'Pep' Guardiola sack watch

He's got a big job on his hands. Right now we look the 3rd best team in England as our weakness is there for all to see. More often than not against average teams we'll do enough to score so many we won't have to defend but man I'd dread to think if we played you guys right now, or Bayern or any team with pace merchants up top.

We are a team of mental fecking midgets with very little pace in the middle. The entire spine of the team has lost its backbone...
I've given my opinion on our midfield before, Silva's legs are gone, Rodri is a statue and Gundogan a coward. We're essentially a 2 man team without Aguero (KDB and Sterling) and one of those 2 men looked like a championship player today, the other not much better. Our defence is shaky as hell and we have no combination of CB's with any pace for when we get turned around. This team has no spine, loads of talent but no spine or fight. There has always been a touch of that about us and it seems worse than ever. When things go wrong we are almost guaranteed to shit the bed. If we get on top, we'll look amazing. Liverpool in comparison are really mentality giants compared to us.

On Pep, he's in a weird position. He can't just keep throwing money at his defensive problems, he needs to learn, adapt and make the team better (like Klopp did) or like Jose football will leave him behind. Sure if we score first we look the dogs bollix because teams have to come out at us. But if teams can sit in, pile the box and deny cutbacks we resort to crossing to an army of 5 ft 7 inch forwards.

Its been done to him by Klopp for 3 seasons and now everyone is doing it. Its probably been done to him 10 times this season and he's been doubling down instead of adapting. It seemed like he had it figured out with his pragmatic approach to Liverpool etc.. last year but for some reason this season we've abandoned that because it wasn't Cruyff enough.

It can't always be the players. There is no way in hell all those £50m defenders are shit, so he has to figure out why our tactics constantly leave them exposed and make them look shit by constantly leaving them exposed over and over again. Even if they don't have the bottle there is no way they are that poor (except Mendy, Monaco should have been wearing a balaclava for that robbery.) It doesn't matter if we get in Arsenal/Wolves/whoevers box 20 times a game if there are 7-8 defenders around there and they only get into our half once or twice when we have 2 CB's who are like rabbits in the headlights of an oncoming convoy of f1 cars. We've been figured out as has his quest for total football. He needs to compromise and adapt or I feel next season could be an even harsher lesson for us and him. This season has been abysmal.
 
What's the craic with the video of him talking and gesturing to no one next to him? Will try find it
 
Pep relies massively on being a big motivator. It's so difficult to keep that going. As far as I know, only one man has acheived it constantly for a long period of time. Once it's gone it's incredibly hard to get back too. And it's the reason he left Barca. I can't see him staying much longer.
 
padr81 said:
He's got a big job on his hands. Right now we look the 3rd best team in England as our weakness is there for all to see. More often than not against average teams we'll do enough to score so many we won't have to defend but man I'd dread to think if we played you guys right now, or Bayern or any team with pace merchants up top.

We are a team of mental fecking midgets with very little pace in the middle. The entire spine of the team has lost its backbone...
I've given my opinion on our midfield before, Silva's legs are gone, Rodri is a statue and Gundogan a coward. We're essentially a 2 man team without Aguero (KDB and Sterling) and one of those 2 men looked like a championship player today, the other not much better. Our defence is shaky as hell and we have no combination of CB's with any pace for when we get turned around. This team has no spine, loads of talent but no spine or fight. There has always been a touch of that about us and it seems worse than ever. When things go wrong we are almost guaranteed to shit the bed. If we get on top, we'll look amazing. Liverpool in comparison are really mentality giants compared to us.

On Pep, he's in a weird position. He can't just keep throwing money at his defensive problems, he needs to learn, adapt and make the team better (like Klopp did) or like Jose football will leave him behind. Sure if we score first we look the dogs bollix because teams have to come out at us. But if teams can sit in, pile the box and deny cutbacks we resort to crossing to an army of 5 ft 7 inch forwards.

