Sell Philippe Coutinho". They just brought in the best people they could find and did the best they could in every window until they found the formula that worked. It wasn't a five year plan, it was a right now plan that got iterated upon as circumstances changed.
And I think where the rubber meets the road here, and the thing I'm ultimately pushing back on is the very toxic notion of "you know the rebuild is working BECAUSE we suck". Utter nonsense.
We need to turn over the squad to get better, and getting better is the stepping stone to getting better still.
Haven't considered that possibility, it would suck if he was just stringing us along to force PSG to meet his demands.
I think that a rebuild would have elements of both in football. Obviously there isn't the added benefit of getting a top pick like in NA sports, but there still is benefit in bringing in young players. I think a proper "rebuild" has aspects of getting worse to get better in the future but in a different way.
I would say an example of this would be bring in Sven Botman, instead of Jerome Boateng. Boateng might be better right now, but if the goal is to have the best team in 2024 then Botman is the better option. So you are technically getting worse now to be better long term.
I think Coutinho is a good example as well, keeping him makes the team better right now, but selling him and using that money on other players makes the team better overall.
Lucas Moura might be better right now than Michael Olise, but Olise is a better option because he is likely to better and has the potential to be top 4 quality while Moura will never be good enough. So if you swap them out you are "getting worse" but probably much better off.
I also think that you have to consider the context. I mean we are getting worse no matter what, so do you want to get worse with 28-32 year olds or 22-24 year olds? To me the latter group looks much more preferable.
Liverpool was a long term plan though. They identified players that weren't good enough and didn't fit their plans and moved them out. They didn't worry if it would make them better or worse, they got rid of players they didn't want and brought in players that fit their system. They were confident enough in their system to think it would work, but they had no problem moving out guys that were "better."
I just think in general that the guys who you are mooting as "the better player in 3 years" is actually most likely the better player now.
And if they aren't, chances are actually pretty high they won't be the better player in 3 years either.
The odd older player on a free doesn't hurt if you're not blocking a younger player with potential, but in general that's definitely not a sound teambuilding strategy for now or later*. Boateng is available for a reason.
*See generally the shower down the Seven Sisters Road paying massive wages to a 31-year-old enigma and surrounding him with Real Madrid loanees. They're going to pay the price for that short-termism, but they also utterly suck now.
The word is that Zaha is up for sale this summer.
I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Poch still has the hots for him, and has told Levy to sign him as part of his incoming wishlist.
Which would mean the end of Lucas, Bergwijn & of course the early retiree golfing icon formerly known as Bale.
I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Poch still has the hots for him, and has told Levy to sign him as part of his incoming wishlist.
Which would mean the end of Lucas, Bergwijn & of course the early retiree golfing icon formerly known as Bale.
I don't think he would be stringing us along per see, I feel reasonably confident that the PSG politics are real. I think coming back to us is real. I think going to Madrid is also real.
If he stays at PSG (whilst being actively pursued by two clubs chucking everything at him to join them) he'll stay probably if they concede some control to him to make him happy. He wins.
If they don't he'll take a job at Spurs, with a Chairman on his knees saying I was wrong, you were right, I'm sorry. He wins.
If he goes to Madrid, one of the 3 biggest clubs in the World. He wins.
I guess what I am responding to is a lot of claims of "we don't want some 20 year old Champo clogger coming in" they aren't good enough. Like what was said last year about guys like Watkins and Eze. Then we are left with Moura, Lamela, Winks and SIssoko because they are "better" than a young player.
It might be that we are arguing against two sides that neither of us actually hold.
I agree that in the rebuild we might not actually get worse, but for me I hope that the fear that we might drop off for a season should not prevent us from making the necessary changes.
I have also yet to see a realistic plan that gets us competitive net season but can think of many that get us there in 3 years.
He’s magic .............????? finish it off boys!!!!
The right three year plan with the right personnel and the right resources will be very very clearly "working" pretty much immediately. I guess that's my point.
We're not waiting for the blooming of Watkins and Eze. Those are just really good players and anyone who doubted them because of the league they were playing in is a bad scout.
And great news, we are adding a guy who outclassed the Championship for free.
That rarely happens and especially not with the financial limitations that we have. That is why I used Liverpool as an example as they are somewhat similar in their financial approach and as we saw under Klopp it took them 3 years before their plan worked. Would you argue they should have made moves to speed that up or was sticking with their plan the right thing to do?
I guess you could argue that this is me using hindsight, but I think at the time you could see that their plans were smart and they were doing the right thing, brining in the players that fit their system and were talented and not rushing to bring in quick fixes to paper over the cracks. They didn't panic when they finished 8th in Klopps first year because they understood that time was needed to make changes. They didn't panic when in the 2nd year they were only 4th with mediocre Cup results and no Europe. They stuck to the plan.
Who is this guy who outclassed the Championship, closest to that was maybe Toney or Buendia and I don't think we are getting either of those guys for free.
Nail on the head.
And when a so called Elite manager failed to take the same squad to anywhere near the levels achieved by Pochettino the narrative peddled by his detractors was shot to fucking pieces.
Another way to put those same facts is that Klopp inherited a mess, made two cup finals and improved as the year went along in his first season, and then got top four and CL qualification in his second.
Again I think we're largely agreeing. Make a good plan for durable success and stick to it.
Poch's group was not the finished article in his first season, and indeed were quite poor initially. But then we battered Chelsea on New Years Day as Kane exploded onto the scene. It was plain to see there was something there.
Then we brought in Toby, Son, and Dele, and flogged off the deadwood that had accumulated for years. Just keep pushing forward.
And The Chavs didn’t have European football to worry about unlike us if I remember correctly!
Big factor. Both Chelsea and Leicester won their titles in Europe free seasons.
Yes I think we are mainly agreeing.
My point is I am fine if we drop off for a year if there are signs it is because we are doing things right and with a plan so something like 8th then 4th and 4th. Rather then just try to paper over things to get quick fixes and going 6th-6-6.
To me the overall approach is more important than immediate results.
Just had it confirmed to me that it is all agreed and will be signed and announced after the weekend. #circles
my sentimental side loves the idea. My head says Levy should have backed him instead of wasting money on Jose and Poch isn’t strong enough with the current management.
Anyway it’s done so let’s move on and look forward to next season.
COYS
my sentimental side loves the idea. My head says Levy should have backed him instead of wasting money on Jose and Poch isn’t strong enough with the current management.
Anyway it’s done so let’s move on and look forward to next season.
COYS
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