I’ll always prioritise league performance over cup performance when deciding what I think of managers.

The only cup exception I can make is CL (because of the supreme pressure involved), but always combined with league performance. Never in isolation.

If a manager is consistently good in league football, there’s a bigger chance that he’ll raise your club’s level than if he’s consistently good in cup competitions.

And when he only seems to be good in cups, that’s an instant red flag for me.

This is why I’m not sold on Marcelo Gallardo yet (I’ve barely watched his teams so I’d still need to do that).

I checked his league record and it’s nowhere near as impressive as his cup record. That brings up doubts with me.

I remember a thread I made years ago where I asked why Sevilla hadn’t fired Emery despite their then 2 EL triumphs (people were obviously going mad at me for it).

My reason was league performance. Then they won EL a third time & people came at me again. But I feel I had a point.

Sevilla were rubbish in the league for the most part in 3 and half years under Emery. It pointed to a deficiency.

A manager truly elevating a team starts from league football where consistency is required before adding cup excellence. Never the other way round.

This is also why I say cup triumphs don’t necessarily indicate elevation (except it’s CL, where teams can attain a greater level of mental fortitude). This was pretty much Poch’s point but people called him a loser.

Note that I’m not mentioning Europa League triumphs.

I don’t think the pressure in CL and its effect on teams is in the same planet as that (far lower) in EL, at least not in this decade. That competition (EL/UEFA Cup) used to have higher pressure in the 90s and early 2000s. Not as much anymore. So it feels just like domestic cups.

Not even the addition of CL qualification has boosted it.

Anyway, back to my point. If you want to hire a manager to improve your team, always look at his league record first. Do not get carried away by his cup triumphs and all that “he’s a winner” talk.

Every team that wants to improve must establish consistency first before anything. And you only find consistency in league football. That is the foundation on which great teams are built.

In my opinion, of course.