Xisco Munoz

Discussion in 'Former Players Archive' started by The Recluse, Dec 18, 2020.

  1. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    FA Cup in 2014, was Pep there at that stage?
     
  2. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Pellegrini it was.
     
  3. GoingDown

    GoingDown "The Stability"

    Sam Pellegrini? City were quite refreshing back then.
     
    wfc4ever likes this.
  4. Knight GT

    Knight GT Predictor extraordinaire 2013/14

    I watched him!
     
  5. Knight GT

    Knight GT Predictor extraordinaire 2013/14

    My apologies, I thought it was Pep. Point stands though
     
  6. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    I honestly wasn’t being pedantic, I don’t even remember it now knowing it was actually Pellegrini. That said I’m not sure how well the point stands given it was 7 years ago, generally speaking, like for like defensive subs aren’t that common/effective when you’re losing a game.
     
  7. Knight GT

    Knight GT Predictor extraordinaire 2013/14

    I think the point stands in that differences can be made by personnel as well as changes of formation. In fact formation changes can be quite difficult to do in the middle of a game. On Saturday I would have had Ngakia on for Femenia at half time as Kiko was getting the run around by the same fella who scored the goal and Ngakia is far better defensively. Just throwing on attackers quite often doesn't work as they make them runs, do the same thing and get in each others way. Danjuma was there only real threat and we did nothing to nullify it and we paid the price
     
    GoingDown likes this.
  8. Steve Leo Beleck

    Steve Leo Beleck Squad Player

    Tough call though as Kiko was also the main source of danger with a couple of really good balls into the box and has linked up very well with Sarr over the last few weeks.
     
    UEA_Hornet likes this.
  9. Steve Leo Beleck

    Steve Leo Beleck Squad Player

    I don't really know what to make of him to be honest. He loves a last ditch tackle/block. He's also very good in the air for a full back. But boy does he have a tendency to switch off and do silly things. Bearing in mind he's spent his whole career in Italy before this, he's the least Italian-style defender I could think of!
     
  10. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    Watching Serie A these days the standard of Italian defending these days has gone through the floor lol
     
  11. Knight GT

    Knight GT Predictor extraordinaire 2013/14

    Absolutely right and certainly has been one of our better performers this year but he does struggle when people with pace run at him. Gets caught out of position too easily and felt we might have been better served with a more defensive full back. It was the only way Bournemouth looked like they would score. Easy to say after the event but it was also fairly evident at the time. Wycombe will be different as I'm sure we will spend a lot of time on the front foot
     
  12. Knight GT

    Knight GT Predictor extraordinaire 2013/14

    The sliding tackle against Bournemouth that got him a yellow was just plain stupid
     
    Steve Leo Beleck likes this.
  13. Relegation Certs

    Relegation Certs Squad Player

  14. WatfordTalk

    WatfordTalk First Team

  15. luke_golden

    luke_golden Space Cadet

  16. RS2

    RS2 Squad Player

    Is this buffoon still here?
     
  17. LeedsOrn

    LeedsOrn Reservist

    https://twitter.com/wfc_ben/status/1367533372482945025?s=20

    I'm finding the way he interacts on social media really nice. A lot of managers just post bs cliches when on Twitter/Instagram, whereas here he is liking club tweets or commenting on players' instagrams with some praise and encouragement. It's definitely not something I've seen before and quite refreshing.
     
  18. WatfordTalk

    WatfordTalk First Team

    Also saw a couple of coaches tweeting Scott Tingley the groundsman, praising the pitch. Not exactly a big deal in and of itself, but just another example of the positive atmosphere that Xisco and his team seem to have brought not just to the players, but the club as a whole.

    https://twitter.com/mangelmunozll/status/1367587608956571667?s=19
     
    PowerJugs and wfc4ever like this.
  19. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Well it’s a bowling green compared to most pitches in the league!
     
  20. Steve Leo Beleck

    Steve Leo Beleck Squad Player

    Probably bored off his nut living in a flat with no family and unable to go anywhere. Might as well spam some social media with good vibes whilst dancing round the kitchen singing Sweet Caroline into a bottle of Cruzcampo.
     
    Hogg-DEENEY!!! and Watford Gav like this.
  21. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    Well, that starting line-up worked, by hook or by crook! Questionable subs, why oh why did he keep on a visibly shattered Sarr and Sema, but it didn't affect the result in the end
     
    The Voice of Reason likes this.
  22. WatfordTalk

    WatfordTalk First Team

    Fair play to Gino, bizarre appointment at the time, from absolutely nowhere, but Xisco has done a fantastic job so far.
     
  23. Steve Leo Beleck

    Steve Leo Beleck Squad Player

    Credit where credit's due. I've been one of the most vocal critics of the appointment and Xisco's decisions after arriving but today he couldn't have done any better with the players available. Playing Pedro in midfield was ballsy but paid off and he introduced the other players at the right time, Sanchez settled things down and Success helped up see the game out far better than Perica would have, and Hungbo carried a threat and enabled us to bring the ball up the pitch.

