I would be angry about Bernardo at false 9 (they seriously had no people in the fecking box for any of their crosses), but Jesus was even worse. Absolute bottle of a game, Chelsea could've scored 5 out there against that high line.
'Pep' Guardiola sack watch
- Thread starter Classical Mechanic
- Start date
He looked completely uninterested tonight.
Wearing some scruffy shite t shirt and jeans just added to the sense he was going through the motions.
Wearing some scruffy shite t shirt and jeans just added to the sense he was going through the motions.
For all his achievements, he'll always be the man who let Liverpool win. And that was unforgivable.
"More than you believe."
I don't disagree with that but why mess with a winning formula. After we won the treble the team stayed the same and even this title winning Liverpool team is almost the same as the team that got 97 points the year before.
City needed squad player if anything, making changes to the starting 11 wasn't needed and they are worse for it.
Eh? He was really good in that 20 min spell after he came on. The water break and red card rendered his role pointless
They need to spend some serious money on CBs, a ST and CM.
They've been found out massively this season having lost 8 games. If that ban doesn't get overturned, I've a feeling he might jump ship. Losing the league by such a big margin must have dented his confidence, they also have no chance at the CL with the CBs they have and the high line they play.
They've been found out massively this season having lost 8 games. If that ban doesn't get overturned, I've a feeling he might jump ship. Losing the league by such a big margin must have dented his confidence, they also have no chance at the CL with the CBs they have and the high line they play.
I guess he was just isolated since Chelsea knew they could put men behind the ball and not go for it but his dribbling was lacking imo. That's not his game anyways tbf.
Don't get me started on those fecking drinks breaks, they've ruined a team's momentum in 75% of the games I've watched since the restart. Pretty much an extra coaching break so don't worry if you set your team up badly from the start, you'll get an opportunity to talk to them all in 20 minutes anyways. City fell apart after that first one today, Chelsea barely had a sniff till then.
They've played more conservative in the CL this year. I think they'll make it as far as the SFs, beyond that it's anyone's guess
Not the first time either. He was exposed a little at Bayern, and in the early days at City. He'll go to PSG soon where he can win the league every season without trying.
Give it one more campaign and he'll eventually end up at Juve.
The authorities, particularly the State Security Agency (SSA), subjected detainees, including foreign nationals, to arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and enforced disappearance. The authorities also restricted freedom of expression, imprisoning government critics and holding them in dire conditions. - Amnesty International
I think if you're going to take a job at a club which is a thinly disguised Sportswashing outfit for the UAE who are guilty of the above. Then it's really just common decency to win the league every year. Which Pep has failed to do.
I think if you're going to take a job at a club which is a thinly disguised Sportswashing outfit for the UAE who are guilty of the above. Then it's really just common decency to win the league every year. Which Pep has failed to do.
Title should probably be changed to Fraudiola, just because. 
The only way I see him leaving is if CAS throw the book at him,however fully expecting them to get it overturned
Yeah unfortunately Woody scuppered any hopes of him ever managing Utd,he portrayed us as an "adult version of Disneyland" but he wasn't wrong to be fair
Here is the thing though, how many clubs are there that would give him the budget & freedom to do whatever he wants? Pretty much just PSG & Manchester City, so when you look at it, why exactly would he want to leave City?
Regardless considering that Juventus (The only Italian Football Club that he could realistically go to) are struggling to afford Ramsey wages these days, somehow I don't think they can afford a Pep style rebuild.
Lets be real; I have had my issues with Pep, but the vast majority of his signings at City have very much been good signings at least (1). Certainly better than most of the players United where signing at the same time.
(1) Only Nolito, Bravo, Mendy (due to injuries) & maybe Angeliño deserve to fit into that catagory.
It's been a disaster that has been 16 years in the making from the moment the Glazers arrived, even if Fergie papered over the cracks until he left.
At least we have a backup plan to get into the CL that doesn't involve the Courts. Chelsea & Leicester don't have that luxury.
