Manchester City under Pep Guardiola | Pep on City v Liverpool ref: "He likes to be special"
- Thread starter Adisa
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This is why comparisons with LVG are well off the mark, LVG believed 100% in his methods and style of play.
Pep, if that headline is true, is willing to understand and implement what it takes to be successful in this country. For what it's worth, I think he will be successful at City, unfortunately.
Not to forget beating City in the cup when they played their kids with an average age older than our experienced bunch of lads.
Time will tell on that regarding how successful he'll be. With regards to the first bit, despite what some think, he's never said that he won't tweak things if needs be, but he won't change his main playing style. He tweaked things at Bayern and sometimes went a bit more direct and he'll do it here too. In fact, our first goal in the league derby this season was proper route one stuff.
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LVG said roughly at the same time last year that he underestimated the physicality of the Premier League and needed to adjust. We then saw Fellaini more often from there on.
Was just in response to people here comparing him to LVG (understand a lot is tongue in cheek).
Naturally I wish he wins nothing with City, but I'd be surprised if he doesn't win the league at least once and a couple of cups during his City tenure.
Yeah that was the problem with LVG, he thought plan B was only the long ball to Fellaini.
Pep is working more on higher intensity and the desire to win the knockdowns or the second ball, whilst keeping his philosophy.
I think the basic principle of possession football is prevalent in both managers but so many of van Gaal's games as United manager were pretty tumescent to watch with too much sideways and backwards passing. That said, he had a good record in the big games and seemed to get his tactics right more often than not in those.
Guardiola's teams can sometimes be guilty of "over-passing" it as well and it has felt sometimes that we're not going anywhere with the ball but he advocates a higher intensity style which, when it comes off, is incredible to watch.
The underlying style is also different. LVG's style was predicated on positional play, whereas guardiola's is on constant, fluid movement off the ball
Few coaches in any sport give more respect to others than Guardiola, no one needs to worship the ground he walks on but a modicum of respect & benefit of the doubt at a minimum which he's clearly earned. At a minimum, in sport we should at least attempt to show some basic respect - those who erode it, fair enough
Ha ha, this is great. Did you even read this before you posted? Meeting to clear up the rules of the league dear me, for a supposed genius he really is a bit thick.
Never said he doesn't deserve respect and so do other managers at the very top. I do however find it funny how sensitive some are to even the slightest of criticism he recieves.
Think it works both ways really. If Pep shows any sign of cracking the people who don't like him are on it like flies on shit, if Pep shows any sign of doing something brilliant they're in like lightning to mock the naysayers. As a City fan it's becoming increasingly frustrating to have so many people obsessed with every movement of my club's manager. If he's stroppy in an interview it shows the English game has defeated him, if he wins 5-0 in a cup game it's "Like watching Barcelona". Everything's in the extreme.
I know it doesn't sell newspapers or get clicks if journalists and fans are reasonable, but the best time to judge Pep's City team is after a couple of seasons when things have settled down a tad. Until then, everybody trying to guess his next move will look like they're obsessed with him either way. It might work out - City might use the West Ham game as a platform for something like Chelsea's 13-match winning run, or it might be more of the same of what we've seen since October and we'll end up finishing 5th. It's a tight league - the top 6 could all realistically finish anywhere between 1st and 6th.
There's just no point trying to make bold statements like "Pep's been broken by English football" or "Pep will turn City into the best team in Europe" because the reality is always likely somewhere in the middle and in the end, as much as everybody has tried, nobody will be right. Pep knew it'd be harder over here than in Spain or Germany because he's as much of a football person as we are - he'll take a general interest in every major league. Over the next couple years it'll be about whether he can rise to the challenge. We'll start to see signs in the next 12 months but until 2019 hits there's just no point in guessing.
I know it doesn't sell newspapers or get clicks if journalists and fans are reasonable, but the best time to judge Pep's City team is after a couple of seasons when things have settled down a tad. Until then, everybody trying to guess his next move will look like they're obsessed with him either way. It might work out - City might use the West Ham game as a platform for something like Chelsea's 13-match winning run, or it might be more of the same of what we've seen since October and we'll end up finishing 5th. It's a tight league - the top 6 could all realistically finish anywhere between 1st and 6th.
There's just no point trying to make bold statements like "Pep's been broken by English football" or "Pep will turn City into the best team in Europe" because the reality is always likely somewhere in the middle and in the end, as much as everybody has tried, nobody will be right. Pep knew it'd be harder over here than in Spain or Germany because he's as much of a football person as we are - he'll take a general interest in every major league. Over the next couple years it'll be about whether he can rise to the challenge. We'll start to see signs in the next 12 months but until 2019 hits there's just no point in guessing.
