Yeah I thought Grealish was finally making a name for himself, two brilliant runs that were inches away. One was a stunning block and the other was a save off the toe. There's no big selection disasters here to talk about, Guardiola got it more or less right, all you can point to is the mentality of his team is lacking in the most important moment. Overcoached? Lack of adversity? They just can't hack those moments, they barely got out of Atletico in the previous round too.
'Pep' Guardiola sack watch
- Thread starter Classical Mechanic
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Yeah I thought Grealish was finally making a name for himself, two brilliant runs that were inches away. One was a stunning block and the other was a save off the toe. There's no big selection disasters here to talk about, Guardiola got it more or less right, all you can point to is the mentality of his team is lacking in the most important moment. Overcoached? Lack of adversity? They just can't hack those moments, they barely got out of Atletico in the previous round too.
And they complaining about squad depth..
Literally bringing £100m signings off the bench
He's had his fair share of mishaps in the CL, but I don't think today was one you can solely attribute to him.
Winning the CL needs to be ingrained through the club. It's not ingrained in that club at all.
Even though he will get the brunt of the criticism. Probably his worst ever loss considering the circumstances?
He'd still pick that 4-0 loss to Real with Bayern I'd guess himself.
Winning the CL needs to be ingrained through the club. It's not ingrained in that club at all.
Even though he will get the brunt of the criticism. Probably his worst ever loss considering the circumstances?
He'd still pick that 4-0 loss to Real with Bayern I'd guess himself.
Reckon pep will end up taking a sabbatical soon... he won't fancy it after this loss, to this team after klopp has just signed an extension
Pep you doofus hahahaha
3-1 up on aggregate and playing well.
Largely it's confirmation bias that lays the blame on Pep for that.
When all you have to do is not concede two goals with mere minutes remaining, it's very difficult to put it on Pep. The team was more than competent enough to not capitulate. That is on the players, 100%.
Largely it's confirmation bias that lays the blame on Pep for that.
When all you have to do is not concede two goals with mere minutes remaining, it's very difficult to put it on Pep. The team was more than competent enough to not capitulate. That is on the players, 100%.
Another bottle job. 10 long years in Bayern and City, unlimited budgets and best players in the world, can’t won’t CL to save his life. I want to hear about him being goat once again
Mate but look at the bigger picture. If it happens once, blame it on the players. If it happens consistently - there’s more to that I reckon
I don’t think that loss was on him, if he left City I’d take him for certain.
Hard to say. We have gone from looking like our best version under Pep home against Liverpool and multiple times before thst this season to looking like the worst version away to Atletico and Real in under a month. Thought we were really unlucky in the first leg. Will get crucified for saying this on this forum considering our wealth, but our squad-depth this season really isn't anything to brag about and I think we have been paying for that lately with hard games coming thick and fast. Not sure Pep can be blamed for players not getting replaced, players getting jailed, players getting too old to be competent at this level, players hardly being footballers anymore (Sterling) but one thing I think he have been poor at is not getting the 4-5 youngsters we have had filling out our bench for most of the season into games and make them capable options for the run-in. They are all very talented boys, Fernandinho should never be playing right-back against Vinicius when Egan-Riley is training with the first team, and Palmer, McAtee and Delap all would have offered something different.
Right, but then you look at Pep's final record. It's 14 wins in 16 finals, so, it's not as if historically he's poor in crunch moments. Perhaps only semi-finals.
Maybe the fatigue is catching up to them?.walker going off certainly didn't help either.
Grealish is a good player but an indulgent and unnecessary signing that doesn't suit City and doesn't suit Grealish. A Grealish-Sancho swap deal would actually help both clubs I've thought this season. Could do with a Sancho out wide (at this best, not thinking of him in this shitshow United season) of good technique and decision-making within a system. United could do with Grealish so much more than Sancho, a player who wants to be on the ball and wants to carry the show technically (which doesn't work at City, you need to do it within the system).
City conceded 0 goals with Walker on the pitch over those 2 legs, 6 goals without him. He's turned into a very competent defender and that pace is a real blocker for defenders. Vinicius might not have had a lot of end product tonight but he's a constant menace and that tires you, the other full-backs don't have that level of athleticism and physicality. Cancelo is a decent defender but more of a creator like Trent, while Zinchenko is a tidy player but still more of a midfielder playing as full-back.
City in the Champions League has been one of my favourite things in the last 10 years of football.
The Spanish Arteta.
Another bottle job. 10 long years in Bayern and City, unlimited budgets and best players in the world, can’t won’t CL to save his life. I want to hear about him being goat once again
He's won it twice. Same number of times as several of the greatest managers in history.
I can see PSG giving Poch one more season and then trying to tempt Pep in 2023 with a contract that dwarves Simeone's. Pep might take it too since he only seems to fancy superclubs.
I thought taking de bruyne off too was a mistake.
Right, but then you look at Pep's final record. It's 14 wins in 16 finals, so, it's not as if historically he's poor in crunch moments. Perhaps only semi-finals.