Its been done to him by Klopp for 3 seasons and now everyone is doing it. Its probably been done to him 10 times this season and he's been doubling down instead of adapting. It seemed like he had it figured out with his pragmatic approach to Liverpool etc.. last year but for some reason this season we've abandoned that because it wasn't Cruyff enough.

It can't always be the players. There is no way in hell all those £50m defenders are shit, so he has to figure out why our tactics constantly leave them exposed and make them look shit by constantly leaving them exposed over and over again. Even if they don't have the bottle there is no way they are that poor (except Mendy, Monaco should have been wearing a balaclava for that robbery.) It doesn't matter if we get in Arsenal/Wolves/whoevers box 20 times a game if there are 7-8 defenders around there and they only get into our half once or twice when we have 2 CB's who are like rabbits in the headlights of an oncoming convoy of f1 cars. We've been figured out as has his quest for total football. He needs to compromise and adapt or I feel next season could be an even harsher lesson for us and him. This season has been abysmal.
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Good post. Exactly what’s happened this year.
Like you said you’ll murder the cannon fodder of the league but a team with good counter attacking, a team capable of defending their own penalty box and a tactically sound manager and you can beat this current city. The back three seems to be a menace for you as well. A few teams have beaten you with it, including us.

His squad management this season has been nothing short of abysmal. One of the things that I haven’t been able to get my head around is why he’s avoided a trio of De bruyne - Fernandinho - Bernardo all season. You had De Bruyne out for most of last year and it didn’t cause a problem due to mainly Fernandinho and Bernardo being in that midfield. Now this season for whatever reason he’s decided that those two are now never allowed to play in those central positions and Illay Gundogan is now some world class undroppable holding midfielder. Literally any game you play against someone half decent going forward and Silva and Gundogan are playing you basically know city are gonna lose.

It’s not even an achievement anymore to beat this city team. What’s that ten defeats now this season? Yet Micah Richard will repeatedly declare how great this city team currently is and how they’re just getting “better and better” (actual quote from the Newcastle cup game ).
Strangely you seem to be favourites for the CL too when the CL is full of tactically sound managers and teams capable of defending in numbers and counter attacking. With the added fact that most of those teams are better than basically all the teams (bar Liverpool) that have beaten you this season.
 
padr81 said:
He's got a big job on his hands. Right now we look the 3rd best team in England as our weakness is there for all to see. More often than not against average teams we'll do enough to score so many we won't have to defend but man I'd dread to think if we played you guys right now, or Bayern or any team with pace merchants up top.

We are a team of mental fecking midgets with very little pace in the middle. The entire spine of the team has lost its backbone...
I've given my opinion on our midfield before, Silva's legs are gone, Rodri is a statue and Gundogan a coward. We're essentially a 2 man team without Aguero (KDB and Sterling) and one of those 2 men looked like a championship player today, the other not much better. Our defence is shaky as hell and we have no combination of CB's with any pace for when we get turned around. This team has no spine, loads of talent but no spine or fight. There has always been a touch of that about us and it seems worse than ever. When things go wrong we are almost guaranteed to shit the bed. If we get on top, we'll look amazing. Liverpool in comparison are really mentality giants compared to us.

On Pep, he's in a weird position. He can't just keep throwing money at his defensive problems, he needs to learn, adapt and make the team better (like Klopp did) or like Jose football will leave him behind. Sure if we score first we look the dogs bollix because teams have to come out at us. But if teams can sit in, pile the box and deny cutbacks we resort to crossing to an army of 5 ft 7 inch forwards.

Its been done to him by Klopp for 3 seasons and now everyone is doing it. Its probably been done to him 10 times this season and he's been doubling down instead of adapting. It seemed like he had it figured out with his pragmatic approach to Liverpool etc.. last year but for some reason this season we've abandoned that because it wasn't Cruyff enough.