No Top 6 manager with any sense would sign Otamendi, so Pep cannot be blamed to prefering a DM over a guy who keeps making stupid mistakes. If anything the bigger issue is that Pep didn't lobby Begiristain enough to get Koulibaly & Škriniar to replace Kompany & Otamendi.
It's more than 2-3 to be fair, more specifically Allison, TAA, VVD, Gomez, Fabinio, Mane & Salah are more than good enough to start for even the best. Generally agree with your point though.
Considering that PSG (outside Neymar, Mbappe & Icardi) are far worse team than Manchester City, he would be better off signng Mbappe and Neymar to City if he was that desperate to work with them.
It's not like there are a lot of teams out there that are willing to spend the money needed to assemble a team Pep can work with. Especially considering recent events...
Considering that Liverpool are planning to sign virtually no one to upgrade their squad (despite the fact their CL performances prove they needed someone like Werner), I don't think Liverpool are going to start winning league left, right & centre.
They need 7 players to close the gap with Liverpool (plus keeping Sane): Digne; Koulibaly; Škriniar; De Jong; Fabian; Sancho & Kane.
Considering his dads ties to City (and the fact he might well be a fan of the club himself), I wouldn't be surprised if it does happen.
Not that it should stop us trying to hijack that move of course...
It's not necessarily Fernandinho playing in defence that's the problem, it's that now Fernandinho is no longer playing in midfield. Unless his age is getting to him, he's simply a far better defensive midfielder than anyone else they have. To try to slightly improve a struggling defence Pep has significantly weakened the midfield that protects them.
Oh I very much agree that playing Fernandinho at CB (instead of DM) was a very bad decision, my point was that Pep should have instead demanded actual replacements for Kompany & Otamendi to solve City's problems at CB rather than resort to Fernandinho.
To be fair though; playing Otamendi & Stones on a regular basis (which would had to happen after Laporte's injury if Fernandinho stayed at CB) would have cost the team on too many occasions. Hence why Pep deliberately avoided playing those 2 together after the 3-0 loss to Norwich.
Pep has been brilliant at City but he has a lot to do now to get them back up to the level they were at. Just like he has a lot to do when he first arrived and people pretended he walked into a world class team. The defence looks absolutely terrible. The DM spot has a player who is getting on. I'm not sure they can rely on Aguero as their 9 long term. Fullbacks appear to have regressed too. No top LB.
Honestly all they need is a CB and a striker and I believe the striker will be there the most difficult task and I believe they will struggle to find one unless Sterling/Mahrez become goal machine or Jesus does.
Why do people think Pep will go to Juve? I’d doubt he’d want to pander to Ronaldo, so it wouldn’t work.
Honestly what's the point of playing Bernardo Silva at center forward? Feels like he's too much in love with himself, he's in danger to turn into the next Mourinho if he starts believing all his hype. There are new managers coming with more intensity and purpose, and lets see how he does without all the funds he's always had..
Pep's going nowhere for another season at least. I think he'll eventually end up at Juve but not before Ronaldo leaves.
They’ll win the CL this season.
It might seem a bit scaremongering but I feel they are in danger of missing top 4 next season if they can't make any additions.
This is a bigger rebuild job than the one pep walked away from in Barcelona. The reason he might consider staying is to not abandon the club during their CL ban.
This is a bigger rebuild job than the one pep walked away from in Barcelona. The reason he might consider staying is to not abandon the club during their CL ban.
We have seen times and times again that they are defensively fragile and now they don’t have an automatic goal scorer. Of course with this year’s cl, everything is possible but they don’t play like a cl contender.
Exactly, they are not beating Bayern for starters
I thought that before the break, but there defensive looks beyond fragile. If a team of Chelsea's standard is getting chance after chance, imagine what Bayern will do to them. It'll be a blood bath. Especially now with Augero probably out, I'd say it would be a bit of a surprise form wise if they pull it off.
Bayern would destroy that high line they play, PSG and a few others too in the Champions League. Nothing wrong with playing a very high line but the defenders aren't quite good enough to play it and will make 2-3 mistakes a game that a top, clinical team will punish you'd think.
