Gerardo "Tata" Martino

1 win out the 4 last matches. A single match with a certain gap between the point-losing matches would be acceptable, but this is on Tata

He's a good man manager and a fairly alright tactician, it's the boldness and sheer decisiveness of Pep that he lacks (not that he should be held to that high of a standard). Pep knew exactly what he wanted, went right down to every detail in a meticulous system, and was clear in implementing it. Combine that with the fact that he was a true innovator and intellectually brilliant, and you can see why he's one of a kind. He's the most proactive coach I've ever seen, always a step ahead of everyone else and really defining the team around him. 99% of other coaches are reactive, meaning they handle things as they come and are there to facilitate, not create. To put it into a metaphor: if other managers are there to improve and tweak the machine and oil it so that it runs smoothly, Pep is there to take apart the machine and then build an entirely new one from his vision.

Tata has done brilliantly with individuals which is why our players find form so easily. He's also good with a general formation sense of tactics which is why we've been versatile in our play. Because of this, he's done pretty well so far with the team considering how much worse Tito was and how tough the league has been this season. However, if you want a romanticized Barca team (which is also the most successful kind) then you need a coach with a really strong direction and the desire to implement it.

I wouldn't mind having Tata for the next few seasons as he's obviously not meant to be a long term successor or anything. After that, I'm not sure who there is to aspire to Pep's level of managerial brilliance even if not mirror it. A huge part of me wishes that he'd come back after the Bayern project, though there's nothing pulling him in that direction now or anytime soon. Other people who share the same qualities and philosophy even if not to the same magnitude would probably be someone like De Boer, Laudrup, Oscar Garcia, and maybe Luis Enrique?

We'll see soon though. Bright, young managerial prospects are coming around often and it's only a matter of time before one presents himself as capable of being what we need in a long term manager.

All this talk about Pep being a god, he couldn't beat the goddamn bus either. This had nothing to do with Tata, Tata told them what to do and they did it well for the first 30-40 mins. What happened today was every defensive player on the squad had a bad game today. Pep wouldn't have won this game. Stop living in the past.

its always funny when people talk about pep couldn't beat the bus failing to realize he was the very best at it, as his team had to play against it , week in week out and 99% of the time his TEAM and not a individual came up with ways around it. but all everyone seems to remember is the the Chelsea and keep pointing to that, a game where we created a billion chances mind you, just goes to how the mans genius. or maybe the inter game, where we had to travel buy bus for god knows how long and still would have won, if we got the bojan goal.

the only thing that stopped pep from winning or at least going to 3/4 straight final, was a bit of luck.

Pep couldn't beat the bus. WTF .

I agree with Don, I was saying we should go for the Ajax coach a few weeks back. its him or someone like him a young could who wants to make his mark on the game and has a clear idea on how he wants to play and goes the distance to implement it. not a old coach who just wants to win. barca when at their best is about more than winning

jamrock said:

its always funny when people talk about pep couldn't beat the bus failing to realize he was the very best at it, as his team had to play against it , week in week out and 99% of the time his TEAM and not a individual came up with ways around it. but all everyone seems to remember is the the Chelsea and keep pointing to that, a game where we created a billion chances mind you, just goes to how the mans genius. or maybe the inter game, where we had to travel buy bus for god knows how long and still would have won, if we got the bojan goal.

the only thing that stopped pep from winning or at least going to 3/4 straight final, was a bit of luck.

Pep couldn't beat the bus. WTF .

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Frank de Boer would be a great choice... Hopefully one day he'll be the coach.

how about we wait until the end of the season to see how Tata has done ...

I read an interview with Frank, he said he can't leave now cause his family situation (kids in high school, wife with her shop), so he is happy working at Ajax.
He is doing a great job in a similair style as Barca, still learning and some aspects need improvements of course but he is quality.
Straight heading into the path towards title #4 in a row if they put the hurt on the always tough Utrecht away tomorrow afternoon.

He definitely is an option in the coming years allthough to be honest I just wish it was just pep going Fergie for 25 years.

Martino is a good manager he just doesn't have the players to implement what he wants. No height, no strength, no leadership, no aggression. Valdes-erratic. Xavi and Iniesta-past it. Pique-inconsistent-not a leader at the back. Alves, Alba-prone to attacking and leaving large gaps. Busquets-great but can be overwhelmed against physical teams. Look at the bench-Song, Tello, Roberto. Look at Mascherano-positional issues and lack of height.

To all those who worship Pep why don't you ask him why he left such a physically small, weak team. Tata is doing the best he can with the resources available. Its clear the board don't want to spend money-that's not Tata's fault.

If there is a criticism I have its his lack of confidence in Batra. Batra needs to be first choice. Masch is a back up CB at best. No way should he start importanat games.

Look at what 1 game can do to you. Valdes can have his best season in years. One bad game? "He sucks, let him leave now!" Xavi and Iniesta can boss it only a couple weeks before now. One bad game? "Sell them, they're past it!" Pique can have his best performance in years against Atletico and Malaga. One bad game? "Sell him! He's inconsistent!" Oh how fickle football fans are. I agree, our bench isn't the best. And Tata hasn't had the time to implement his vision properly yet. But still, to go from praising the players as the best in the world to calling them shit in a matter of 90 minutes is just too much. Their humans, not robots. Anyone can have a bad day at the office.

jamrock said:

I agree with Don, I was saying we should go for the Ajax coach a few weeks back. its him or someone like him a young could who wants to make his mark on the game and has a clear idea on how he wants to play and goes the distance to implement it. not a old coach who just wants to win. barca when at their best is about more than winning

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That often takes sacrifice. Pep knew what he wanted and sold Deco and Ronaldinho - two of the best players in the world atm. If De Boer comes and, for instance, decides Messi and Iniesta need to be sold, how many here would support that? Few. Guardiola had absolute power at the team. I think the moment he sensed he wasn't in full control anymore, he left.

serghei said:

That often takes sacrifice. Pep knew what he wanted and sold Deco and Ronaldinho - two of the best players in the world atm. If De Boer comes and, for instance, decides Messi and Iniesta need to be sold, how many here would support that? Few. Guardiola had absolute power at the team. I think the moment he sensed he wasn't in full control anymore, he left.

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You're right. There were rumours Pep wanted to shift a load of players out. If I'm not mistaken they were Villa, Cesc, Alves, Pique and someone else.

I was cautiously optimistic at the begining of the season, I saw some things Tata tried to change and mainly from his words there were good signs that he knows what he is doing...no I'm not any more, don't see any changes to the better and our form is slipping. We have individual class so we'll be there, close, at the end of season in all competitions but I can't see us lift CL at all, maaybe La Liga but difficult

Barcilliant said:

You're right. There were rumours Pep wanted to shift a load of players out. If I'm not mistaken they were Villa, Cesc, Alves, Pique and someone else.

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Yes, and one year after he left, what do you know... Pique's form dropped immensely, Alves had a very poor year and Villa ended up leaving for a price as low as 5m.

And Cesc still can't show us his Arsenal level