Ha ha....looks like you spoke too soon. Someone already dishing out the honours to City today. Great work!
Manchester City under Pep Guardiola | Pep on City v Liverpool ref: "He likes to be special"
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Ha ha....looks like you spoke too soon. Someone already dishing out the honours to City today. Great work!
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Ladies and gentlemen, the best league in the world
16 points clear.
"Pep would never walk the EPL like he did in Germany and spain"
"There are 5 teams that can challenge him"
"The EPl is the most competitive league in history"
"This isn't a one horse league like the farmers league in France and Germany"
Why couldn't Pep walk the league last season too?
Messi is a genius, Pep is a manager that requires the undisputed best team in the league to perform and win titles.
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Yea, City where the best team when he took over as were Barcelona.
No other coach can get their teams to play and dominate the way he does. Give Mou all the players he wants and he would never reproduce the football we are seeing atm.
And yet he still couldn't win the title last season.
If Jose inherited the team City had last season, he'd have won the title.
Yea, but his team still created the most chances and conceded the 2nd least chances. The platfrm was there.
City finished 4th on goal difference before he joined and Mou took United to 6th from 5th. Mou would hate Citys squad, lol you think he would play Silva and Kdb in the middel? Or you think he would like an attacker like Aguero?
City would have finished 6th as well under Mou.
The only reason why we are second is because DDG has had a ridiculous season. making the second most saves i the leagues and has the best XG for GKs in Europe, should have conceded 13+ more goals.
We weren't doping then.
The unthinkable could happen and we could always lose against Swansea before we play City
Not with the fullbacks we had he wouldn't. It was a dropped bollock by Pep last season for not addressing it. Aswel as purchasing Bravo.
Do you think this because he's doing so well with a £650m team chasing them down or do you think it because he took a team who finished the season before level on points with them, bought the most expensive player in the world and went on to finish 9 points worse off? Curious...
YOU'RE KIDDING RIGHT
Seriously KdB would be in Madrid by now if Jose was any closer to that team. You can add David silva to that as well...
I think Ederson replacing Bravo may actually be the largest single contribution. City always look a different league whenever Bravo is between the posts, so much more shaky at the back.
Comparing the xG stat from last season to this season hints at this as well.
High praise from Henry
The demands Guardiola has are incredibly high the story about drinking water in training is quite eye opening of the standards he has for his teams
The demands Guardiola has are incredibly high the story about drinking water in training is quite eye opening of the standards he has for his teams
That, along with improving their finishing. City created a ton of chances last season but couldn't convert.
An xG analysis had them winning the league this season.
What's your point? That United have a player that makes a big difference as to how many points the team have? Shocking stuff.. If you're going to make that argument you have to apply it to other teams as well because the only reason a lot of teams are where they are is because they have one player that's had a ridiculous season.
Or do you think Tottenham would be in 4th place if they didn't have Kane? Would Liverpool be in 3rd place if they had to play Sturridge instead of Salah?
Exactly. We never hear how poch and klopp are lucky as they have kane and salah respectively. Or how barca are lucky to have messi or how zidane is lucky to have ronaldo bail him out. Its ironic people like us are termed blind Jose supporters when in reality its the other way. they are blind Jose haters.
In an interview with South American TV station Directv Sport, Guardiola said: “I have discovered that Manchester City is a much bigger club that people outside think it is.
It does not have a history behind it at the level of titles – but it does have the desire to become winners. I do not rule out continuing to lead in 10 years. It will depend how I feel and if they want me. It also depends on my family. I am not alone. I cannot live without my family. I will not go somewhere alone.
You cannot run the race so quickly. I used to watch my next opponent’s last three of four matches on tape, but now I do not watch them all. I do less analysis. I have learned that helps the players and I am better with myself for it. I used to think that I had to watch everything because I was worried that something was going to escape me.
If, one day, I don’t have the energy to train every day with a team that loves me, then maybe I will think about international football. But I like planning and working at an extreme level with players – so that we can be very precise.”
It does not have a history behind it at the level of titles – but it does have the desire to become winners. I do not rule out continuing to lead in 10 years. It will depend how I feel and if they want me. It also depends on my family. I am not alone. I cannot live without my family. I will not go somewhere alone.
You cannot run the race so quickly. I used to watch my next opponent’s last three of four matches on tape, but now I do not watch them all. I do less analysis. I have learned that helps the players and I am better with myself for it. I used to think that I had to watch everything because I was worried that something was going to escape me.
If, one day, I don’t have the energy to train every day with a team that loves me, then maybe I will think about international football. But I like planning and working at an extreme level with players – so that we can be very precise.”
I usually stop discussing with people that give that argument. clueless is the word that comes to mind. if that is your argument then you have none.
People have being conditioned to think that Attack is the only way to play football when a fair few of the successful teams of the past privileged defense and solidity first. and it's not like we're not good in attack, we are 3rd best in the league in that departement. but no, Without De gea, we would be in the championship.
Re Pep and this year's premier league:
He may have walked the league this year, the reason is simple for me: when you have spent almost two times what the next team spent, you're bound to do that. you attain the top quickly, quicker than the others, the thing is, you can improve the team to a certain point , no more, when the other teams of the top 6 catch up with their transfers (mainly us and Chelsea, Liverpool to a certain point), the gap will decrease.
This is a freak season, and you can't improve upon it. the only way for them is down or at best, getting the same number of points as this year. they had one loss, it's extremely unlikely that they'll have just one loss next year. add into that the luck they had in some games, too much added times, penalties here and there. the stars aligned for them this year.