It can't always be the players. There is no way in hell all those £50m defenders are shit, so he has to figure out why our tactics constantly leave them exposed and make them look shit by constantly leaving them exposed over and over again. Even if they don't have the bottle there is no way they are that poor (except Mendy, Monaco should have been wearing a balaclava for that robbery.) It doesn't matter if we get in Arsenal/Wolves/whoevers box 20 times a game if there are 7-8 defenders around there and they only get into our half once or twice when we have 2 CB's who are like rabbits in the headlights of an oncoming convoy of f1 cars. We've been figured out as has his quest for total football. He needs to compromise and adapt or I feel next season could be an even harsher lesson for us and him. This season has been abysmal.
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Great post.
 
Leroy The Red said:
Good post. Exactly what’s happened this year.
Like you said you’ll murder the cannon fodder of the league but a team with good counter attacking, a team capable of defending their own penalty box and a tactically sound manager and you can beat this current city. The back three seems to be a menace for you as well. A few teams have beaten you with it, including us.

His squad management this season has been nothing short of abysmal. One of the things that I haven’t been able to get my head around is why he’s avoided a trio of De bruyne - Fernandinho - Bernardo all season. You had De Bruyne out for most of last year and it didn’t cause a problem due to mainly Fernandinho and Bernardo being in that midfield. Now this season for whatever reason he’s decided that those two are now never allowed to play in those central positions and Illay Gundogan is now some world class undroppable holding midfielder. Literally any game you play against someone half decent going forward and Silva and Gundogan are playing you basically know city are gonna lose.

It’s not even an achievement anymore to beat this city team. What’s that ten defeats now this season? Yet Micah Richard will repeatedly declare how great this city team currently is and how they’re just getting “better and better” (actual quote from the Newcastle cup game ).
Strangely you seem to be favourites for the CL too when the CL is full of tactically sound managers and teams capable of defending in numbers and counter attacking. With the added fact that most of those teams are better than basically all the teams (bar Liverpool) that have beaten you this season.
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Exactly. His team selections have baffled me this season. If I had to plump for a midfield right now it would be the same as yours, maybe Foden instead of Bernardo and Bernardo on the wing instead of Mahrez. The likes of Bernardo and Foden might not be the best players in the world (though they are pretty good) but they will run themselves into the ground. Fernandinho might not have the legs but he'll give 200%. I just don't see that from Gundo, Rodri and Mahrez.

Another great point I saw over on Bluemoon actually was about Mahrez and Sterlings greedy streaks and with them starting 15 games together on the wings our record is 8 wins, 5 draws and 2 losses now (I don't know how accurate that is tbh but if true its also quite telling). Over the course of a season that is 20 wins 13 draws and 5 losses approx our 73 potential points. Surely someone at the club has to see the data.

I dunno what it is with our ex players, I saw Nicky Summerbee nearly lose his shit at half time tonight because the other analyst said we were worse than last season, not even in a "City are poor way", more a "whats going on with them" type. I mean its pretty easy to see I don't know why they are so tetchy about it. There is no point in denying it.

With regards the CL I still kind of fancy us to get past Real, while its not clear cut, they have a lack of pace in midfield like ourselves which will suit Gundogan and Rodri. If I was was Zidane though I'd be thinking Bale up top with Hazard and Vinicius on the wings. That would likely give us real issues and I could see them tearing us apart on the break. All said though if Real score first by any means I fully expect them to get a 2nd and go through.
 
KeanoMagicHat said:
What's hipster about Guardiola, one of the most famous and successful managers in the world? There would be nothing hipster about him going to PSG either.

Pep went full-in on City when he went on that rant about them getting off the FFP sanctions. He's there for another few years, there's no pressure or history weighing him down there like Barca/Bayern.
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Look at media love-in with Pep over the years and it is very obvious why he is a hipster favourite.

Zidane already has a better managerial resume that Pep as far as real achievements go, but even after his 3rd CL win, there were doubts about his managerial intellect.
 
He taught his apprentice everything he knew, then his apprentice killed on the break.
 