Only if you don't look at the big picture could you claim that. Take any great manager who worked for a significant period time and examine their CL record. There will be a lot of failure there and two (or in a couple of rare cases, three) trophy wins. That's it. For the past 67 years of European competition.
Look at Carlo for example. Great manager. One of 3 guys to win 'old big ears' 3 times. But he's been managing at the top level for 25 years and also has the biggest bottle job in Champions League history on his resume (when he had an awesome squad and Liverpool, frankly, didn't).
It's knockout football. It's just not that easy, no matter how much money you spend.
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Don't think he'll ever go to PSG. They have too many politics getting in the way via Leonardo and others.
City's structure is way better for Pep.
They're surprisingly short when you look at their squad depth. They practically gifted us the FA Cup Semi Final because Pep wanted to prioritize the CL and the league because they only have about 15 or 16 really good players they can play. After that it's kids and players Pep doesn't trust as much.
I don't think they need many signings to improve but they definitely need two or three additions in the summer.
I don't think they need many signings to improve but they definitely need two or three additions in the summer.
I think he builds really good teams in terms of playing, and they tend to dominate domestically, but they kinda lack this belief and mental strength Madrid have in abundance these days. I know winning the CL is tough, but considering the resources provided, they should've done more. He's a great manager and I'd never call him a failure, but when you look at what Klopp is doing with Liverpool, you have to think he's underachieving.
Add this to Fraudiola's record.
I’m not sure I agree with them being short squad depth wise. They’ve got enough players to put out 2 teams that would both finish in the top 6 most likely.
Walker
Cancelo
Stones
Diaz
Laporte
Ake
Zinchenko
Rodri
De bruyne
Bernardo
Fernandinho
Gundogan
Foden
Grealish
Sterling
Mahrez
Jesus
That’s a pretty stacked squad even though they could do with a striker.
Yeah, I'd go along with this. Refereeing decisions cost SAF a chance at getting to 3 or 4, that's the way it goes too it seems. It's not a particularly good way of measuring the abilities of a manager. I'd not choose Zidane over Pep for instance.
It is great though how the endless resources, and financial doping of City and PSG has resulted in everything but the thing they really want. Long may it continue.
Petrodollars can’t perpetuate the myth of Pep.
Everything he’s ever won has been circumstantial, at clubs that SHOULD win the league, and he’s underachieved everywhere since the PED Barca era.
All of the cranks who worship him deserve the annual embarrassment, because there’s nothing to substantiate their claims that he’s anywhere near the GOAT conversation.
Everything he’s ever won has been circumstantial, at clubs that SHOULD win the league, and he’s underachieved everywhere since the PED Barca era.
All of the cranks who worship him deserve the annual embarrassment, because there’s nothing to substantiate their claims that he’s anywhere near the GOAT conversation.
Pep was bought to City due to his success at Barcelona, and to win the Champions League.
Their previous managers had all done well domestically, so they wanted Pep to them to the next step, and that next step was to win the Champions League....to which he very much hasn't done so.
So from the perspective of just why he was hired, he has been a huge flop, and a big failure, there is no doubt about that.
Unless he wins the Champions League with City, then no matter what he wins domestically, his time at City will be a failure.
The premier league is a very very competitive competition, and in that sense you can't call Pep a failure. We've spent a lot of money during his era and couldn't come close to winning the league.
Most of them were easy domestic cup games...Right, but then you look at Pep's final record. It's 14 wins in 16 finals, so, it's not as if historically he's poor in crunch moments. Perhaps only semi-finals.
It is more interesting to check how he's done in the CL KO stages against Europe's top 10... And his record there is very poor. He's only managed the best and richest teams on earth and he doesn't have that many memorable games since he's left Barcelona.
Just hope tonights loss won't affect city in the PL run.
The previous City managers didn't dominate the league and domestic competitions as much as Guardiola did so this point is a moot one.
Only at Redcafe will you see people calling a manager who wins 3 league titles in 5 years and on course to the 4th of the so called "toughest league in the world" , including a season with 100 points and a domestic treble in another season, a "failure".
But this is redcafe so nothing new. If Klopp loses the league and CL in the last month of the season, I expect some caftards to call him Klopp the flop again.
I don't know if I've ever seen a team's individuals get hyped up to epic proportions as City's have in recent years.
I mean you would think Klopp is managing bang-average players and City have generational world class players in every single position with how the narrative is.
I mean you would think Klopp is managing bang-average players and City have generational world class players in every single position with how the narrative is.
Whoever this guy is he's an idiot, should have won more at Barca? he won 2 CL and 3 league titles in 4 years.
Bloody hell. City basically outdid PSG in how to throw away the CL right there.
His team have already thrown away an 8 point lead in the league which they could also bottle.
Would be an incredibly poor end to the season for Pep
His team have already thrown away an 8 point lead in the league which they could also bottle.
Would be an incredibly poor end to the season for Pep
Drogba and RvP likes your tweet
100m on a lad with calves and a hair tie when he needed a rough rugged striker.
Sums up Pep
Sums up Pep
Didn't really make any sense. Could have gone for a stop gap CF signing if Halaand was planned for this summer.
But regardless of who was on the pitch your team shouldn't chuck a game away like that.