Pep Guardiola - 2025/26

Klopp's team used to get creativity from the fullbacks; their midfield lacked creativity. Pep compounds the problem by playing CBs as fullback.
 
It’s an odd situation where our two left-backs are on the bench, we’re playing our only fit senior central defender at left-back, and our two wingers increasingly drift centrally, rather than stay wide to isolate and attack their direct opponents, both of whom have been carded. Come the end today, it genuinely didn’t look as if anyone on the pitch had an idea what the plan was. Shambolic.
 
Two main big mistakes:

Playing a weak defence and midfield with too much of midgets like Lewis, Foden, Bernardo, and co. together in the starting 11 in a big game and getting outmuscled all game!

Making changes too late to matter, with more attacking subs but taking off a great focal point who scores goals like Haaland!
 
His record against the rags is disproportionately poor when you take into account what a poor team they’ve been during his tenure. They’ve had so many (largely poor) managers in this period that it can’t be a case of styles make fights.

Psychologically does he get something wrong on derby day ? I personally used to find it nauseating how he praised them and Ferguson in the media, does a kind of exaggerated respect seep through into the players’ collective psyche because of this ?

Could of course just all be random but in the bitter aftermath of a humbling defeat like that the suspicion persists that something fundamental is wrong in his approach to derbies.
 
Mr HJ said:
Pep will point to the defenders missing after that game but let's be honest here - we created nothing, not one really good chance against a team on the knife edge confidence wise - with the front players we have that has to be a system failure. We all thought Rodri would cover the usual holes but in the first half we got nothing from Phil, Bernie or an inverted Lewis - all of them not once released any of our attackers early or covered when they lost the ball - tells me the balance of the side was all wrong.

I also think taking Max off instead of Ake was an insult to what had gone on in that half. The lad was left to dry by one of the worst pair of fullbacks I think I've ever seen at the top level. Yet Ake because of his past is left on to get even worse when he moved into the middle.

To also say we lost because of lack of energy is a little insulting to the fans - no matter who plays, any player should look at his opposite number and say I'm going to be better than you today - not one of them did that and that is a worry for some of the big CL games to come.
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He needs to call it a day end of the season .
Stale tactics , doesnt want a big squad ,doesnt trust all of the new players brought in ,slow passes that end up back at the defenders feet ,then they start again -reset ,reset.
Its boring .
 
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Brewster's millions said:
He’s absolutely miles away from getting the best out of that squad, and other than a few good performances here and there, we haven’t been good enough for 18 months now. Far from it in fact.

Our recruitment has been patchy but we have added some good players, and yet we keep getting undone by the same things week in, week out. For the amount of backing he’s had, that’s simply not acceptable.

A suicidal high line, a lack of legs in midfield, pointless side to side passing and other than trying to get Doku one on one, we don’t have any pattern of play or indeed a personality and identity to the team. United’s fight and desire today shows what’s lacking from our team.

We need to be looking at other managers because what’s being served up isn’t good enough.
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It’s not the players atm as we have quality players but any creativity is took out of them and now after winning games with a fast transition style football we have reverted back to pep ball and it’s crippling us and today we got absolutely outclassed .
 
Rags were always going to go to a 4-4-2 after all the shit Amorim has taken. The crowd were always going to shout fkr everything with all the hype of the new manager. For us to set up like that i find quite staggering. Without 3 of our normal back 4 the alarms bells should have been screaming pack the midfiled and keep it tight. Instead we actually started without 4 of the back 4 which I still can't get my head around an hour after watching it all unfold. It was hardly the worlds biggest mystery by starting a back 4 for the fkrst time at Old Trafford with all the hype this week about Nited players being blown away by Carricks training methods and a watching world just wanting to put one over on the 115 cheating bastards that it was going to be fucking awful.