DoneDaDa said:
They just earned 50M off Sane, while they can cash in on Zinchenko as Wolves were willing to pay around 20-30M for him 2 seasons ago, Jesus also can be used is swap deals for either Koulibly, Skriniar or Martinez, both Napoli and Inter have shown interest in Jesus, Cancelo can also still be sold for around 40-50M or used as a swap deal, so they can still make some big changes in the team, while recouping cash in and swapping players. With the whole covid don't teams have a slightly bigger budge to play with?
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There's no chance they'll get anywhere near £20m for Zinchenko, nor £40m for Cancelo.
Jesus won't be going anywhere, they need strikers so won't be getting rid of one!!
Covid has decimated teams finances, TV rebates and lack of match day revenue has hit most teams, so money is very very tight for most.
 
SinNombre said:
Look at media love-in with Pep over the years and it is very obvious why he is a hipster favourite.

Zidane already has a better managerial resume that Pep as far as real achievements go, but even after his 3rd CL win, there were doubts about his managerial intellect.
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Pep has won countless trophies over a prolonged career, whilst Zidane has won Champions Leagues and the odd La Liga.
It's not even close between them two.
Pep is not a 'hipster' manager, he's a manager that cultivated a generation at Barca, his time at Bayern was less successful but trophy laden none the less, and with City he has a healthy trophy haul.
Nagelsmann is a hipster manager.
 
BobbyManc said:
Absolutely woeful today, to a man we were terrible and the tactics of focusing on Mendy’s crossing was baffling. Some knee-jerk reactions on here about the task facing Pep though. Sign Koulibaly, sign a competent left-back and straight away that’s a vastly improved side. Add a fresh option up top and we’ll be good to go again.
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Oh that's all - just Koulibaly at about 80m, another 50m or so to spunk on another full back, and then a fresh option up top. 200m plus, and then you're good to go?

Your club is a soulless joke.
 
Champ said:
Pep has won countless trophies over a prolonged career, whilst Zidane has won Champions Leagues and the odd La Liga.
It's not even close between them two.
Pep is not a 'hipster' manager, he's a manager that cultivated a generation at Barca, his time at Bayern was less successful but trophy laden none the less, and with City he has a healthy trophy haul.
Nagelsmann is a hipster manager.
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A manger who has won 3 CL and 2 League titles in 5 and half years has to be taken serious.
 
Gee Male said:
Oh that's all - just Koulibaly at about 80m, another 50m or so to spunk on another full back, and then a fresh option up top. 200m plus, and then you're good to go?

Your club is a soulless joke.
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Why stop there, may as well get another holding midfielder while they're at it. And why buy just one fullback when you can get two for twice the price.
 
padr81 said:
He's got a big job on his hands. Right now we look the 3rd best team in England as our weakness is there for all to see. More often than not against average teams we'll do enough to score so many we won't have to defend but man I'd dread to think if we played you guys right now, or Bayern or any team with pace merchants up top.

We are a team of mental fecking midgets with very little pace in the middle. The entire spine of the team has lost its backbone...
I've given my opinion on our midfield before, Silva's legs are gone, Rodri is a statue and Gundogan a coward. We're essentially a 2 man team without Aguero (KDB and Sterling) and one of those 2 men looked like a championship player today, the other not much better. Our defence is shaky as hell and we have no combination of CB's with any pace for when we get turned around. This team has no spine, loads of talent but no spine or fight. There has always been a touch of that about us and it seems worse than ever. When things go wrong we are almost guaranteed to shit the bed. If we get on top, we'll look amazing. Liverpool in comparison are really mentality giants compared to us.

On Pep, he's in a weird position. He can't just keep throwing money at his defensive problems, he needs to learn, adapt and make the team better (like Klopp did) or like Jose football will leave him behind. Sure if we score first we look the dogs bollix because teams have to come out at us. But if teams can sit in, pile the box and deny cutbacks we resort to crossing to an army of 5 ft 7 inch forwards.