    Here's to hoping he continues to ram my words down my throat.
     
    PowerJugs and zztop like this.
  24. zztop

    zztop Eurovision Winner 2015

    TBF, as one of the most "positive" people on here, I was having a serious wobble until Deeney stopped playing and the formation changed. I just couldn't see how he was going to get the best out of the players. I honestly think it was something as simple as Deeney not being around.
     
    domthehornet and Carpster like this.
  25. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    I have to give him some credit, the players clearly like him more than Ivic, and by hook or by crook he was the one who introduced Sierralta to the first team, but the jury is still out for me. Yes we've been on a good run of form, but I don't think we'd have gone to 4-2-3-1 if Deeney hadn't got injured (the talk around the Coventry game was about using 3 at the back again), and the games before he got injured (Norwich aside) were unconvincing at best, shambolic at worst. I'll defend some of his subs as the schedule is so hectic that we need to give players rest, but some games, most importantly Bournemouth, he was pretty clueless
     
  26. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    But we're so far gone now that I'm not Xisco out, we might as well stick with him until the end of the season, but either way, I don't see him sticking around next season
     
  27. Carpster

    Carpster Squad Player

    Well he's definitely bought in something to the club in attitude. I still believe he's got lucky over the DeeKnee injury and quite literally stumbling into a system that works for our current squad. It's been a remarkable upturn in points, goals and positives since Captain fantastic put on his moon boot.
     
  28. The Voice of Reason

    The Voice of Reason First Team Captain

    Most of time when pundits talk about our performances it is our defence that gets most of the praise, and lets be honest it was Vlad who tightened up our defensive system, so a lot of that praise is down to him.

    I know we played some real turgid football under Vlad, but for the most it was effective. Furthermore Vlad saw us through when a lot of our more creative players were not available, so you have to ask had Vlad had the players available that The Kid has now would we be doing even better than we are now?

    I think we just might.
     
    Hogg-DEENEY!!! likes this.
  29. Otter

    Otter Gambling industry insider

    The players are clearly enjoying playing under Xisco, and with the squad we have we should have been nailed on automatic promotion it's easy to see past the fact that anyone should get this team up, and I wonder what would have been had Pearson continued on. The issue with Vlad is that he was too strict and the players hated it, it's true he did well early on to get a tune out of a threadbare squad but some of the results must have been simply because we had better players than our opponents.
     
  30. zztop

    zztop Eurovision Winner 2015

    I'm still not certain either, and with Deeney possibly getting fit wanting to come back, I wonder if Munoz will get sucked back into problems.

    He most certainly has established a much better environment and culture around the players and for me that is 80% of what a coach has to do, but I'm not sure of his tactical ability, and like you not sure whether he has got where we are by design or accident/forced upon him. I think he still needs to show he can take us to the next level. But I hope he does as having happy players with a bit of freedom to play progressively is an extremely good place to start.
     
  31. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    I can't be sure, but I suspect Deeney is out for the season, you can usually add a good couple of weeks to any timeline they give for injured players to return! If he does return to fitness fairly soon, hopefully he'll finally read the room and realise we're far better off without him as an automatic starter, maybe he'd be an asset as an impact sub off the bench, but that's about it
     
  32. Otter

    Otter Gambling industry insider

    If we got to the play off final, would you have Deeney on the bench in case of a penalty shoot out?

    Other than that I think we won't see Deeney again this season.
     
  33. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    Yes, I give Vlad credit for getting us to look organised, and getting results without so many key players, but ultimately, we have much better players than most teams in this league. I think it's arrogant to suggest we should be strolling to automatic promotion, there are other good teams in this division, but ultimately, you feel anyone could get us at least top 6
     
  34. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    Vlad record....P 20 W 9 D 7 L 4 F 23 A 15 Pts 34 Gd +8 Clean sheets 8 Point average 1.70

    Munoz record....P 15 W 10 D 2 L 3 F23 A 9 Pts 32 Gd +14 Clean sheets 9 Point average 2.13

    There's enough evidence to support Munoz is getting more from the squad than Ivic did.

    Ivic had 5 more games, yet Munoz has won more, scored more (on average), more clean sheets and a better points average.

    His real test is yet to come though. The the next 4 games should see a continuation of the good form, with 3 very winnable games amongst them. But his next real test now is the final 7 games. If he could somehow maintain the form we've had under him in the final 7 games, we could well make the autos, but it would require an uplift on what he's done already.
     
  35. Otter

    Otter Gambling industry insider

    The next test is the next match. Cardiff are now in the hunt for the play offs having had a recent run of form although drawing two of their last 3 games.

    Get a win v Cardiff then we can look forward to 2 winnable matches before the international break.
     

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