Txiki Out

[dazby]

As is the rest of the squad that you think was so much better.

[Mikhail Chigorin]

I did like Mr Crossan's description of Txixi, a few posts ago, of him being a "dross finder" (I do like a bit of linguistic licence).

If, as seems most probable, we don't sign anyone in this current window and if, as seem highly likely, we have a summer of indifferent transfer dealings, this epithet would then seem to be most appropriate, even to those who are currently making allowances for him.

Without wishing to be adjudged premature, I might start referring to him by this 'nom de guerre' from now onwards, always provided that this example of plagiarism is acceptable to the aforementioned JC.

[johnny crossan]

Healthy polemic? You just responded to a simple question by being antagonistic and making assumptions.

it's a cruel world indeed with such assumption making antagonists in it ....and such a simple, assumption free, unantagonistic little question too
"So 1 out of 5 we can tenuously link to Txiki just because he's Spanish and that legitimises using that summer's transfers as a stick to beat Txiki with?"
lol

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Healthy polemic? You just responded to a simple question by being antagonistic and making assumptions.

it's a cruel world indeed with such assumption making antagonists in it ....and such a simple, assumption free, unantagonistic little question too
"So 1 out of 5 we can tenuously link to Txiki just because he's Spanish and that legitimises using that summer's transfers as a stick to beat Txiki with?"
lol

What's antagonistic about that question?

[iwasthere2012]

Healthy polemic? You just responded to a simple question by being antagonistic and making assumptions.

it's a cruel world indeed with such assumption making antagonists in it ....and such a simple, assumption free, unantagonistic little question too
"So 1 out of 5 we can tenuously link to Txiki just because he's Spanish and that legitimises using that summer's transfers as a stick to beat Txiki with?"
lol

What's antagonistic about that question?

Now you're just goading him FIBD.!

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Healthy polemic? You just responded to a simple question by being antagonistic and making assumptions.

it's a cruel world indeed with such assumption making antagonists in it ....and such a simple, assumption free, unantagonistic little question too
"So 1 out of 5 we can tenuously link to Txiki just because he's Spanish and that legitimises using that summer's transfers as a stick to beat Txiki with?"
lol

What's antagonistic about that question?

Now you're just goading him FIBD.!

I'm goading him? He's the one that start having a go at me, saying I had a defective memory and accusing me of revisionism and I'm the one goading? WTF???!!!

[johnny crossan]

Healthy polemic? You just responded to a simple question by being antagonistic and making assumptions.

it's a cruel world indeed with such assumption making antagonists in it ....and such a simple, assumption free, unantagonistic little question too
"So 1 out of 5 we can tenuously link to Txiki just because he's Spanish and that legitimises using that summer's transfers as a stick to beat Txiki with?"
lol

What's antagonistic about that question?

Now you're just goading him FIBD.!

I'm goading him? He's the one that start having a go at me, saying I had a defective memory and accusing me of revisionism and I'm the one goading? WTF???!!!

I'll give both you little goaders the benefit of my merciful restraint in view of your limited capacity for clear thought.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

And there he goes again.

[johnny crossan]

And there he goes again.

you provide such an irresistible target, it's almost as if it's a trap ... surprise me with your cunning plan

[iwasthere2012]

Healthy polemic? You just responded to a simple question by being antagonistic and making assumptions.

it's a cruel world indeed with such assumption making antagonists in it ....and such a simple, assumption free, unantagonistic little question too
"So 1 out of 5 we can tenuously link to Txiki just because he's Spanish and that legitimises using that summer's transfers as a stick to beat Txiki with?"
lol

What's antagonistic about that question?

Now you're just goading him FIBD.!

I'm goading him? He's the one that start having a go at me, saying I had a defective memory and accusing me of revisionism and I'm the one goading? WTF???!!!