Its been done to him by Klopp for 3 seasons and now everyone is doing it. Its probably been done to him 10 times this season and he's been doubling down instead of adapting. It seemed like he had it figured out with his pragmatic approach to Liverpool etc.. last year but for some reason this season we've abandoned that because it wasn't Cruyff enough.

It can't always be the players. There is no way in hell all those £50m defenders are shit, so he has to figure out why our tactics constantly leave them exposed and make them look shit by constantly leaving them exposed over and over again. Even if they don't have the bottle there is no way they are that poor (except Mendy, Monaco should have been wearing a balaclava for that robbery.) It doesn't matter if we get in Arsenal/Wolves/whoevers box 20 times a game if there are 7-8 defenders around there and they only get into our half once or twice when we have 2 CB's who are like rabbits in the headlights of an oncoming convoy of f1 cars. We've been figured out as has his quest for total football. He needs to compromise and adapt or I feel next season could be an even harsher lesson for us and him. This season has been abysmal.
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I think yout post has a whiff of melancholy. City haven't really added to their first team in ages and in turn some tiredness (mental and physical) has crept in. Imo, its nothing a couple of signings cannot fix.
There is nothing Pep is doing differently. The drop in intensity (due to players aging and some are probably mentally fatigued due to playing at such a high level for so long), has left City more vulnerable to one on one situations. Lets look at City's best team.
Ederson
Walker Otamendi Laporte Mendy
Fernandinho
KDB SIlva
Bernardo Aguero Sterling.
There are a few holes but nothing a good summer cannot fix. City also have the luxury of an outstanding young player in Foden.
 
Any academy talents that you can put in defence or is that a stupid question?
 
Gee Male said:
Oh that's all - just Koulibaly at about 80m, another 50m or so to spunk on another full back, and then a fresh option up top. 200m plus, and then you're good to go?

Your club is a soulless joke.
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:lol:

God forbid the greatest football mind in the world would have to do, you know, some actual coaching and not resort to the chequebook every time he hits a stumbling block.
 
Buchan said:
:lol:

God forbid the greatest football mind in the world would have to do, you know, some actual coaching and not resort to the chequebook every time he hits a stumbling block.
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To be fair, their issues are more about personnel than coaching. As SAF knew, you need to freshen up the team regularly and introduce actual starters to the first team, one of these players could be Foden but then I think that they need to replace Aguero, they also need to fixt their lefback position but I don't know if it's more a coaching or player problem. City have a weird track record in midfield and attack where they don't introduce that many new faces.
 
Berbasbullet said:
Any academy talents that you can put in defence or is that a stupid question?
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Harwood-Bellis looks promising but he's even younger than Garcia.
Buchan said:
Your man Garcia has started the last 10+ games for them beside Laporte but I’m yet to be convinced by him. I think he’s way out of his depth at that level but we’ll see, I suppose.
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Garcia seems too slow and weak for PL but we'll see how he looks like two years from now (unless he doesn't sign extension).
 
Adisa said:
I think yout post has a whiff of melancholy. City haven't really added to their first team in ages and in turn some tiredness (mental and physical) has crept in. Imo, its nothing a couple of signings cannot fix.
There is nothing Pep is doing differently. The drop in intensity (due to players aging and some are probably mentally fatigued due to playing at such a high level for so long), has left City more vulnerable to one on one situations. Lets look at City's best team.
Ederson
Walker Otamendi Laporte Mendy
Fernandinho
KDB SIlva
Bernardo Aguero Sterling.
There are a few holes but nothing a good summer cannot fix. City also have the luxury of an outstanding young player in Foden.
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Pep's too close to some players now that he doesn't see their mistakes / weaknesses. Gundogan can only play as a 6 but not alongside another slow midfielder, while D Silva's aged 34 and just played full 90 mins midweek so how cwn he start in a FA Cup semifinal. Pep's XI and subs were extremely poor during the season and I'm not sure how certain decisions will help long-term - switching from pacy wingers who can stretch defences to inverted wingers while your starting fullbacks can't cross seems ridiculous.
 
