'Pep' Guardiola sack watch

I'm not sure if it was deliberate but when in the final third, Rico Lewis (who I thought was) a left back, was effectively playing as a central midfielder behind the edge of the box. I get the concept of inverted full back, this is not that. There are some tweaks being applied by Pep, probably to accommodate Haaland/Alvarez, and not all of it is working. Spurs were able to slice through City's channels with ease and should have scored more goals.
 
City were a hot mess yesterday. The idea behind disruptive innovation, is that you disrupt your competitors, not yourself.

The squad building of late has been really poor. Haaland is a superb individual, but Pep builds his teams around this endless carousel of passing where every player becomes a rotating homogenous piece. Haaland is the opposite of that. He contributes nothing in the build up, so City are trying to suffocate teams with possession with a man less than usual. The worst part? They ignore all the runs he makes. If you are going to play him, play to his strengths.

They need a huge clear out in the summer. It seems some players have lost their motivation in this team. Cancelo is basically gone, and City are much weaker for it. Laporte and Dias seem to be out of favour, which is very odd, and I’d expect one to go. Walker is aging and will need replacing soon. Bernardo’s head has gone. He’s wanted to leave for 18 months, and he’ll be gone in the summer I’d wager.Grealish doesn’t fit. He’s too individualistic. I think Gundogan is off too. De Bruyne is still great but starting to show signs of slowing down.

They are on the cusp of a major rebuild. KBD is 31, as is Mahrez. Gundogan and Walker are 32. Too many other pieces want out or don’t fit. And Pep seems intent on tinkering for tinkering’s sake. When you have Laporte and Dias fit, you consistently play them. It’s one of the best pairings in the league. Not Ake and Akanji, who are both super average.

I am not sure Pep sticks around to rebuild the team. It’d be a blessing for him if Madrid came in with a 150m bid for Haaland in the summer, so they can build a team in his actual style. I think pretty much everyone and their mother said Haaland wasn’t a Pep player as soon as he was linked with them.
 
simonhch said:
City were a hot mess yesterday. The idea behind disruptive innovation, is that you disrupt your competitors, not yourself.

The squad building of late has been really poor. Haaland is a superb individual, but Pep builds his teams around this endless carousel of passing where every player becomes a rotating homogenous piece. Haaland is the opposite of that. He contributes nothing in the build up, so City are trying to suffocate teams with possession with a man less than usual. The worst part? They ignore all the runs he makes. If you are going to play him, play to his strengths.

They need a huge clear out in the summer. It seems some players have lost their motivation in this team. Cancelo is basically gone, and City are much weaker for it. Laporte and Dias seem to be out of favour, which is very odd, and I’d expect one to go. Walker is aging and will need replacing soon. Bernardo’s head has gone. He’s wanted to leave for 18 months, and he’ll be gone in the summer I’d wager.Grealish doesn’t fit. He’s too individualistic. I think Gundogan is off too. De Bruyne is still great but starting to show signs of slowing down.

They are on the cusp of a major rebuild. KBD is 31, as is Mahrez. Gundogan and Walker are 32. Too many other pieces want out or don’t fit. And Pep seems intent on tinkering for tinkering’s sake. When you have Laporte and Dias fit, you consistently play them. It’s one of the best pairings in the league. Not Ake and Akanji, who are both super average.

I am not sure Pep sticks around to rebuild the team. It’d be a blessing for him if Madrid came in with a 150m bid for Haaland in the summer, so they can build a team in his actual style. I think pretty much everyone and their mother said Haaland wasn’t a Pep player as soon as he was linked with them.
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Haaland won't be doing too much in this RM side either, we have a right flank that is completely dead, bad offensive sidebacks, and a midfield that isn't creative.
His supply here would be worse than at City, we need several pieces to get the best out of him, if he ever comes here, which i doubt anyway.
 
Morty_ said:
Haaland won't be doing too much in this RM side either, we have a right flank that is completely dead, bad offensive sidebacks, and a midfield that isn't creative.
His supply here would be worse than at City, we need several pieces to get the best out of him, if he ever comes here, which i doubt anyway.
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Is there any truth to the rumors that Cancelo was proposed to Real Madrid and they refused ? Would have been perfect
 
What does Mr safe and sideways Rico Lewis offer? Even with the inverted FB nonsense, their are still open to the counter.
it's funny how similar City and Pool's sub reddits are on match days.
Finish in the top 4 this season and spill the oil in the summer. No pace in the team is killing them. Wingers that are more comfortable cutting in than going outside (Antony is that you in blue?). No overlapping FBs.
 
The signing of Haaland looks a strange one now. I mean why sign a player like that if you’re not going to change your style to suit him. Sure he’s scored a hatful of goals but his contribution outside of that is zero. That’s fine if your system is built that way but City are the total opposite. Everyone has to contribute to the passing and moving game for it to work.

