He's not beyond question mate. Yes the fans love his personality and the antics at the end of the game or on the touch line (who wouldn't) but you also factor in:
- His previous record and reputation at Dortmund
- Tho two cup finals he got us to in his first year
- A return to the Champions League in year 2 after a 4th place finish in the league
- and you can factor in a big dose of "I don't believe we would get a manager with anything close to his reputation and pedigree next time around" if he was to be sacked or to walk.
I personally think we're heading for a 6th place finish this season. I also think that Jürgen is a bit inside ti ink he can simply coach some of our players up to the level he expects. The truth is he should have just shifted them and brought in some more talented players.
All probably true Scott but also those 'year 2's' always have to be given "first full year" treatment in my opinion. Sure the cup finals were a bonus in the first season but walking in to a team and having no pre-season, no signings of your own and a raft of injuries has worked massively against us I believe.
I think Jürgen saw a group come back against Dortmund, only just get beaten against City on penalties and probably overestimated how good they were. Is that a failing on his part when he said he'd give each and every player a fresh slate when he came in, or is it a failing on our part not listening to what he said.
2nd season, he integrates Mane/Gini/Matip into the team and we do look better as proven in the league getting one of our best points totals in god knows how long, that again probably says to him these lads aren't too far off. They're scoring for fun, just a few little issues to sort out (remembering we were conceding so few shots on target at the time).
I'm not trying to make an excuse for Jürgen giving further chances to the likes of Lovren, Mignolet etc, but just trying to see it from his point of view. There were enough signs there, judged on only his time here and without the baggage of the past that we're probably much more familiar with than Jürgen, to understand that viewpoint. Whereas against Spurs, on the sidelines, I saw a man accepting a few harsh truths. This was then manifested in his post match where he quite clearly stated to the media "you were right, we were wrong", Jürgen doesn't bother with bullshit, that wasn't a sarcastic comment, it was said as straight as you'll ever see him say something and I think we'll see that now play out.
Anyone thinking this is a time to change manager though couldn't be further from the right choice. I simply don't understand how that conclusion is reached given all the information we have, I really don't.
He'll win us the league, it just wont be with Lovren and Mignolet in my opinion.
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