Said it before but Pep needs to have comfortably the best team to win and look good.
Looks great when you walk into the strongest squad in the league which was being built for years for his arrival, then spend another billion. But if any other clubs get close it goes to pot.
If they dont win the champions league will his time be seen as a failure given the investment?
 
Focusmate said:
Said it before but Pep needs to have comfortably the best team to win and look good.
Looks great when you walk into the strongest squad in the league which was being built for years for his arrival, then spend another billion. But if any other clubs get close it goes to pot.
If they dont win the champions league will his time be seen as a failure given the investment?
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It's hard to call winning back to back titles in England a failure. However, could Pep's achievements been accomplished with less money and better coaching? Yes as Sir Alex proved and Klopp could prove if Pool retain the title.
 
Focusmate said:
Said it before but Pep needs to have comfortably the best team to win and look good.
Looks great when you walk into the strongest squad in the league which was being built for years for his arrival, then spend another billion. But if any other clubs get close it goes to pot.
If they dont win the champions league will his time be seen as a failure given the investment?
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No European Cups for him since 2011 now. Should Ol’ Big Ears evade him again this year, he’ll have spent almost a decade and over a billion on transfers since his last success in European competition.

That is extraordinary.
 
Speedy30 said:
I'm biased obviously but if you swapped the Klopp and Guardiola around in the summer of 2016, would Guardiola have taken Liverpool to the European Cup and League title on the budget that Liverpool had?
I'm pretty sure that Klopp would have been able to achieve the same, if not more at City than he has achieved with Liverpool. Klopp has just wiped the floor with the so called best manager in the league this season. We'll see how the chequebook fares for City in the summer but I imagine they'll chuck money around like confetti and get some players in to bridge that huge gap.

In response to the above about FFP not being dead, my previous comment was tongue in cheek but City have made a mockery of FFP and it is down to UEFA to fix their regulations. City will be scrutinised but there's no way their not spending big this summer.
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Klopp's the best manager in the world by some distance IMO. Absolute cnut, with mad tantrums when things don't go his way (towards officials, opponents, his own players and even the weather), but a world class manager. An attacking version of 00s José
 
I think he genuinely needs a proper Plan B. Top sides have figured him out - They've lost to us thrice, Pool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Wolves twice and Spurs. I still think City have arguably the strongest squad in the league, and while they are in desperate need of another CB, a LB, a CDM and a backup striker, they shouldn't be losing to every half decent side.
 
Pep's Suit said:
Pep's too close to some players now that he doesn't see their mistakes / weaknesses. Gundogan can only play as a 6 but not alongside another slow midfielder, while D Silva's aged 34 and just played full 90 mins midweek so how cwn he start in a FA Cup semifinal. Pep's XI and subs were extremely poor during the season and I'm not sure how certain decisions will help long-term - switching from pacy wingers who can stretch defences to inverted wingers while your starting fullbacks can't cross seems ridiculous.
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He might have made some mistakes but the biggest reason for their struggles is the decline in the quality of the squad. Just look at how many games Jesus has started this season. If I had to pick between Giroud and Jesus, I'd pick Giroud. How many top 10 sides would he start for?
Look at the midfield. Fernandinho is 35, Gundogan is half the player he was before the back issues. They have only one consistent attacker besides Aguero in Sterling. I have never rated Mahrez as a top player. We don't even need to discuss their defense. The squad needs freshening up, no question.
 
padr81 said:
We are a team of mental fecking midgets
....
It can't always be the players.
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I think you have answered yourself there.

Pep's teams have a history of looking like absolute crap when the going gets tough. The prime example of this was Chelsea in 2012, when they managed to be knocked out despite leading and being a man up.

Apart from (ironically) Chelsea in 2009, when they were boosted by the referee constantly helping them, I cannot remember a single instance of a Pep team managing to progress in a tight knock-out tie.
 
