Two years ago today, Pep shattered Cesc's dreams and left Barca in turmoil

And soon Pep will come to Arsenal leaving the fuckboy suicidal.

And soon Pep will come to Arsenal leaving the fuckboy suicidal.

That would be the only reason for me to accept Pep at Arsenal. To completely ruin Fabregas.

Was just browsing Wikipedia out of boredom and decided to put together a funny list of Guardiola's signings, to highlight what an absolute disaster he's been in the transfer market. One of the many reasons why I wouldn't want him at Arsenal:

2008-2009:
- Dani Alves (€29m)
- Seydou Keita (€14m)
- Martin Caceres (€16.5m), played 13 games then left
- Gerard Pique (€5m)
- Alex Hleb (€12m), loaned out the following season
- Henrique (€10m), never played a game

Alves and Pique went on to play a huge part in Barca's dominance. Rest of them massive flops.

2009-2010:
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic (for Samuel Eto'o + €46m), sold a year later for €24m
- Maxwell (€5m)
- Keirrison (€14m), never played a game
- Dmytro Chygrynskiy (€25m), sold back to Shakhtar a year later for €15m

One would have to question the sanity of Guardiola signing Zlatan for a combined approximate fee close to €70-75m, only to sell him a year later for a third of that fee. But my personal favourite is the Chygrynskiy transfer, where Pep paid €25m, played him 12 times then sold him back to the club he bought him from for €15m, netting Shakhtar €10m profit.

2010-2011:
- David Villa (€40m), sold two years later for €5m
- Javier Mascherano (€20m)
- Adriano (€10m)
- Ibrahim Afellay (€3m)

€70m in total for Villa, Mascherano and Adriano is ridiculous. Villa was seen as the Spanish solution to Guardiola's quest for a centre-forward (after failing with Eto'o and Zlatan), but was inevitably sold for peanuts two seasons later.

2011-2012:
- Cesc Fabregas (€34m guaranteed)
- Alexis Sanchez (€26m)

This was Pep's last season before he folded and left the sinking ship. He then took over a perfect Bayern squad so didn't really have to make any signings, but he did Barca a final favour by bringing in Thiago for €25m. No one knows why.

So to summarise, I'd rather not have Guardiola come to Arsenal and make Chygrynskiy-sized signings for the hell of it. Judging by his track record so far, he would buy a few expensive donkeys, sell them back to their clubs a year later then quit the job as soon as things got tough.

Fuck that skinny-suited bald twat.

Whose to say Pep had influence of the transfers? We all know how Spanish clubs are run, surely it would've been that Txixixi fella who would've conducted these transfers

Whose to say Pep had influence of the transfers? We all know how Spanish clubs are run, surely it would've been that Txixixi fella who would've conducted these transfers

We can't just give credit to Pep for all the good things and then blame all the bad things on others. Guardiola is far from a perfect manager, and transfers were one of his weak areas. Guardiola had full control over transfers. Txiki Bergistan's role was to finalise signings, but it was Guardiola who decided what players to pursue.

He probably got about 70% of the transfers he wanted. Do you really believe he wanted Keirrison & Hleb?

That being said, he was probably nowhere near negotiating the prices of contracts of these players. There's only one club in the World where that happens and it's at Arsenal under Wenger.

Hleb was the best attacking midfielder of all time. Before he moved.

Hleb was the best attacking midfielder of all time. Before he moved.

He had a marvelous season and i cant remember him putting a foot wrong that year like Ramsey had 2013. I was very disappointed that we let him go.

Not only was he technically gifted, he also had a brilliant brain. Loved watching him. If Flamini, Cesc and Hleb didn't leave we would have had one of the finest midfield. Granted Rosicky stayed fit as well.

He probably got about 70% of the transfers he wanted. Do you really believe he wanted Keirrison & Hleb?

Again, you're making the mistake of clearing all wrongdoing because you somehow believe Guardiola's achievements as man-manager makes him an excellent transfer window merchant. Is it not a bit convenient that you remove the obvious flops from Guardiola's responsibility?

The only players Barca signed were the ones identified by Guardiola. Him and Txiki worked closely together in a Wenger/Dein type understanding, with Joan Laporta heading up the catalan revolution. Laporta's idea was to build a homogenous catalan team as a political platform for his career as a catalan independence activist. Hence the desperation of bringing back good players that once were ignored.

We can't just say 'Dani Alves was great so he must have been signed by Guardiola, but Chygrynskiy was the flop of the century so that must have been Txiki's fault'. They were all Guardiola's signings. From my count, only three of the 16 players Guardiola signed during his four years as manager are still at Barcelona. That is an awful turnover.

To put it in context, imagine a manager coming to Arsenal, signing 16 players in four years (of which only 3-4 "make it") then quitting because he can't handle the pressure of being a manager. Trophies or not, Guardiola's very short career as a manager has shown several weaknesses that we most definitely don't need at Arsenal.

With our limited resources we can't just throw €25m at Shakhtar for some unknown defender only to sell him back a year later for €15m. We don't have the type of infinite money Guardiola is used to. We need a manager who makes sensible and informed decision in the market. And we need someone with a strong enough mentality to handle the pressure, especially the pressure of being a Premier League manager for Arsenal. Doesn't get more pressured than that.

So far, Guardiola has proven he can handle none of that.

I think Arsene will leave more than a capable team behind.

I think Arsene will leave more than a capable team behind.

Heynckes left arguably the best team in history behind, and Guardiola still changed it. Yet another weakness.

Heynckes left a brilliant team behind but the issue was that, that team had won absolutely everything. You need to shake it up because it peaked the season before Pep joined. It was a tricky thing and the way Pep handled it speaks volumes about his quality as a manager.

Heynckes left a brilliant team behind but the issue was that, that team had won absolutely everything. You need to shake it up because it peaked the season before Pep joined. It was a tricky thing and the way Pep handled it speaks volumes about his quality as a manager.

No, that team was just getting going and had the potential to become an even more dominant force than Barca anno 2008-2012. That team was a brilliant team unit that could have won multiple trebles in a row, but vanity ensued and Bayern wanted a more high profile manager to take over. If they hadn't, Heynckes would have become one of the most successful managers in football history.

Barca's team didn't change their manager. So they went on to dominate. When a new manager comes in a team like that, he obviously needs to change a few things around.

Barca's team didn't change their manager. So they went on to dominate. When a new manager comes in a team like that, he obviously needs to change a few things around.

Well exactly...if Barca had changed manager in 2009, Barca wouldn't have dominated the way they did in 2010, 2011 and 2012. It would have disrupted the build, just like Guardiola's appointment disrupted Heynckes' build.

Exactly. But we were arguing how Pep got on taking charge of that team and I think he's done brilliantly and those changes were needed.

Exactly. But we were arguing how Pep got on taking charge of that team and I think he's done brilliantly and those changes were needed.

He's done fine. He hasn't improved the team in any way, as evidenced by the trophy count compared to Heynckes' Bayern.

Yes my point was that it's very hard and tricky to get into a squad as strong as that one, let alone after they win everything.