'I learned a lot from Ibra' says Pep

[Cal-FCB]

So dignified as always. No need to rise to Ibra's bait. Hopefully the issue can be put to bed and both parties can move on, we don't need him as a distraction.

[VenusA]

he is proved that he is more than Coach :")

[Silver]

Pep is such a smart manager <3

[Barcilliant]

All this praise for Pep?? I am still not convinced he is a saint. We dont know the story behind Ibra's departure and Eto has claimed that Messi pleaded with Pep for Eto to stay. We have lost many players and Pep seems to have very strong likes and dislikes in regards to players. He also seems to make it a personal issue. Some players are going to have big egos and attitudes. Part of the job of a manager is to be professional and utilise it for the good of the team.

Also we lack tactical flexibility under Pep-he seems to know only one way to play. If that fails there is no plan B. He has still not solved the riddle of the 'parked bus'.

[Hamzah]

All this praise for Pep?? I am still not convinced he is a saint. We dont know the story behind Ibra's departure and Eto has claimed that Messi pleaded with Pep for Eto to stay. We have lost many players and Pep seems to have very strong likes and dislikes in regards to players. He also seems to make it a personal issue. Some players are going to have big egos and attitudes. Part of the job of a manager is to be professional and utilise it for the good of the team.

Also we lack tactical flexibility under Pep-he seems to know only one way to play. If that fails there is no plan B. He has still not solved the riddle of the 'parked bus'.

i am tired of it. no matter what the situation is its the same formation, same pace of passing...

[IbraFTW]

I just saw the title and thought, that was an extremely expensive lesson for Pep. BTW, Zubizarreta said in an interview that people close to Pep often call him the philosopher

[stokebarca]

i am tired of it. no matter what the situation is its the same formation, same pace of passing...

I think there is a valuable point there. Hercules last week was an example, no plan B

[becks]

God, I can't grasp how people can think Pep lacks tactical knowledge because he doesn't have this so called Plan B - but please, enlighten me, what he should do to produce this so called master plan?
Every time I've poked at people jabbing on about this Plan B, or Pep’s so called lack of tactical knowledge, they've come up with BS such as he's only capable of playing 4-3-3, which leads me to believe the critic is only capable of seeing blatant obvious formation changes as tactical moves..

Pep’s positioning, as well as player rotation to take advantages of weak spots, is second to none. And if I were to choose a coach to take over Man Utd when SAF one day (god forbid) retires, I would without a doubt choose Pep over fan-favorite Mourinho, and I’d do this even if I were to base the decision 100% on the coach’s tactical qualities. (Sadly I’ve a feeling he’s going to stay at Barca for a long time, and in the process will end up denying Man Utd even more UCL trophies..)

It’s like you think that by using a formation which focuses on cross-play, you’re somehow capable of beating teams that park the bus; newsflash, no team has and no team ever will be able to break down every defense, even if they’re superior in every position. And while it may seem like cross play would be the superior way to break down a team parking the bus (hell, I’m positive that is it the way to break down top tier teams parking the bus), just look at us, there’s no denying that our wing play is far superior to Barca’s, yet we’re struggling just as much, if not more, breaking down the teams.

Point being, with the players available, Pep is already using the most optimal tactical play, but you can’t expect to win every game and when he fails to win 1/10 games against teams that park the bus (honestly, I’m positive that he’s the manager with the most successful record against such teams), it makes no sense whatsoever to blame it on “no Plan B”.