That's a poor excuse for not taking Pep, just because he happens to be in charge of top players? What about Mancini and AVB, they have/had made their respective clubs great haven't they? With the players that Man City have, they should be top of the league and playing top football instead of struggling against Man U, which has the worst squad since recent memory. What about Chelsea, AVB reduced them to 5th place when they've been consistently finished top 3. Sometimes you have to give credit to a manager for achieving such a great feat. He made Barca into an unstoppable force for the past few years. The only way teams can compete with Barca is to play extreme defence, with 2 banks of 4 and hope to nick a goal. Although im fine with Chelsea going through, i do not want to see that $h1t week in week out. His team will go into club football history as one of the best ever. Which current managers can boast this claim?
Lazarus .. I think you underestimate the gulf in talent between Arsenal's squad and Barcelona's - who are schooled to play that way. If Pep came to us I'd see a train wreck. Plus Guardiola doesn't know English football, Wenger knows English football inside out. Mancini knows English football (He played a few seasons in England remember), AVB didn't know English football - hence his train wreck of a season, Di Matteo knows English football.
Yes there is a gulf in class but you still have to get the players to play well and he got them playing terrifically well. On paper Man City have a far superior squad to ours, yet we outclassed them at home and nearly beat them at theirs. Also you talk of Guariola not having knowledge of the English game, as Ammar pointed out Wenger made one of the best Premiership teams in history and took them to an unbeaten run. What about Moureen? He made Chelsea a tough, winning Premiership team that toppled Man U and Arsenal off the top. Back to our team, i genuinely believe that our players are getting better, with youngsters like Wilshere, Chesney, OXO, Coqs, Campbell, Miyaichi, Frimpong etc yet to make it/hit their peak. We just need a manager to bring the best out of them and the rest of the squad. Is Wenger the man? That is questionable after so long without success. Is Pep? You won't know unless you give him a chance.
