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Originally Posted by Bagor
You're making my point for me.
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not really, no. I mean yeah, they had a bad La Liga season in 07/08, but he still inherited an amazing squad. That was the same squad that had won both La Liga and the CL in 2006. They only lost the 2007 La Liga because of the head-to-head results and made the 2008 CL semifinals. He might have got rid of Ronaldinho and Deco, but he still inherited a 20-year-old Messi and a 23-year-old Iniesta. In the end, I can't think of a single rookie coach who has walked into a better situation for his first job ever. That's not Guardiolas fault at all, but let's not forget all that. Barcelonas success was not all down to Guardiola, on the contrary ... of course he was a big factor, but they also reaped the rewards of an outstanding youth setup at the time and having generational talents like Messi and Iniesta in their system.
And no, I'm not suggesting they would have won the treble in any case. But that would have turned into a world-class side in any case, that's for sure. They simply had too much talent in their system.
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Originally Posted by Bagor
Would United have had all their success regardless of Fergie too? I mean he was gifted with half his team coming from the class of 92.
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man, that's an incredible insult to Ferguson. Different situations here ... Ferguson came to United in 86 and completely reshaped the youth setup - that's why the class of 92 happened and that's why Ferguson reaped the rewards later. Guardiola, like I said, just inherited a great squad with a young Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Puyol, Eto'o and so on. How anyone would compare those two situations is beyond me, sorry.
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Originally Posted by Bagor
He deserves a LOT of credit for what he did at Barca. He dominated there.
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sure. Nobody is debating that. But let's not pretend he completely built that team because he surely didn't.
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Originally Posted by Bagor
City? He'll have his work cut out for him. To say he's choosing it because it's the squad most set up to win is way out there. Forwards they have yes. Midfield and D, he's going to have to rebuild.
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easy. He'll have a ####load of money available, so you can count on him getting either John Stones or Aymeric Laporte in - both young centre backs who are strong on the ball and who I'd call typical Guardiola centre backs. That's pretty much all he has to do concerning that back 4, they have quite a bit of depth there. In midfield he'll surely ship out Yaya, which is overdue anyway. Finding a couple good midfielders there won't be a huge challenge either. The team is pretty much set in attacking midfield and up front ... my guess is Guardiola will bring in 5-6 guys in the summer for a lot of money and the team is set.