Pep Guardiola - 2023/24

[meeesh]

They asked to come off, see his post match interview.

Ahh right fair enough, went straight to bed when I got home so hadn't seen, but players asking to come off, wow

 

[footballmanager]

the cb free roaming up the pitch experience has ended, thats for sure, akanji left huge holes that madrid luckily wasnt sharp enough to exploit. Pep needs to figure out some new tricks, like using Haaland effectively

 

[Le Havre Oswald]

Ahh right fair enough, went straight to bed when I got home so hadn't seen, but players asking to come off, wow

I’m fairy confident there would’ve been a legitimate reason why they wanted to come off lol.

 

[DMA's]

the cb free roaming up the pitch experience has ended, thats for sure, akanji left huge holes that madrid luckily wasnt sharp enough to exploit. Pep needs to figure out some new tricks, like using Haaland effectively

We just dominated Real Madrid at home but yeah let’s change all that has worked for us and adopt a completely new system to accommodate one player. What a load of bollocks. Pep can’t score the goals for the players he got it right yesterday

 

[meeesh]

I’m fairy confident there would’ve been a legitimate reason why they wanted to come off lol.

Yea I am, but they didn't seemed too injured, was only a few week back Kev was moaning when he got hooked, now he's asking to come off, like I say just a bad night all round really.

If he'd had put that chance away my fucking mother would have scored we'd be ok today, but eh ho, onwards we go

 

[Gabriel]

Not blaming him for last night but on the whole this season he's getting it wrong vs good teams, I mean the best teams we've beaten this season are Villa/Leipzig. It's what has made this title race tight as we've only really dropped 4 points in the games we should be winning(Wolves & Palace). But have lost points EVERYTIME we've played those around us.

Teams are happy to sit in and let our CBs and Rodri have the ball 35 yards out as they're not as likely to make things happen(Akanji was brilliant last night though). This compacts the play even further and gives us even less space to play in. Then in turn makes us even more susceptible to counters as we are higher up the pitch and our CBs aren't the quickest, hence why Kyle played centrally in possession.

We lack the incisiveness and movement from the middle. It's all side to side until we end up crossing it. Then we are essentially crossing it to one player.

The solution in the current iteration of our play/set up/tactics? As with our current squad I don't know what it is and don't think Pep does either. Pep will definitely come back after summer with a different approach.

I think the solutions are more likely to be found in the transfer market going forward, don't think we can have a 1 player in kind of window like a few in the past.
Attacking fullbacks?
Ball carrying and creative midfielders?
A right winger with aerial ability(Bale like)?
Maybe an older experienced striker to give us a different option?

All in all, Peps done well to keep us in 3 comps until tail end given with what is in all honesty, a far weaker squad than last season(when you account for injuries too). It has helped to temper my expectations for the season. Like I've woke up this morning and I'm obviously disappointed we're out but don't hold any frustrations at our team. We played well, should have won but went out on pens, classic Champions League, we go again.

Anyway im excited to see how rest of season plays out and what Pep comes up with next as he continues to shape modern football. Our manager.

Lots of good points. For me, Guardiola has a big decision to make in the summer regarding where this team goes. The defence is a relatively solid platform but one that can be exposed by pace and by players running to the ball. However, the failings at the back are generally only accentuated when we have failed to take our chances.

We lost the ball retention skills of Gundogan and Mahrez, and to an extent Palmer, and added Doku, Kovacic, and Nunes. Now, while Kovacic can retain the ball quite well, he doesn't have the physique/engine to get up and down the park nor the goal/assist return of Gudogan. And for Doku and Nunes retaining possession is not their forte.

I look at the attack side of the team and see two sorts. We now have players such as Grealish, Bernardo, Kovacic, Alvarez, Bobb, and Rodri who are built to keep possession. We also have players such as Haaland, de Bruyne, Foden, Nunes, and Doku, who are 'risk takers', but who for a number of reasons are also prone to giving possession away. The more players we add to that latter group, the more like basketball our play becomes and we put extra pressure on the defence. However, the more players we add to the former group, then while we have far more control it also means there is less need to have as many risk takers on the park at the same time.

Guardiola has lots of good players but striking the right balance is proving problematic.

 

[KevinDeBruyne]

Pep got a few things wrong last night - starting with benching stones as he is the glue to our team and it's clear he was available. Foden should not have started as a winger and or should have been benched and replaced KDB when he got tired or he should have started in the midfield and Bernardo on the wing. Pep shouldn't have started Walker as he hadn't played since March internationals and missed 5 games (Walker was also responsible for the first goal) - grealish should have never come off as he was our best player, yes we needed fresh legs but Bernardo could have come off The penalties were also a weird selection rodri should have taken one, gvardiol would be a good penalty taker too I reckon. Pep is one of the best managers ever but sometimes he can be stubborn and definitely has his favourites... walker and bernardo

 

[Sheikh rattle and roll]

They asked to come off, see his post match interview.

Plus Haaland was replaced by Alvarez who took and scored a penalty

 

[The Blue Eh]

Pep got a few things wrong last night - starting with benching stones as he is the glue to our team and it's clear he was available. Foden should not have started as a winger and or should have been benched and replaced KDB when he got tired or he should have started in the midfield and Bernardo on the wing. Pep shouldn't have started Walker as he hadn't played since March internationals and missed 5 games (Walker was also responsible for the first goal) - grealish should have never come off as he was our best player, yes we needed fresh legs but Bernardo could have come off The penalties were also a weird selection rodri should have taken one, gvardiol would be a good penalty taker too I reckon. Pep is one of the best managers ever but sometimes he can be stubborn and definitely has his favourites... walker and bernardo

Not having a pop at you, but I disagree on a couple of points. Faulting any manager for their team selection presupposes you have more insider knowledge about player fitness and form than they do. Stones was injured in the away leg (see Rodri’s post game comments from then) and was rested in the league fixture v. Luton. Perhaps that and the fact that statistically 50% of RM’s attacks happen on the left third of the field (v. middle or right), which meant a fitter Walker was the better pick against their speedy forwards.

Further, I understand Pep does not pick who takes penalties, on principle: he feels the players should themselves step up and decide who and in what order. I recall this was mentioned in his biography Pep Confidential.

Certainly the man isn’t without his faults and idiosyncrasies, but he doesn’t claim his way is better. It’s just his way. Seems to work more often than not.

 

[EdersonsSmiley]

He clearly hasn't worked out what to do in the big games without Gundogan.

His tactic last night and against Arsenal of playing walking football to start the game is certainly not the answer I can tell you that.