Why the fuck does he do this over and over in big games. Could have easily gone Khus at RB, Reily at LB, Ake and Max at centre half. Could have even started RAN at left back and put Nico alongside Rodri. Silva, Reijnders, Semenyo and Cherki/Foden or Doku in midfield with Haaland upfront. Instead a whole new back 4 in front of a non existent midefield with all what we knew they were going to do. It's exhausting watching us do these things.
 
Chak19 said:
Yeah but that dipper team won the league and was miles better than this rags team, and Anfield is a far tougher place to go than the swamp.

I just can't comprehend the performance today, did we give everything against Newcastle and had nothing left in the tank today ? well if that's the case how the fuck do you prioritize a League Cup first leg tie where you still have a second leg at home over a league game where dropping points means you're virtually out of the title race ? baffling.
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United were always going to have a go today, and put themselves about, but ultimately they’re a limited side and we should have had enough to get a result.

We needed guile, a proper game plan and the ability to standup to some pretty basic tactics, i.e. being hit with long balls over the top and pace.

Unfortunately we couldn’t do that and we were found lacking all over the pitch. And when we went two down Guardiola went and sat down and left the players to it.

Our performance today was as bad as anything served up by the various jokers in charge at United over the last decade. Completely shambolic.
 
pbueno16 said:
For all wanting him sacked now, do you really want to give United the satisfaction of giving us that thorough ass beating and getting our best ever manager sacked as a result of said ass beating?
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I don't want him sacked now that would be stupid, but unless he manages to get rid of these lifeless slow stupid performances and tactics that we've seen too many times in the last 18 months, he's got to leave in the summer.
 
vicblueman said:
Weak mard arse management by Pg to take alleyne off ,the kid the easy target to sub .
Ake has hardly played this season but he looks burnt out slow & nothing left in the tank . Back & sides passing

He needs to call it a day end of the season .
Stale tactics , doesnt want a big squad ,doesnt trust all of the new players brought in ,slow passes that end up back at the defenders feet ,then they start again -reset ,reset.
Its boring .
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He and the management will make the best decision for the club at the end of the season. I still cant understand the insistence for a small squad considering how many games we’re playing across PL, CL and the domestic cups and the increased physicality in general.
 
Brewster's millions said:
United were always going to have a go today, and put themselves about, but ultimately they’re a limited side and we should have had enough to get a result.

We needed guile, a proper game plan and the ability to standup to some pretty basic tactics, i.e. being hit with long balls over the top and pace.

Unfortunately we couldn’t do that and we were found lacking all over the pitch. And when we went two down Guardiola went and sat down and left the players to it.

Our performance today was as bad as anything served up by the various jokers in charge at United over the last decade. Completely shambolic.
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He sat down before the second goal, he pretty much gave up at 1-0 down in a derby, unacceptable.
 
We had the possession, but didn't have the midfield to control the tempo which we lost to counters over and over again.

That was a worry for me.

The DM in Rodri is clearly no where near his best and may never be, looks scared.

And with Bernie, Foden and Lewis (inverting) with him in the middle, its just too weak.
 
Ivan Lentil said:
His record against the rags is disproportionately poor when you take into account what a poor team they’ve been during his tenure. They’ve had so many (largely poor) managers in this period that it can’t be a case of styles make fights.

Psychologically does he get something wrong on derby day ? I personally used to find it nauseating how he praised them and Ferguson in the media, does a kind of exaggerated respect seep through into the players’ collective psyche because of this ?

Could of course just all be random but in the bitter aftermath of a humbling defeat like that the suspicion persists that something fundamental is wrong in his approach to derbies.
Click to expand...
Yes I think he does psychologically respect so called big teams. I remember in our first CL final he said something along the lines of we have to get here first and feel the process of what its like before winning it. You have to arrive and no what its like and then next time win it. And this was a week before the game. Maybe its his english. I don't think you would ever see him go at Klopp or another rival like Mancini did to the pissed c**t. Not that it matters but I just feel overall the club has a soft underbelly. When we do come out all guns blazing we get c***s like Simon Jordan and the rest telling us we're wrong and we should keep quiet and stop whingeing. Never heard them say it about pisshead though.
 
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