Quote:tens of millions of dollars can buy a lot of rosetta stone lol.

 

in all seriousness i do agree that it pretty essential to be able to speak the language of the country in which you are coaching. i was reading where his main assistant knows English. i'm one who tends to be torn, a little when it comes to true manager influence on a club. personnel decisions as far as when to play people, subs, and transfers obviously is something they effect directly. But once everything is in place, it's not like they call plays 50-70 times a game like a coach in the NFL. it's really up to the players at that point. diego seems to be a little more influential than most once the game starts, but really, a managers job is call 3 subs and stand up a few times if things aren't going according to plan. Maybe thats just me but every time i see one of the managers trying to get the attention of one of his players, i think back to when i played and remember every time my  coach would do crap like that, i would just look at him like "no [BAD WORD REMOVED], im playing the same game your watching" lol. IMO managers are the scape goat if things are not right, which kind of sucks for them.

I think its a little more important in the EPL for the manager to be able to communicate. LVG did not speak a lick of Spanish and he was able to perform at Barcelona. Like you said, the manager can only do so much. At Barcelona, when you have guys like Messi, Ineista, Xavi, Ronaldinho etc as LVG had, theres only so much the manager can do that will make those stars listen, I mean what can Messi learn from LVG that he does not already know? Heck, you could put you or I in there and we would look like geniuses ( tongue in cheek). 

 

In the Barclays Premier League, I feel its a little different. The media has so much influence and its important the face of the team is able to communicate, theres no real style in the EPL either, a lot of money is at stake etc. It really is important for mangers in that league to speak english, and I cant really remember many that have not spoke english. 

---