We are on course to have more than 80 points (5 wins from the last 8 would do that, and we play teams like Swansea, West brom, watford, Brighton, Bournemouth and WH), that's title challengers form and we haven't been that good, with the team gelling and the necessary improvements next year we will be even stronger.
If we splashed the cash for an LB and RB like Pep did this year, we would be way closer. i don't read that much into the league this year.
They were better, fair enough, they deserve the title, fair enough, but they spent way more than the others to do that, no one can deny it. it's not a bad thing per se, it's up to the other teams to do the same and catch up.
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Some blinkered views in here in my opinion.
The dominant manner in which City have dealt with the PL this year is ominous. Putting aside the arguments over what he’s spent, he’s spent it well. They look strong and have depth - more so than any other side in the league for me.
United have improved this year but aren’t the finished article by any stretch. This summer will hopefully see the few remaining pieces of the puzzle fall into place. I think it has to for Jose to have any sustained success here.
City have upped the ante this year. I think they’ll maintain those standards and potentially improve again. It’s up to the chasing pack to do likewise.
The dominant manner in which City have dealt with the PL this year is ominous. Putting aside the arguments over what he’s spent, he’s spent it well. They look strong and have depth - more so than any other side in the league for me.
United have improved this year but aren’t the finished article by any stretch. This summer will hopefully see the few remaining pieces of the puzzle fall into place. I think it has to for Jose to have any sustained success here.
City have upped the ante this year. I think they’ll maintain those standards and potentially improve again. It’s up to the chasing pack to do likewise.
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I really do think we have to be ruthless in the market come summer to challenge. I'm happy we got Sanchez but I'd like us to add Mahrez and a couple of full backs and SMS (I know I'm very greedy lol). If I'm being honest I think Pep deserves the praise he's getting for the season they are having. He's spent loads but truth is any manager in the world who gets employed by a state run club desperate for success would spend crazy sums too. So I think the spending is not so much a pep thing per se as it is a man city thing.
Their numbers are mind boggling but the most expensive of their buys has not featured for most of the season and their second most expensive signing (Laporte if I'm correct) was bought in January when the league was good as done. That's over 100 million pounds that has not really impacted their position on the table.
Yes the monies spent has helped them no doubt but apart from Walker and Ederson it's being pretty much the same players as last season. When they play they intimidate teams and make them succumb to their style.
I think the gaffer has done very well and a plastic club like them do not deserve him.
Pep Guardiola talks about the need for possession, Width vs Depth, different marking systems and different methods of attacking in Bayern Munchen, FC Barcelona and Manchester City.
Diabolical finishing, mostly
And a substandard keeper
Nah, Bravo's performances were also affected by their poor finishing, along with way too many stupid mistakes in possession leading to big chances for the opposition. Still, if the team can't finish, it will have a huge psychological impact on the defence and vice-versa. City were doing just fine while Bravo was getting shredded by the media, then they forgot how to finish, and suddenly Bravo's supposed inadeguacy was magnified(in truth Bravo wasn't even that bad, most of the goals they conceded weren't his fault, obviously)
You might have noticed Bravo hasn't been a problem at all for them this season
To be fair he also hasn't been the first goalkeeper anymore this season.
Gonna have to change my opinion on this guy. I always thought he only won because he inherited great teams. Sure, he's spent shit loads but he's got them playing great. Interesting to see if he can keep it going for a few seasons. The way Liverpool are improving it may be good if he can.
I actually think that replacing Bravo has played a huge role. Ederson does a lot more than just keeping, he is much closer to Manuel Neuer's style of sweeping dangerous balls away before the opponent actually gets to the shot.
Also his distribution from the back is a lot better than Bravo's. With Bravo you often get the impression that he'll always opt for the pass that will bring the most amount of pressure on the intended recipient, while Ederson actually manages to relieve his defense or even start counter attacks.
He really knows where to spend money tbf. There's no great team in modern football without top fullbacks.
Sometimes his fullbacks will outnumber the adversary in the middle, or the wingers are in the midfield and the full back will provide width..
Sometimes his fullbacks will outnumber the adversary in the middle, or the wingers are in the midfield and the full back will provide width..
It seems Pep had a lot of freak seasons so far in his career
Not hugely impressed by the Bayern. He took over the best team in Europe and won a one-team league.
As for Barcelona, he had that points total with the greatest club squad of all time.
City one is very impressive, regardless of his outrageous spending.
Nice interview that.
Takes a bit of time to adjust to a new league/team and the team/players to adjust to you. And of course it's not easy to 'walk' any top league IMO even if these factors weren't at play.
That team was never anywhere near the level they were at during Pep days before he came there. I don't know why people keep repeating that he walked into an easy situation at Barca when he really did not.
I never mentioned him walking into a great team (although he did, imo). Look at the seasonal date for the 78 points. They were already European Champions.
This was his complete/best squad, which was the greatest squad ever seen and in its prime.
It's insane. The transformation is backed by videos on youtube, journalists and news articles at the time, and their actual results. But that doesn't fit the narrative of him having it easy, so we can't have factual information ruining all of that.
Will be pretty impressive if/when they break Chelsea's record points total.
Can't see them failing to do so given the amount of games left. Would need to be a relative crisis (for their season) to stop it.
Hopefully United can give them a good game and suggest a bit more competition next season.
Can't see them failing to do so given the amount of games left. Would need to be a relative crisis (for their season) to stop it.
Hopefully United can give them a good game and suggest a bit more competition next season.
The same will happen with City, I can already see it. He joined a struggling team that barely finished 4th under Pellegrini, had an average first season and has had a tremendous second season so far but this will all be put down to an amazing team he inherited and the amount of money he spent by some, even though the team was barely above United and they did not spend much more than United either.