Manchester City under Pep Guardiola | Pep on City v Liverpool ref: "He likes to be special"
- Thread starter Adisa
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Just seen this posted on a news site:
Chequebook Pep can't do it unless he can outspend everybody else.
Chequebook Pep can't do it unless he can outspend everybody else.
- Brian Clough won European Cups with Forest on a shoestring
- Van Gaal won the CL with Ajax on a shoestring
- Fergie won the Cup Winners' Cup with Aberdeen on a shoestring
- Klopp won 2x Bundesligas on a shoestring
- Mourinho won the CL with Porto on a shoestring
- Pep is nothing without $ and Messi
Thats what has been said for years, unfortunately we’ll never know unless he takes charge of someone like Bournemouth or Huddersfield and wins everything.
Hes clearly a fantastic manager, everybody can see that. But until he takes and achieves in a more challenging role those accusations will always be levelled. The achievements mentioned there cant be taken from any of those managers. The problem is that guardiola will - while he can- just keep spending to repair problems or even injuries or out of form players. The fact that hes doing it at a club like city takes even more from his credibility. The fact that the media post headlines like 'pep is like a celestial being looking down on his creation' will always entice people to challenge such mental worship.
More than feeling that he has to id genuinely just be keen to see how he did at a club like roma or inter- to go there and try topple juve.
Dumb.
And they are the best english team. Missing KDB?
Clearly missing KDB. Even with all the praise he was getting last season I still think he was underrated. He adds a whole new dimension to their team that they are lacking fortunately this season.
Find it surprising that you failed to mention 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 1997, 1993 and 1991.
You forgot to mention 1389, they were unlucky then too
His failure to do much of anything at City until he'd bought half of Europe gives us a clue...
Let's not get ahead of ourselves, there is a huge space in between managing Huddersfield and managing the sides he has.
For starters, he could win everything with a side not having the core of the dominant Spain midfield and arguably the GOAT.
Win the CL with anyone other than that freak Barcelona side - fair play.
Win the Bundesliga with anyone other than Bayern - fair play.
Win the Premier League without spending so much money to improve the only English side that has been in top four every year and already won the league twice in years before his departure - fair play.
However, there seems to be a good chance his next club will be Juventus or PSG. Then he wins the respective leagues with record points and gets lauded as a genius, with the circumstances once again conventiently ignored.
It's not only KDB even though his absence is very important. Fernandinho is past it and they don't have another proper DM. David Silva is declining. Gundogan is very slow and can't press properly. They were very daft not to pay a bit more for Jorginho. Now they will overpay for someone worse than him.
They are still the only team that can stop Liverpool from winning the league though. But when KDB comes back, they'll be trailing Liverpool by 7-8 pts. Doubt Chelsea are ready and doubt that Jose can win it this season.
They are still the only team that can stop Liverpool from winning the league though. But when KDB comes back, they'll be trailing Liverpool by 7-8 pts. Doubt Chelsea are ready and doubt that Jose can win it this season.
Busy shooting season 5 of Peaky Blinders.
Pep under pressure now, might be sacked if they lose again this weekend.
Okay, i know Liverpool have started brightly, but still They are far from winning the league.
Are you crazy or just salty? That Bayern side would've comfortably beat Zidane's Madrid in any of their 3 CL wins.
Marcelona, Ronaldo, Ramos, Modic & Kroos are of course exceptional talents but lets not hide the fact Madrid peaked in an era where Barcelona, Bayern and England's top 6 regressed massively in Europe. They beat Juventus and Athletico x2 who shouldn't be near a final if the former list were at the top of their powers.
Heynckes Bayern team was a proper team not just individuals. They absolutely hammered a prime Barcelona without ever looking like conceding.
Perhaps KdB is more important for them than expected?
2012-2013 Barcelona is not a prime Barcelona.
Their entire attack was Lionel Messi and their midfield was nowhere near what it was in their pomp.
They played without a manager and Messi was half-fit for the tie.
Don't agree with the KDB angle. They lost yesterday cause they couldn't stop Lyon bypassing their midfield almost at will.
They need a DM.
They need a DM.
Love this post.
Okay, i know Liverpool have started brightly, but still They are far from winning the league.
They are, but this calendar year they are looking really good. The expectations that they will challenge for the title are based on their performances throughout the calendar year and not only on the first 5-6 games this season. In terms of points since January they are very close to City, unlike the other teams.
Liverpool fans I know who had resigned to being 2nd to City this season have suddenly started becoming more hopeful after seeing mighty City fall to Lyon.
They will be title contenders every season from now on unlike the good old years when that happened once every five seasons. Let's see if the jinx holds.
Let's hope that the pressure of being favourites will have a negative effect on their form. It's easier to challenge for the title as underdogs. If City go through a crisis, the pressure on Liverpool to win the title this season will be quite serious. And almost all of their players do not have experience in winning a big league.
So City's last three CL games:
Liverpool.
Liverpool.
Lyon.
Liverpool.
Liverpool.
Lyon.
