Tito Vilanova

[Lee_R]

So whats the story with this guy?

I have no knowledge of him except that he was assistant to pep and hes done it for Barca this year.
He wasnt well (with cancer) but now hes back.. whats the script on his future?

[Blue Since 76]

So whats the story with this guy?

I have no knowledge of him except that he was assistant to pep and hes done it for Barca this year.
He wasnt well (with cancer) but now hes back.. whats the script on his future?

Some of the reports are that Barca isn't convinced of his capacity to be a coach long term, hence why Pellegrini is being mentioned. I presume with Pep's departure and then Villanova's illness, there hasn't been time for other coaches to gain experience, therefore they're struggling to replace from within.

Ignoring the Real Madrid issue, Pellegrini seems a perfect fit footballing wise and was apparently considered previously. Real treated him badly, so maybe he could move across the divide.

[Clowncrete]

Vilanova isn't as good as Pep. He often makes poor tactical decisions and has failed to create a plan b for barca and thanks to that most teams have found a way to beat barca. Add to that barca's poor transfers lately and some injury woes and ageing players.

Sounds familiar.

[ross.mcfc]

Vilanova isn't as good as Pep. He often makes poor tactical decisions and has failed to create a plan b for barca and thanks to that most teams have found a way to beat barca. Add to that barca's poor transfers lately and some injury woes and ageing players.

Sounds familiar.

It is unfair to judge the guy really. He has had a terrible year with illness that has disrupted the campaign yet he still won the league with games to spare and got to the semi final of the CL.

Sure his side have not been as good as Pep but his side achieved less last season. Pep left at the right time. If Bayern win the CL this year and Pep does not and only wins the league with a few point to spare does that make him less of a manager than the current Bayern manager?

[Lee_R]

Cheers for the responses.

[Clowncrete]

Vilanova isn't as good as Pep. He often makes poor tactical decisions and has failed to create a plan b for barca and thanks to that most teams have found a way to beat barca. Add to that barca's poor transfers lately and some injury woes and ageing players.

Sounds familiar.

It is unfair to judge the guy really. He has had a terrible year with illness that has disrupted the campaign yet he still won the league with games to spare and got to the semi final of the CL.

Sure his side have not been as good as Pep but his side achieved less last season. Pep left at the right time. If Bayern win the CL this year and Pep does not and only wins the league with a few point to spare does that make him less of a manager than the current Bayern manager?

It's not just that. His tactical changes and way of handling Messi have been poor. Messi was carrying an injury and yet he played him against Bayern. Their defense from set-pieces is awful. It's obvious that having messi as the only source for goals basically allows the team to funnel balls to messi and then have 4 players marking him, take the ball and counter-attack against their defense.

Messi insisted on playing when injured. Tito wasn't bold enough to bench him.

Fabregas was used as a false 9 last season by Pep, but it didn't work. Tito carried this tradition and it still doesn't work, meaning he lies there on the bench.

I am not exaggerating when I say Barca are a 1 man team. Without Messi, they struggle badly to break even the weaker la liga teams. They have talent like Fabregas and Xavi but they still struggle to get goals without Messi. Even in the Bilbao game 2 weeks back, it was Messi who came on and got them a point. Their strategy's weakness is being exploited. Unfortunately unlike the PL, the La Liga isn't physical and the defenses are relatively poor. So, the weaker teams often get slaughtered by Messi, but without Messi, the opposition actually play with confidence and the rest of Barca's frontline is poor and easy to stop.

IMO Pep actually did a lot of damage to Barca by selling Eto'o and not finding a replacement for Henry. Pep created a team around Messi and it's basically "stop messi, you stop barca" now. That's why so many teams have been able to beat Barca.

I am going to be honest but I see a lot of Real Madrid and Barca this season in City. Madrid won the title last year after a long and hard 3 years(note that 3 years is a lot for Madrid). Imo most player began their season in hangover. They have the better squad than Barca but most of their players just don't turn up. There has been a meltdown in the dressing room. They beat Barca like we beat the rags but they have been poor against the weaker teams and there has been tension behind the scenes. It's exactly like us.

While Barca and City are similar in the way that both desperately need transfers to address issues. Barca's defense is abysmal. They badly need transfers to complement Messi as well and get a plan B. It's the same here. Our defense is good, but we don't have plan b and teams have found our weaknesses and exploit it. Since the like of West Ham and SOTON are better than Osasuna and Deportivo, we have a tougher time. Barca have Messi to pull them out every time, we don't have a talisman like them and that's the difference between us and them.

If Barca don't spend, they are going to continue declining. I don't think that Tito will be able to face a rejuvenated Madrid under Ancelloti or anyone else. They have walked to the league because the opposition just didn't turn up. Sounds familiar?