CM10 said:
It's a strange one with City and Pep - normally this would be the time he moves on. It seems mad to say it given how good City were for the 2 seasons before this one but it feels like they've lost some of that fear factor and need a bit of a rebuild. Defence looks a mess, Sane gone, David Silva to follow...

Pep himself seems a bit out of sorts too. I know he has his idiosyncrasies but his reaction to the CAS verdict, for example, was very strange. It looked like the behaviour of a man feeling the pressure.
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United58 said:
Klopp's the best manager in the world by some distance IMO. Absolute cnut, with mad tantrums when things don't go his way (towards officials, opponents, his own players and even the weather), but a world class manager. An attacking version of 00s José
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I think most managers are complete cnuts when things don't go their way. Some of the nicest people I've met have turned into raging lunatics on the sidelines during games that I've reffed and then gone back to being really decent after the game.

I would rather have a manager that feels as passionate as the fans though rather than one that sits there seemingly not bothered.

All the great managers, Fergie included would blame everything and everyone before they blamed their own players for a loss. I wonder what the Redcafe reaction to the grey shirts would have been back in the 90s :D
 
Gee Male said:
Oh that's all - just Koulibaly at about 80m, another 50m or so to spunk on another full back, and then a fresh option up top. 200m plus, and then you're good to go?

Your club is a soulless joke.
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Your club spent more on Harry fecking Maguire than City have ever spent on one player. I’m pretty certain United have outspent or very close to City’s spending over the past eight or nine years, with far less success to show for it. Let me guess, you wish your club had the ‘soul’ of a Bayern Munich, pissing the title every year because its ‘soul’ has conferred upon it an insurmountable advantage over every other side. But instead you’ve not won a title since 2013.

In fact, you’re barely finishing above sides with ‘soul’ like Sheffield United (owned by the son of a prince in the Saud family) and Wolves (Chinese consortium owned and backed by Portuguese “superagent” Jorge Mendes), and scrapping with Chelsea (owned by Russian oligarch Abramovich) and Leicester (owned by Thai billionaires). Typical City (owned by members of UAE ruling family) to disrupt such a beautiful cast of soulful clubs doing everything the ‘proper’ way.
 
Josh 76 said:
A manger who has won 3 CL and 2 League titles in 5 and half years has to be taken serious.
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Where exactly did I say not to take Zidane seriously?
I merely stated that Pep has prolonged success across multiple clubs which far outweighs what Zidane has achieved so far.
It's not belittling Zidanes already amazing achievements, just highlighting how much Pep has achieved as a manager in comparison.
 
his record against the other top clubs has been pretty bad this year.

Liverpool - L W
Chelsea - W L
Leicester - W W
United - L L
Wolves - L L
Tottenham - D L

that's 7 losses in 12 league games ... incredible. They regularly take the smaller clubs behind the woodshed obviously, but the top teams have caught up. For teams with quality and a sound tactical approach, games against this City team are definitely winnable. Guardiola will have to adapt at some point, you can't solve all your problems with a chequebook.
 
Infestissumam said:
his record against the other top clubs has been pretty bad this year.

Liverpool - L W
Chelsea - W L
Leicester - W W
United - L L
Wolves - L L
Tottenham - D L

that's 7 losses in 12 league games ... incredible. They regularly take the smaller clubs behind the woodshed obviously, but the top teams have caught up. For teams with quality and a sound tactical approach, games against this City team are definitely winnable. Guardiola will have to adapt at some point, you can't solve all your problems with a chequebook.
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That's very interesting.

There's still no team better I think against the smaller struggling sides, especially if they get an early goal. They play Norwich on the last day of the season and if they score inside the first 20 minutes then that really could end up being a cricket score.

But like you said, if you're organised and solid at the back and you have quality going forward this City side are very very beatable. I think a fully fit and rested Utd with Pogba Bruno Greenwood Martial and Rashford would cause havoc against City.

They've become flat track bullies in a lot of ways.
 
Is it just me or has Pep generally struggled against top teams since he left Barca? I feel like I see stats like these all the time.
 
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