UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals

[Flying Okapis]

Tuchel stole a DFP Cup from German dominators Bayern with a very average midfield and defence in 16/17 - the only outstanding thing about that side was the attack. Managed the PSG characters with whom Poch is struggling now - look at them in the CL, they're definitely worse now. Also didn't get beat to a league in France - something that happened to Emery and might as well happen to Poch this season. Two CL finals in a row. The second with a dodgy Chelsea side he transformed, especially defensively. What's also very impressive is he's got a points average of above 2,0 points at Dortmund, PSG and Chelsea - that's a very exclusive group: Quick search I only found Guardiola, Ancelotti and Conte who also consistently average more than 2,0 points at big clubs. Mourinho used to be there and surprisingly even was at 1,97 during his United stint. Wenger app is at 1,95 for his Arsenal time, Ferguson at 2,06 or something at United. Puts Tuchel into a very exclusive club of absolute top managers. Think he might be seriously underrated by some, including me to a degree.

Said it in the manager wish list thread but we seriously need to be all over Conte if he leaves due to Inter's financials or for any reason he doesnt fancy Inter anymore.

Elite manager.

 

[dashsnow17]

They're switching the final from Istanbul to Wembley? I mean i get it, but why Wembley? It's so boring. Do it at Hampton, or Cardiff, somewhere a bit more interesting.

 

[dashsnow17]

There's a good line in here about how football has become like Formula 1, it's a big spectacle but it's also incredibly stratified and mainly just about spending money. When I think of the best things about the CL in recent years, I'd say the Monaco and Ajax teams that got to the semi-final. They were brilliant, but the real shame is they couldn't win it, and they were taken apart immediately afterwards by bigger clubs. I feel like in the 90's those teams could have won the CL, but now you have one chance and then your players get bought by bigger fish to fill these super squads.

Money, Power, and Respect at the Champions League Final

Chelsea and Manchester City have shown that you can have it all, as long as you’re willing to pay for it

www.theringer.com

 

[Toby]

There's a good line in here about how football has become like Formula 1, it's a big spectacle but it's also incredibly stratified and mainly just about spending money. When I think of the best things about the CL in recent years, I'd say the Monaco and Ajax teams that got to the semi-final. They were brilliant, but the real shame is they couldn't win it, and they were taken apart immediately afterwards by bigger clubs. I feel like in the 90's those teams could have won the CL, but now you have one chance and then your players get bought by bigger fish to fill these super squads.

Money, Power, and Respect at the Champions League Final

Chelsea and Manchester City have shown that you can have it all, as long as you’re willing to pay for it

www.theringer.com

And money seems to again kill any natural developments to stop this as it just keeps flowing into the sport. Some, including Wenger, said that rising fees and wages would end up in players signings shorter contracts and leaving on free transfers, but the consistent influx of money has just resulted in an even more crazy market, where players still sign 4 or 5 year contracts but sometimes don't even stay for some time, but leave or at least angle for a move after one or two seasons. And looking at what happened on the German manager market with Nagelsmann, Rose and Hütter being bought out of their contracts it starts with managers, too. There's just absolutely no time to develop anything substantial anymore, the players and now managers you develop will leave at the first call of a bigger club with more cash without actually having done much. And the increasing watershed between clubs that don't need to care about money and those that need to only helps accelerate that - self sustinable clubs all around the world can't say no to certain amounts of money. The only way to maybe get around this seems to building a stringent identity, trying to bring in seriously good knowledge and then starting to longterm develop everything - players, scouts, coaches, DoFs - in house so that when they get poached you can just replace them in house without identity or philosophy changing - basically making yourself less dependent on specific individuals.

 

[dashsnow17]

And money seems to again kill any natural developments to stop this as it just keeps flowing into the sport. Some, including Wenger, said that rising fees and wages would end up in players signings shorter contracts and leaving on free transfers, but the consistent influx of money has just resulted in an even more crazy market, where players still sign 4 or 5 year contracts but sometimes don't even stay for some time, but leave or at least angle for a move after one or two seasons. And looking at what happened on the German manager market with Nagelsmann, Rose and Hütter being bought out of their contracts it starts with managers, too. There's just absolutely no time to develop anything substantial anymore, the players and now managers you develop will leave at the first call of a bigger club with more cash without actually having done much. And the increasing watershed between clubs that don't need to care about money and those that need to only helps accelerate that - self sustinable clubs all around the world can't say no to certain amounts of money. The only way to maybe get around this seems to building a stringent identity, trying to bring in seriously good knowledge and then starting to longterm develop everything - players, scouts, coaches, DoFs - in house so that when they get poached you can just replace them in house without identity or philosophy changing - basically making yourself less dependent on specific individuals.

Yes good point about the coaches too. Nagelsmann hasn't even managed 100 Leipzig games! Only 136 games for Hoffenheim. It's like he's jumped to the top of the ladder too soon. Why not spend 5 years at Leipzig and maximise the potential at that project? Bayern will always exist, why now?

 

[Toby]

Yes good point about the coaches too. Nagelsmann hasn't even managed 100 Leipzig games! Only 136 games for Hoffenheim. It's like he's jumped to the top of the ladder too soon. Why not spend 5 years at Leipzig and maximise the potential at that project? Bayern will always exist, why now?

Exactly my thinking. Would've rated him far more for actually driving that Leipzig project somewhere and taking a league title away from Bayern.