Johnny Baguette
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VMC's Lorna takes a look at reinvigorated cross city walls rivalry ahead of next month's Manchester derby at the swamp...
Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho have come to town. Two names that will inevitably come up in any discussion over who is the world's finest football manager.
Both men have different ways of conducting themselves, both have different footballing philosophies, both have been in charge of magnificent football clubs such as FC Barcelona, Real Madrid CF and Bayern Munich.
It is now a challenge to see which of the two is going to be the better manager both in and just outside of Manchester. Following Mourinho's panicked appointment by the United hierarchy in reaction to Pep's arrival, the gauntlet has been thrown down and both bitter rivals are ready to lock horns yet again only this time on English soil.
It's not an easy task comparing managers, because obviously, unlike players, each manager has to juggle a different set of resources at any given time.
In Pep Guardiola's case he has achieved multiple titles consistently as a first team coach and Mourinho doesn't fade into the background with 18 titles in his 11 years as a gaffer. Don`t get me wrong, Mourinho's trophy-winning record is fantastic, no doubt about that, but Guardiola's is outstandingly better in my opinion and as yet unprecedented in the game's history. Three league titles, two Champions Leagues and two continental doubles in three years as a professional Manager. Not bad, not bad.
If winning is the criterion for being crowned the superior coach then Pep beats Mourinho. Mourinho's 68% career win ratio is very impressive but Pep's 72% win rate begins to defy gravity!
Looking at styles of play, "attractive football" seems to be the key phrase we see banded around these days. Guardiola`s football philosophy is a lot more attractive than Mourinho`s without a doubt. 'Parking the bus' is most certainly classed as ugly. I believe that Mourinho's approach resides in that area but then again if you look at his tactics in another light his defensive tactics are solid and I guess he would rather that than forgo it for the entertaining side of football. For me and for many fans the world over, parking the bus is a boring tactic regardless of the result. Give me adventure any day! I believe that Pep Guardiola is the polar opposite to Mourinho in this aspect. As soon as Guardiola became Barca's manager, he directed the team to play the most beautiful football the sport had seen in decades. Fans and pundits alike have nothing but praise for Pep Guardiola's brand of football, which made Barcelona the most popular football club in the world. Not only does Pep win, he wins in style. The same can't be said about José who wins often in an ugly fashion (clearly well suited to do the United job then!) Everyone aspires for their team to play like Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.
We all know that arriving at the pinnacle of your sport is not an easy thing to do and as the late, great Johan Cruyff once said, 'Reaching the top isn't easy, but staying at the top is even more difficult.' For me, Pep Guardiola has already proved he can do that, while José Mourinho has not.
Mourinho left both Porto and Inter after winning the Champions League trophy, without sticking around to try to defend it. He left Chelsea for the first time after falling from the top, failing to win the 2006/2007 Premier League and then enduring a dismal start to the 2007/2008 season. Upon his return a shocking defence of the 2014/15 title resulted in the inevitable sack. I won`t even begin to address the insulting words and behaviour towards a certain female medical assistant which showed Mourinho up for what he is as a man.
Now, when it comes to turning apparent nobodies into stars, no one does it better than Guardiola. Some years ago, a casual football fan wouldn't have any idea who Pedro Rodriguez or Sergio Busquets were. Don`t get me wrong here, Busquets and Pedro's talent was already there, but they would never have become world class players if Guardiola had not placed his trust in them. It shows great courage, strength and confidence for a manager of a top team, pressured to win trophies, to give such opportunities to young players.
One player obviously comes to mind and that is the one and only Lionel Messi. Messi was the world's best player in 2008 before Pep Guardiola arrived BUT I hasten to ask "was he as giant an unstoppable all-conquering juggernaut, hailed as one of the best players ever to kick a ball" beforehand? No way. Even Messi himself admits that his current status has a lot to do with Guardiola. From his first day, Guardiola tried to find the best set-up to fully maximize Messi's potential, and the results stand for themselves. The Argentine is widely acknowledged as this generation's greatest player.
Messi used to season average 15-17 goals before Pep took over but since his arrival he has registered an absolutely unbelievable amount of goals and assists.
Back to Mourinho; He is also known as a great man manager and motivator there is no argument there, but I still think he is no match for Pep in that department. For most of his career, Mourinho has had to motivate players who won nothing or very little —players with hunger for success. However, Guardiola's job has also been to motivate a group of players who have won more Champions Leagues than most clubs in their entire history and were established European and World Champions. To me and a thousand million others worldwide I find it slightly short of amazing how Pep can keep his squads so hungry for more success; there have never been any signs of complacency. It's easy to motivate a young player who has never won anything in his career, but how can you manage to keep veterans like Xavi and Puyol playing as if they had never won anything before? That doesn't seem to be a problem for Pep Guardiola.
With the winning mentality Guardiola has spread through the clubs he has managed he will hopefully bring that to us, Manchester City, the only club in Manchester and surely his greatest managerial challenge to date.
A final word. It's hard to think of any young talent that Mourinho moulded into a world class player. Mourinho historically prefers to rely on experienced, established players, instead of planning for the long-term like Guardiola.
For me the credit and plaudits across the board go to Pep Guardiola when considered against Mourinho.