Top level sport is a soap opera and Guardiola evidently detests that side of it, so I don't think he cares in the slightest what a bunch of random blokes on a football forum say about him.
You think...
One of my best mates was a figure in one of biggest Barcelona supportersclubs. He goes apeshit bonkers when I talk about Pep.. Even told me Peps latest outburst was the English press fault.. He truely brings out a messiah complex in many of his disciples..
I think it's funny.
I think that general point is fair enough but it's a bit hypocritical for you to criticise United fans for not liking/showing Guardiola given what you call your local rivals. I actually have a lot of respect for him, like Mourinho I think he's a brilliant manager but not seemingly the most charming of people, but I think some of the more negative stuff towards him is because of the overhyping the other way where you have Balague calling him "one of the most privileged minds in the world" where a small number end up going too far to praise him rather than just analysing him as one of the all-time great managers (which he is).
Yeah me too.. Can't stop bringing up Pep to him on any occasion..
I believe Pep cares about showing & giving respect, that we should all be a bit more respectful in sport & otherwise
Our local rivals do not show respect, it's anything but hypocritical
How hypocritical is this? Care to dig up a few of your bile filled posts concerning Real Madrid?
Edit:already pointed out
And City always do? I get that Guardiola hasn't done anything to stoke the rivalry but he's their manager so he's going to be a part of it, as would any United manager.
same thing can be said for barca too tbf
I was talking about FCBarca calling Espanyol "Asspanyol". Fans of every club will use any excuse to slag off their rivals, including their manager.
Violent conduct, racist and disrespectful - this is our rival club and has been for years, so no respect, or a lack thereof, is earned
And I was talking about Pep, never mentioned City - he shows respect and has done so throughout his career. He's earned it regardless of your allegiances
Ugh. Barca fans are so sanctimonious. It's sickening.
Sorry but that meeting with Refs sounds like utter rubbish no top manager in thier right mind would do that.
It comes across pathetic and completely childish. Look at our record with decisions this season. What decisions havw City had go against them that are so scandelous to call this meeting. If i was the refs assosiasion Id go to the meeting with the abject purpose to explain the rules of the game in england.
What a pathetic moron its almost as if he didnt believe people when they said "the league is more intense, more physical and you wont get yellows for unintentional yellows and soft fouls".
The hierarchy at City need to have a word with him. Pellegrini and Mancini didnt have this problem.
It comes across pathetic and completely childish. Look at our record with decisions this season. What decisions havw City had go against them that are so scandelous to call this meeting. If i was the refs assosiasion Id go to the meeting with the abject purpose to explain the rules of the game in england.
What a pathetic moron its almost as if he didnt believe people when they said "the league is more intense, more physical and you wont get yellows for unintentional yellows and soft fouls".
The hierarchy at City need to have a word with him. Pellegrini and Mancini didnt have this problem.
You didn't rate the Bundesliga player of the year who had 49 goals/assists last season?
O.... k
In Rugby referees have training sessions with clubs during preseason and I have heard about it once in Ligue 1.
If Mourniho even suggested some of this stuff, he'd be laughed at and mocked despite the fact we get nowhere near as many pens as them, just as an example.
No I meant in the table. If it came off rude that's not how I meant it.
I don't think it's about major scandalous decisions. Pep won't sit there with a dossier of times where we've lost games because of bad penalty decisions and what not, he'll just talk about why certain things are bookings in this country compared to other ones.
Not that the meeting's actually going to take place.
Ok, let me clarify: i thought he was a good/excellent player. He is better than i thought.
Sounds like your striker to me.
Their DM too
Would sound like that if he was guilty of it, everytime you faced him - not the case
So you can only accuse someone of being Violent conduct, being a racist and disrespectful if they do it to you every time they see you?
So we can't accuse Suarez of Violent Conduct because he decided to bite a Chelsea and Italy player, we can't accuse him of racism because it was just the one time he racially abused Evra and we can't accuse him of disrespect anymore because we no longer play against him?
Suarez has been at Barcelona for nearly 3 seasons, no incidents of racism or violence and typically someone guilty of such behaviour can't reign it in - I realize United fans will have their biases towards the player but not comparable to our local rivals who are habitually this way
Sorry but what are you saying here? He has never been guilty of rascism or biting violence?