Premier League Matchweek 5 16th-18th September

Theonas said:
Firsy of all, can you calm down? No they weren't. They had a golden 6 months period where everything clicked. Guardiola did that over 3 years and more consistently. That period at the end of Heynckes' reign really gets exaggerated by a lot of people because of the impressive way they beat Barcelona in that semi. Guardiola came in and it became the norm that their opponents were playing as deep as average teams usually play against top teams. That's what I mean by getting them to play with that level of authority.

Against Real in Germany, that was most definitely the worst mark in his CV, for whatever reason, he f up. The Barcelona game was a different story however, if anyone is making up things it's you. People tend to rewrite history based on who came out winners. That was simply a case of maybe the best player in history deciding after an hour or so that he is going to show why he is who he is by going on and winning the game. What preceded that was maybe the best performance by an away side at the Nou Camp in recent years without some significant players at his disposal.
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Either he or someone said that the players got to him and he changed the tactics/selection because the players wanted to play a certain way. And that he vowed to never deviate from his plan ever again because it was a disaster!
 
The week just keeps getting worse & worse we lost twice , scouse won , city 3 nil up, Gunners 2 nil up
 
GhastlyHun said:
Excellent post. There are even Bayern supporters who stick to that same nonsense about Heynckes vs. Pep.
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I know! I remember that year very well. Kroos got injured, Robben got in the side, they beat a good, not great Juventus side impressively and then the game against Barcelona came. People were already tired of the tiki taka and Barcelona dominance, add in a good old fashioned counter attacking performance from Bayern and Dortmund vs Real and the narrative was set as it played into a lot of people's prejudices.
 
Jacky Quacky said:
feck off. This is just depressing. What's the point in even trying to win the league now when City just look so amazing.

Although we shouldn't give up. City will have to not play good at some point. But they really are playing so so good that you just have to admire them.
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NEVAAAAAA!!!!!
 
RedStarUnited said:
Either he or someone said that the players got to him and he changed the tactics/selection because the players wanted to play a certain way. And that he vowed to never deviate from his plan ever again because it was a disaster!
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I remember that as well. That game reminded me so much of our games against Real in the early '00s when we went gung-ho only to get picked off. The Germans after all have more in common with English football than the continental mindset where Pep comes from so it doesn't surprise me that they fancied a right good old fashioned go at it.
 
Theonas said:
What bumming do you mean except the Barcelona game? Against the worst Barcelona teams of the past 8 years might I add? They beat Juventus on that run, again an inferior Juventus team to the one when he took over. Who else did that team bum because from where I am looking, they beat Real on pens, lost to Chelsea at home and had a very close head to head with Dortmund.
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2013 Real Madrid 5 Bayern Munich 0
2014 Barcelona 5 Bayern Munich 3
2015 A Madrid 2(a) Bayern Munich 2

That is failure for a squad like Bayern's. Once could be forgiven but three strikes and you're out.
 
Our narrow defeat to City last week not looking so bad now.
 
Theonas said:
Firsy of all, can you calm down? No they weren't. They had a golden 6 months period where everything clicked. Guardiola did that over 3 years and more consistently. That period at the end of Heynckes' reign really gets exaggerated by a lot of people because of the impressive way they beat Barcelona in that semi. Guardiola came in and it became the norm that their opponents were playing as deep as average teams usually play against top teams. That's what I mean by getting them to play with that level of authority.

Against Real in Germany, that was most definitely the worst mark in his CV, for whatever reason, he f up. The Barcelona game was a different story however, if anyone is making up things it's you. People tend to rewrite history based on who came out winners. That was simply a case of maybe the best player in history deciding after an hour or so that he is going to show why he is who he is by going on and winning the game. What preceded that was maybe the best performance by an away side at the Nou Camp in recent years without some significant players at his disposal.
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Tbf Guardiola's brilliance at Bayern was mostly limited to the Bundesliga and CL home games against average opposition.

His CL away record to more or less every opponent is average and generally in the CL against the best opposition I felt Bayern were beaten / knocked out more easily than anything I can remember since the Klinsmann days.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
2013 Real Madrid 5 Bayern Munich 0
2014 Barcelona 5 Bayern Munich 3
2015 A Madrid 2(a) Bayern Munich 2

That is failure for a squad like Bayern's. Once could be forgiven but three strikes and you're out.
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Not advancing through the semifinals is not a failure. How many teams have reached the last four so constantly? For the last step you need luck as much as anything else.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
2013 Real Madrid 5 Bayern Munich 0
2014 Barcelona 5 Bayern Munich 3
2015 A Madrid 2(a) Bayern Munich 2

That is failure for a squad like Bayern's. Once could be forgiven but three strikes and you're out.
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What does that mean? Three stikes and you're out? I genuinely don't understand. They were one off games with different contexts against other top teams. Should we also claim that Fergie's defeats in CL semi finals with some of the best PL teams we ever had were unacceptable? The Real game is a major mess in Germany after they were unlucky in Spain. The Barcelona game, they had the misfortune of facing one of the best performances we have seen from probably the best player ever. Against Atlético, we're talking about such small margins, the kind of game where if you play 10 times, you win 5 and lose 5. We had plenty of those you know against the likes of Leverkusen in 2002, Real in 2013 and many others.
 
Damn City look good. When is their next game against one of the big boys?
 
padr81 said:
All the top sides will get better. It all depends on how long it takes other teams to work out a system to stop us. I don't think parking the bus will work, and putting alot of pressure on up top worked for you guys a bit 2nd half but with KDB and Gundogan passing the ball, plus Sterling and Nolito's pace we look good on counter too. Eventually someone will work out something though and we'll find it tougher.
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Bournemouth got in behind and had a few chances with better decision making who knows. A liverpool type of team who can move the ball well, quickly and have players like Mane who want to go past defenders will be the best bet I think. Or maybe Arsenal on top top form. But Can Arsenal or Liverpool keep their backdoor shut?

Tottenham is another team I think could do well. Pep always said Pochetino's Espanyol was one of his toughest games in La Liga.
 
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