Read more: http://www.manchestercity.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=569877#ixzz4HJA7qiSi
Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho have come to town. Two names that will inevitably come up in any discussion over who is the world's finest football manager.
Both men have different ways of conducting themselves, both have different footballing philosophies, both have been in charge of magnificent football clubs such as FC Barcelona, Real Madrid CF and Bayern Munich.
It is now a challenge to see which of the two is going to be the better manager both in and just outside of Manchester. Following Mourinho's panicked appointment by the United hierarchy in reaction to Pep's arrival, the gauntlet has been thrown down and both bitter rivals are ready to lock horns yet again only this time on English soil.
It's not an easy task comparing managers, because obviously, unlike players, each manager has to juggle a different set of resources at any given time.
In Pep Guardiola's case he has achieved multiple titles consistently as a first team coach and Mourinho doesn't fade into the background with 18 titles in his 11 years as a gaffer. Don`t get me wrong, Mourinho's trophy-winning record is fantastic, no doubt about that, but Guardiola's is outstandingly better in my opinion and as yet unprecedented in the game's history. Three league titles, two Champions Leagues and two continental doubles in three years as a professional Manager. Not bad, not bad.
If winning is the criterion for being crowned the superior coach then Pep beats Mourinho. Mourinho's 68% career win ratio is very impressive but Pep's 72% win rate begins to defy gravity!
Looking at styles of play, "attractive football" seems to be the key phrase we see banded around these days. Guardiola`s football philosophy is a lot more attractive than Mourinho`s without a doubt. 'Parking the bus' is most certainly classed as ugly. I believe that Mourinho's approach resides in that area but then again if you look at his tactics in another light his defensive tactics are solid and I guess he would rather that than forgo it for the entertaining side of football. For me and for many fans the world over, parking the bus is a boring tactic regardless of the result. Give me adventure any day! I believe that Pep Guardiola is the polar opposite to Mourinho in this aspect. As soon as Guardiola became Barca's manager, he directed the team to play the most beautiful football the sport had seen in decades. Fans and pundits alike have nothing but praise for Pep Guardiola's brand of football, which made Barcelona the most popular football club in the world. Not only does Pep win, he wins in style. The same can't be said about José who wins often in an ugly fashion (clearly well suited to do the United job then!) Everyone aspires for their team to play like Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.
We all know that arriving at the pinnacle of your sport is not an easy thing to do and as the late, great Johan Cruyff once said, 'Reaching the top isn't easy, but staying at the top is even more difficult.' For me, Pep Guardiola has already proved he can do that, while José Mourinho has not.
Mourinho left both Porto and Inter after winning the Champions League trophy, without sticking around to try to defend it. He left Chelsea for the first time after falling from the top, failing to win the 2006/2007 Premier League and then enduring a dismal start to the 2007/2008 season. Upon his return a shocking defence of the 2014/15 title resulted in the inevitable sack. I won`t even begin to address the insulting words and behaviour towards a certain female medical assistant which showed Mourinho up for what he is as a man.
Now, when it comes to turning apparent nobodies into stars, no one does it better than Guardiola. Some years ago, a casual football fan wouldn't have any idea who Pedro Rodriguez or Sergio Busquets were. Don`t get me wrong here, Busquets and Pedro's talent was already there, but they would never have become world class players if Guardiola had not placed his trust in them. It shows great courage, strength and confidence for a manager of a top team, pressured to win trophies, to give such opportunities to young players.
One player obviously comes to mind and that is the one and only Lionel Messi. Messi was the world's best player in 2008 before Pep Guardiola arrived BUT I hasten to ask "was he as giant an unstoppable all-conquering juggernaut, hailed as one of the best players ever to kick a ball" beforehand? No way. Even Messi himself admits that his current status has a lot to do with Guardiola. From his first day, Guardiola tried to find the best set-up to fully maximize Messi's potential, and the results stand for themselves. The Argentine is widely acknowledged as this generation's greatest player.
Messi used to season average 15-17 goals before Pep took over but since his arrival he has registered an absolutely unbelievable amount of goals and assists.
Back to Mourinho; He is also known as a great man manager and motivator there is no argument there, but I still think he is no match for Pep in that department. For most of his career, Mourinho has had to motivate players who won nothing or very little —players with hunger for success. However, Guardiola's job has also been to motivate a group of players who have won more Champions Leagues than most clubs in their entire history and were established European and World Champions. To me and a thousand million others worldwide I find it slightly short of amazing how Pep can keep his squads so hungry for more success; there have never been any signs of complacency. It's easy to motivate a young player who has never won anything in his career, but how can you manage to keep veterans like Xavi and Puyol playing as if they had never won anything before? That doesn't seem to be a problem for Pep Guardiola.
With the winning mentality Guardiola has spread through the clubs he has managed he will hopefully bring that to us, Manchester City, the only club in Manchester and surely his greatest managerial challenge to date.
A final word. It's hard to think of any young talent that Mourinho moulded into a world class player. Mourinho historically prefers to rely on experienced, established players, instead of planning for the long-term like Guardiola.
For me the credit and plaudits across the board go to Pep Guardiola when considered against Mourinho.
Read more: http://www.manchestercity.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=569877#ixzz4HJA7qiSi