Calm down, calm down.
po·lem·i·cal
pəˈlemək(ə)l/
adjective
relating to or involving strongly critical, controversial, or disputatious writing or speech.
"a polemical essay"
synonyms: critical, hostile, bitter, polemic, virulent, vitriolic, venomous, caustic, trenchant, cutting, acerbic, sardonic, sarcastic, scathing, sharp, incisive, devastating
"the first of his polemical essays against modernism"


troll
trōl/Submit
verb
gerund or present participle: trolling
1.
informal
make a deliberately offensive or provocative online post with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them.
"if people are obviously trolling then I'll delete your posts and do my best to ban you"
2.
fish by trailing a baited line along behind a boat.
"we trolled for mackerel"

I get confused between the two, FIBD. Must be my limited capacity for clear thought.
I'm only winding you up by the way. Don't mind pseudo-intellectual bable.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

And there he goes again.

you provide such an irresistible target, it's almost as if it's a trap ... surprise me with your cunning plan

Why are you having a go at my character? Why are you accusing me of revisionism when I didn't even share my thoughts on what occurred that summer?

Why is it that you can't just debate the topic?

[johnny crossan]

Calm down, calm down.
po·lem·i·cal
pəˈlemək(ə)l/
adjective
relating to or involving strongly critical, controversial, or disputatious writing or speech.
"a polemical essay"
synonyms: critical, hostile, bitter, polemic, virulent, vitriolic, venomous, caustic, trenchant, cutting, acerbic, sardonic, sarcastic, scathing, sharp, incisive, devastating
"the first of his polemical essays against modernism"


troll
trōl/Submit
verb
gerund or present participle: trolling
1.
informal
make a deliberately offensive or provocative online post with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them.
"if people are obviously trolling then I'll delete your posts and do my best to ban you"
2.
fish by trailing a baited line along behind a boat.
"we trolled for mackerel"

I get confused between the two, FIBD. Must be my limited capacity for clear thought.
I'm only winding you up by the way. Don't mind pseudo-intellectual bable.

quoting dictionaries randomly is so sad, can't you manage to type a few of your own words in the right order to make any kind of sense?

[johnny crossan]

And there he goes again.

you provide such an irresistible target, it's almost as if it's a trap ... surprise me with your cunning plan

Why are you having a go at my character? Why are you accusing me of revisionism when I didn't even share my thoughts on what occurred that summer?

Why is it that you can't just debate the topic?

being a revisionist isn't the end of the world, in fact experience is what we call our mistakes and you are clearly very experienced

[iwasthere2012]

Calm down, calm down.
po·lem·i·cal
pəˈlemək(ə)l/
adjective
relating to or involving strongly critical, controversial, or disputatious writing or speech.
"a polemical essay"
synonyms: critical, hostile, bitter, polemic, virulent, vitriolic, venomous, caustic, trenchant, cutting, acerbic, sardonic, sarcastic, scathing, sharp, incisive, devastating
"the first of his polemical essays against modernism"


troll
trōl/Submit
verb
gerund or present participle: trolling
1.
informal
make a deliberately offensive or provocative online post with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them.
"if people are obviously trolling then I'll delete your posts and do my best to ban you"
2.
fish by trailing a baited line along behind a boat.
"we trolled for mackerel"

I get confused between the two, FIBD. Must be my limited capacity for clear thought.
I'm only winding you up by the way. Don't mind pseudo-intellectual bable.

quoting dictionaries randomly is so sad, can't you manage to type a few of your own words in the right order to make any kind of sense?

Just adding a little independent interpretation into proceedings.
I don't want to come across as the only one with a valid understanding of things now, do I?
That would be sad.

[Dubciteh]

Any chance of getting back on topic here?!!

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Any chance of getting back on topic here?!!

It would be nice wouldn't it, perhaps we could go back to the point before JC start having a go at me instead of discussing the topic.

So NQDP, why are you listing players that were brought in before Txiki arrived?

[Cocacolajojo]

Any chance of getting back on topic here?!!

No!

[johnny crossan]

Any chance of getting back on topic here?!!

Virgil & a top class young left back by next Wednesday would be handy boost to his popularity trajectory on here. Which, of course, he will be acutely concerned about.

[Saul Goodman]

He was headhunted by Manchester City because of his record with Barcelona. He had brought success with style. He would spearhead the ambitious project being planned in Abu Dhabi. And as City indicated their regression on the European stage by crashing out of the Champions League in Monaco, he was to blame.

Not Pep Guardiola. Or rather, not just Pep Guardiola. As the face of the supposed revolution, as the world’s most coveted manager, as a double Champions League winner, as the tactician who saw his side overrun in the first half in the Stade Louis II, as the man who exiled Joe Hart and brought in Claudio Bravo, his part in any setback will not be underplayed. Guardiola is being criticised, Schadenfreude and serious analysis being combined in a pincer movement.