The other thing is Pep's incredibly erratic team selections. Gundogan will always find a way in, 5 or 6 midfielders that fail spectacularly as often as they work. For every time you're like 'genius', there are another two times where you're like 'what are you doing?' City were so good last season...but the biggest game of the season against Spurs, he brings on Kevin De Bruyne and Sane after 89 minutes when they desperately need an away goal, while Gundogan and David Silva stay on the pitch. Talk about an unforced error.
The other thing is Pep's incredibly erratic team selections. Gundogan will always find a way in, 5 or 6 midfielders that fail spectacularly as often as they work. For every time you're like 'genius', there are another two times where you're like 'what are you doing?' City were so good last season...but the biggest game of the season against Spurs, he brings on Kevin De Bruyne and Sane after 89 minutes when they desperately need an away goal, while Gundogan and David Silva stay on the pitch. Talk about an unforced error.
I think he really needs to change his playing style now. Any team that attacks them with directness breaks his side down way too easily- We've won twice this season by playing this way, Wolves X2, Pool, Norwich at the beginning of the season, Chelsea yesterday as well.
His CBs don't have the recovery pace to get back into position in time, players like Mendy, Gundogan make way too many mistakes and they just lack a physical CB - someone who can bully the opposition attackers.
I still think he has built his side well in terms of player profile, but he lacks a proper Plan B and Plan C and the players required for that.
His CBs don't have the recovery pace to get back into position in time, players like Mendy, Gundogan make way too many mistakes and they just lack a physical CB - someone who can bully the opposition attackers.
I still think he has built his side well in terms of player profile, but he lacks a proper Plan B and Plan C and the players required for that.
If all player in the world were right-footed or left-footed only but there are many right-footed and left-footed non-players equally in the world, he'd sign up them on free and play them because he thinks it is important to play CB with preferred foot - right-footed as RCB on the right flank and left-footed as LCB on left flank, perhaps same applied to wingers.
His obsession with the preferred foot is crazy, he lost to Chelsea because of his obsession.
His obsession with the preferred foot is crazy, he lost to Chelsea because of his obsession.
Yeah, I knew there were (didn't bother to check which ones). But was just making the point that in recent history even we were much worse
Yeah, his obsession with Gundogan just killed another game. That guy absolutely lacks any physicality and energy, it's hilarious.
I think it has more to do with his system not really clicking this season in general. Guardiola always played a high line and his defenders and mifdielders usually lacked pace anyways. Pique, Puyol, Hummels, ...
IMO, Gündogan is one of the EPL's best midfielders and I would put him in any starting eleven bar City's - and that is only because they have incredibly good options for that position in de Bruyne, the Silvas, Foden and Gündogan.
I don't think City need big rebuild but a reliable CB and a CM who can run for 90 mins will be important.
PSG need a CL, Pep needs another CL. Perfect fit i would say. Would be my guess for next move.
Its not a big rebuild City need. Just a keeper and a solid back 4. Something they can surley afford themselves next season. If you compare them to the Dippers its the only part of the pitch they are inferior. Pep is getting a Jose vibe about him now. Some of the teams have adapted to the way he plays and he seems to stubborn to change his approach.
They also need an injection of leadership. It's not easy to replace men like Kompany, whose personality and drive in the changing room and on the training ground creates the consistency that separates league winners from also-rans.
We've found that for close to a decade after losing a load of our leadership in a short space of time and City are going to need to address this better than we did as they're also losing David Silva at the end of this season.
I agree to a degree with that too aldo I would argue that KDB is captain material and had shown some mental strenght along his world class talent. He can't be alone though.
Pretty much agree. The issue with his side is that if they plan on playing this way, they need a top class CDM, and defenders who are not just good on the ball, but physically strong and fast as well.
As much as I like Laporte, he lacks the pace to get back into position if they lose the ball carelessly - something that has happened on multiple occasions in each game. Mendy is a horrible defender and Otamendi is not suited to Pep's style.