SAF was unique in his ability to rebuild squads and it’s just being proven even more with Klopp and Pep both struggling now with ageing teams they can’t seem to fix. Pep doesn’t even have the excuse of not being backed in the market either.

Sitting 2nd wouldn’t seem like a disaster on paper but compare this to where they were just a year ago and it’s a major drop off. Strange player sales, strange recruitment and strange team selections. Pep can’t get out of his own head!
 
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Never ceases to amaze me how pedestrian City can look at times, considering the money they've spent and the players they have. They've won the league with by far the best team in the league, the core of which was already there when Pep arrived. He's spent well over a billion now and it's hard to see how he has provided value for that outlay when you think of the players he has brought in and who they were meant to replace. Like most managers, he is failing to rebuild.

When KDB leaves/declines/retires they'll be in big trouble. He is Pep's Messi, and there was always a question mark over that at Barcelona too.
 
Think Pep is brilliant when it comes to the philosophy of his teams but for me he's average to poor tactically. Oftentimes whenever he makes a change it's at his teams detriment. The decision to omit KDB and play Alvarez next to Haaland was ridiculous. I remember seeing some clips on YouTube with him saying that each year the team has to change in some way due to the opposition making adaptations but I feel he may be overanalyzing this in reality. Certainly explains why they have had inefficiency in Europe.
 
Pep is basically a Football Manager player. Builds an incredible team and then gets bored so decides to randomly mix it up, try some crazy new formation etc. it’s exactly what I do when playing FM.

It seems like he cares less about winning that about experimenting and trying to find the perfect system.
 
He knew this was coming, it’s why he’s checked out and explains his weird rant after his loss v us
 
Couldn’t win a CL with Bayern.

He is just a very consistent manager over time than a win on the deadly day type of manager.

He builds that at clubs.
 
Vapor trail said:
Think Pep is brilliant when it comes to the philosophy of his teams but for me he's average to poor tactically. Oftentimes whenever he makes a change it's at his teams detriment. The decision to omit KDB and play Alvarez next to Haaland was ridiculous. I remember seeing some clips on YouTube with him saying that each year the team has to change in some way due to the opposition making adaptations but I feel he may be overanalyzing this in reality. Certainly explains why they have had inefficiency in Europe.
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He seems to over-emphasise his own importance. It's not his tactical prowess that wins the majority of games, it's the ridiculous team he's able to field.
 
is anyone actually surprised they lost? I mean he played a dodgy formation and players out of position. That’s always been guardiolas downfall, he try’s to be to smart… he needs to just stick to the basics.
 
He knows he sold his soul to go there.

Should bail out today.

But I have a feeling he won't ever quit and he only signed that new deal because they have him by the balls
 
Reckon he walks end of the season. Reputation in tatters.
 
He'll try and pretend he didn't know but that's utter nonsense.

He knew City were cheating and he was part of that cheating. His reputation should be permanently damaged.
 
He’ll leave because the owners and money will go. How can they be allowed to run an English club after this?
 
With the news this morning on City breaking all sorts of rules, it has given Pep a really easy route to walk out the club mid-season with little being asked about his management this season and no questions asked on whether he can rebuild the squad.
 
cyberman said:
He’ll leave because the owners and money will go. How can they be allowed to run an English club after this?
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I strongly doubt the owners will go. Are you making up the rules here?
 
Drawfull said:
Isn't he on record saying he'll leave if City have misled (him) about their financial arrangements?
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"When they [Man City] are accused of something, I ask them. Tell me about this. They explain and I believe it. But I told them, if you lie to me, the day after I'm not here. I'll be out and I'll not be your friend anymore." - Pep on Man City's investigation last year.
 
This is an interesting revelation. And does give Pep an optimum opportunity to take a break from things at the end of the season. If things continue to look murky, then he'll be forced to defend his principles.

The whole thing is horrid, but rather than go in on Citeh', this only highlights the muck that is tainting this great, great game of ours, through nothing but greed. I mean, Mancini wanting double-wages... like how much is enough??? It's ridiculous.
 
DJ_21 said:
is anyone actually surprised they lost? I mean he played a dodgy formation and players out of position. That’s always been guardiolas downfall, he try’s to be to smart… he needs to just stick to the basics.
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Fabian Delph, is that you?

 
Djemba-Djemba said:
He'll try and pretend he didn't know but that's utter nonsense.

He knew City were cheating and he was part of that cheating. His reputation should be permanently damaged.
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I don’t think the manager would be involved in the finances to that extent. Anyone and everyone knows that City cheating was fairly obvious, but it’s not something Pep would be officially made aware of.

He still doesn’t come out of it looking good though, he’s naive if he genuinely thought his swag bags of cash were legit, or he’s just a plain fool if he thinks he could have just turned a blind eye to all the dodgy money.
 
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