Yet sole culpability does not rest with the Catalan, nor even with the players who sieved six goals against the Ligue Un leaders. Not when Txiki Begiristain’s role is examined. Guardiola has only had eight months to address shortcomings in his squad. Begiristain, over four-and-a-half years in Manchester, has contributed to them.

This season has offered conclusive proof that City’s defence is not fit for purpose at the highest level. Guardiola’s last Champions League win, with Barcelona in 2011, came when conceding nine goals in 13 matches.

In contrast, City conceded 16 goals in their last seven European games. They have let in 15 from eight Premier League meetings with the top seven. In 16 such matches against elite opposition, they have mustered a solitary clean sheet, and that against a Borussia Monchengladbach team now ninth in the Bundesliga. Guardiola argued that attack was the best form of defence against Monaco; perhaps he meant it was the only form he trusted.

Bravo represents Guardiola’s folly and while Willy Caballero arguably emerged from the Monaco tie with reputation enhanced, the penalty specialist is a glorified second-choice goalkeeper. Ahead of the Argentine, however, the structural issues may be Guardiola’s fault, but the personnel issues are largely Begiristain’s responsibility.

The age profile of a squad should be a director of football’s concern and while it made sense to keep high-calibre players in their thirties, such as David Silva and Yaya Toure, it is indictment of one who ought to see the bigger picture that all four full-backs are in their fourth decade. It borders on the staggering that City did not buy a better, younger alternative in either 2015 or 2016.

Even before the first leg against Monaco, Guardiola pinpointed the danger caused by Leonardo Jardim’s overlapping full-backs and their crossing. Identifying the problem proved easier than solving it. Over the two legs, Monaco scored five goals from centres, two delivered by their full-backs. City could not stop attacks at source. Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy, the fumbling full-backs, are out of contract in the summer. City have the strange situation where men who could be released in three months were trusted to ensure their progress. They could not.

They did not cut out the crosses, which in turn exposed the centre-backs. While Aleksandar Kolarov showed moments of defiance, a converted full-back is not the greatest indictment of Begiristain. Nor is John Stones, the second costliest defender ever and a man made to look foolish by Radamel Falcao in Manchester. Nor even the terminally rash Nicolas Otamendi, such a liability in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium that he was benched for the rematch.

But consider the case of the first footballer Begiristain made the second most expensive defender ever. Eliaquim Mangala languishes on loan at Valencia, collecting cautions for a club in the lower half of La Liga. He cost City £42 million, most of which they will never recoup.

And yet the strangest element is not even the fee. It is that Begiristain, with three decades of knowledge of the kind of footballers Guardiola likes, who ought to have been aware his former team-mate wants everyone to pass like a midfielder, recruited a cumbersome player so obviously awkward in possession. There was no pretence that Manuel Pellegrini was anything other than lukewarm about Mangala. He was Begiristain’s buy.

Mangala and Otamendi cost a combined £73.5 million. Until Stones’ signing, they were the most expensive centre-back pairing in world football. With that money, Begiristain ought to have laid solid foundations for the side. Instead, City’s challenge was built on sand. With the awareness that Guardiola was City’s long-term target, he ought to have prepared them for his appointment by replenishing the squad with his sort of signings. Instead, in came the erratic Otamendi and a quartet his compatriot clearly does not rate, in Wilfried Bony, Fabian Delph, Fernando and Mangala. In comparison, Guardiola’s input could be detected in the 2015 arrivals of Raheem Sterling and Kevin de Bruyne, just as his impact has been apparent in the attacking invention that enabled his side to score six times against Monaco.

He is not blameless for a disorganised defence notable for inconsistency of selection and improperly shielded by a midfield where too many men can be committed forward. But in the inevitable inquest into the nightmare in the billionaires’ playground, fingers should be pointed at the member of Barcelona’s Dream Team who wasted City’s time and money: Begiristain.

[aaron bond]

Where is that article from? It makes a lot of valid points.

We need a complete overhaul of our defence this summer and I don't have much confidence that Txiki is the man to oversee it. Stones and Otamendi are not good enough, and that's even before the incredible fees we paid are considered.