Pep Guardiola - 2024/25

Status
Not open for further replies.
Do you blame opponents who sit ten men behind the ball in any way whatsoever?
To an extent, but then why take all of your outfield players and camp them in the opponent’s half, particularly in a winner takes all game? Our insistence on pushing the opponent back and not drawing them out, by keeping the ball further from their goal, also feeds into the equation.
 
He may remain the manager next season or he may go - he needs an absolute change in his backroom staff. Each and every person I mean - the set piece coach, Lillo and others. Its clear they cant help him innovate and I see no improvement in any player whatsoever.

5 years back it wouldnt matter who we played in the team - the system was so bullet proof that fabian Delph could play left back and we create records.
Sterling and Sane could combine for a 100 goals without breaking any sweat. Its just turgid now.
 
The football is dire. He's the greatest manager we've ever had but it's reached the stage where there's literally no enjoyment watching us anymore. We pass the ball for the sake of it but without purpose. I can't remember the last time I watched us and was genuinely excited by it. It's properly turgid watching the speed at which we play.

Palace at home was great once Kev scored that free kick
 
Pep is a god to me & always will be but I do worry he is just simply tired out? I think he could do with a couple of months in the sun to try and recharge his batteries but with this Club World Cup Thing I guess thats not even a option?
I Just hope and pray he gets his mojo back for next season.

He needs a new assistant manager!
 
And lets not blame why teams park the bus against us. We are the most influential team of the last decade with the greatest manager of all time at the helm.
What do people expect - the teams should just open their legs so that we can tiki-taka our way in the 30 yards to goal.

They are suppose to resist us. That's their job. Pep's job is to nullify the threat. Hence the billion dollar squad and the 20 million dollar contract.
Its like Dias blaming Southampton for parking the bus. My guy - This is Southampton. They have 11 fucking points in 36 games. They don't know anything else but to park the bus. Else they won't be relegated with 6 games to spare.
 
Do you blame opponents who sit ten men behind the ball in any way whatsoever?

No. Because the opposition have the right to play and set up the best way negate City. My point is more that we're just garbage to watch. We move the ball so slowly, there's zero intensity and in recent months the managers set up has been more and more erratic.

I love Pep and he's the greatest ever. But I don't enjoy watching the iteration of City and its been that way for a while. We've gone from swashbuckling to safety first.
 
Pep strikes me as a bit of a hoarder in real life, he’s always chasing after things but rarely making use of them, For example he demands extra substitutes, then barely plays them, he signs a bunch of new players, yet many never see the pitch. I can just picture his garage stacked from top to bottom with the toilet papers he bought during the pandemic...most of it still sitting there untouched.
Lol, I like that analogy
 
My main issue I don’t understand the team selections, players not getting minutes for games on end then getting shoved in for a couple and then out again.

Why does Grealish start the semi and then get no minutes in the final? Rico not even in the squad, McAtee start against Southampton and not in squad. Echeverria making his first squad and debut in the final. Kev playing practically every minute since announcing he was leaving. Khushanov not seen for weeks, Nunes benched for Akanji.

When we were at our best you could always pick 9/10 of the starters, I can only assume Pep isn’t happy with quite a few of the players and doesn’t feel like he has a strongest 11.
 
My main issue I don’t understand the team selections, players not getting minutes for games on end then getting shoved in for a couple and then out again.

Why does Grealish start the semi and then get no minutes in the final? Rico not even in the squad, McAtee start against Southampton and not in squad. Echeverria making his first squad and debut in the final. Kev playing practically every minute since announcing he was leaving. Khushanov not seen for weeks, Nunes benched for Akanji.

When we were at our best you could always pick 9/10 of the starters, I can only assume Pep isn’t happy with quite a few of the players and doesn’t feel like he has a strongest 11.

This is where I'm at too. He's the best manager we'll ever have but I'm totally baffled by his selections. How does he start McAtee a week ago and then leave him out yesterday? I feel like the team and systems make no sense and even the players are confused of their roles.

The squad issue a result of the choices he's made. He decided not to rebuild in the summer, but is fixated on playing the old guard despite the evidence being that they've underperformed all season.
 
Serious question, how long does he get to turn this around?
Might need to clarify what you mean by this.

We were already on the slide last year, glossed over by winning the title, and the slide has continued and accelerated this season. We either go back down the route of allowing Guardiola to build another small squad in which he has complete trust, which will likely peak in 3-4 seasons, after when we repeat the process, or Guardiola has to adapt to using a larger squad of younger players and deal with the myriad problems that entails.
 
Do you blame opponents who sit ten men behind the ball in any way whatsoever?
You think George Foreman blamed Ali for the rope-a-dope? You play to your strengths, they don't want to loose to us so they sit behind the ball, it's our job to figure out how to break them down and we have the tools for that, even when we had Delph playing as a fullback he still stormed forward to either allow the winger drift into the middle or as a false threat to pull one or two players away from the winger, We don't do any of that anymore. Blaming the opponents is similar to a medieval war time general screaming out "damn these fucking walls" every time his army tries to climb in through the wall of a city only to have arrows rain down on them from the top of the wall.
 
There's always a way to break them down, Liverpool never seem to have a problem. It's our slow style of play that packed defences just love
Yes, but the question was asked about the turgidity of play. I posed the question in relation to the dullness of the game.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top