United were all over Chelsea in the first half, should’ve been three up and Chelsea’s only goal came from a massive deflection. Again, not unlucky.
This again.
Even if it didn't, which it did, the referee came out later and said that if he hadn't given the goal, he would have given a penalty and red card for Peter Cech.
It wouldn't have turned out any better for you.
I don't think Pep will hang around long. I doubt he can be arsed building another team.
I don't think they are far. City aren't looking as strong so it'll be open, and so far they've had the rub of the green.
Okay, i know Liverpool have started brightly, but still They are far from winning the league.
I don't think they are far. City aren't looking as strong so it'll be open, and so far they've had the rub of the green.
They also lost against Basel in the return leg before that but still went through. 4 defeats in a row. They are nothing special in Europe, I cannot believe some wanted Liverpool to beat them in that QF
What is it with Guardiola and his strange record in Europe? Does it have to do with facing better opposition so he can't dominate the ball?
I think so, just like Mourinho does not coach attacking, pep does not coach defending. He likes to press the opposition and close the spaces to force the opposition to loose possession before they reach their box. Other European teams can play high high press and shield the ball and still build up decent attacks and that's where his defenders are not elite enough to be reactive yet defensively sound.
That Barcelona team was an exception with worlds best players playing in that team from defenders to midfielders to attacking players.
Basel should change their name to Lasel.
Basel and Lyon are hardly better than the top 6 in England and City won 8 out of 10 games vs the top 6 last season. And 4:0 vs Basel when it mattered.
The bad record is because of the games with Liverpool who know how to play against City and were a bit lucky with referee calls too.
Against Basel and Lyon it was more the absence of key players and complacency than something tactical that cost them. There is a structural problem too as Fernandinho is past it and they lack another DM. When they are with all top players, Fernandinho's decline is not obvious. KDB and the attack papered over the cracks in CM last season. They made a silly mistake to not sign a DM in the summer. Every team will target Fernandinho now. Feck them (hopefully they stop Liverpool though if we or Chelsea fail to do it.)
I don't think Fernandinho is past it completely, and is now the weakpoint of the team. His form though, has dipped, such that you cannot have Gundogan playing as one of the 3 midfielders, except the very lowest of opposition that completely concedes possession.
D Silva - Fernandinho - B Silva is a better option. Notice how City looked more threatening once Gundogan was yanked off, Sane came on and B. Silva dropped into that channel behind Sterling.
That is nonsense. Of course they do.
Fernandinho isn't in good form the whole calendar year though, was wank in all games vs Liverpool, was shocking for Brazil against Belgium and by all accounts was poor yesterday. Maybe he is not completely past it but he is a liability against better teams. Gundogan is slow and looks lost in games with high intensity. Apparently, they are more dependent on KDB than people thought.
You say Pep doesn't coach defending then go on to say how he likes his team to defend...
'Defending' in a low block is not the only way to defend. Attacking and defending are one thing. If you are organised optimally you defend immediately you lose the ball and attack when you recover it.
Pressing teams and covering the passing lanes and constrictiing spaces is defending. Pochettino, Klopp, Guardiola and now Maurizio Sarri are now coaching in your league. What more can be done for people to understand basic concepts?
Fernandinho aside, there is a clear dip in the teams organisation. It may be complacency, fatigue fdom the world cup but their pressing and organisation has almost reverted back to Pep Guaduiola's first season where they were susceptible to counter attacks.
Gabriel Jesus has not been the same since his injury. He needs to remove the fear of getting injured from his head.
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It is baffling that they had no other options for their pivote. Fernandinho is not press resistant and is easily pressed and Gundogan is subpar playing as a #8. He should play as the #6 in big games.
Fernandinho's main strength is his ability to win second balls and his aerial duel prowess. That isn't needed against the top sides except maybe Manchester United as they all use short passes to progress play.
Fernandinho's main strength is his ability to win second balls and his aerial duel prowess. That isn't needed against the top sides except maybe Manchester United as they all use short passes to progress play.
We would never know that, what we know is that they could barely get a win against Dortmund in the CL final, where BVB were the better side, and Dante should've seen red on BVB's penalty
They were really lucky to win their Pokal final as well if you had actually watched the match.
Hold on a sec, where does this top 6 myth come from? There used to be a top 4, and that was really pushing it. United and to some extent Chelsea and Arsenal have regressed for sure, but then again Arsenal -bar a year or two- were almost always disqualified once they met an actual contender, on the other hand Pool and Juve are as good as ever, Bayern are more or less the same, PSG and City might not be contenders yet, but they're still better than the likes of Lyon etc. in yesteryears, but most importantly Atleti were up there with some of the most solid sides you'd ever find, they won a fecking La Liga and had Real not won against them, they'd have at least two, maybe more CLs, iirc in 4 years they didn't once disqualify against any side not named Real, they won Barca x2, Bayern etc.
Even in their wins they’ve lacked some of the decisive passing that he brought. Bernardo Silva has been much better this season, otherwise they would be in a bad position pending KDB’s arrival.
I think they will be fine, barring the game at Anfield.