Never doubt Pep

[ctwrd]

Again, don’t be so matter of fact the way you respond ffs, told you countless times about this…

lit was the wrong move and went against everything that had got us to that final, that isn’t myth but fact, despite the need to stick up for the decision what did the gut tell you before the match and seeing that lineup?? We are mere novice football fans, however he dropped a bollock and I’d say most would agree!

Agreed and gut feeling was awful when team was announced.
However, no other manager is held to the same standard and the line up didn’t really stop us winning. We failed to break them down, created nothing. That wasn’t down to the choice of holding midfielder.

 

[alexmcity]

he dropped a bollock and I’d say most would agree!

The main reason why we lost in Porto wasn't Pep's selection of the starting XI, but the fact that many players weren't in top form compared to January/February or even April. Cancelo, Rodri, Gundogan and Bernardo were fantastic earlier in the season but peaked a bit early and lost form in May. Even Dias and Stones weren't great in the final weeks. Even Foden and KDB were poor in the final. Nobody was good in Porto apart from Jesus who played 30 minutes.

In short, the team peaked in January-April and wasn't at its best in May. To explain our inability to create chances in Porto with the absence of, say, Fernandinho is very naive. We paid the price in May for having that extraordinary run of 21 wins from December to March which won us the league.

 

[Deleted member 87819]

Again, don’t be so matter of fact the way you respond ffs, told you countless times about this…

lit was the wrong move and went against everything that had got us to that final, that isn’t myth but fact, despite the need to stick up for the decision what did the gut tell you before the match and seeing that lineup?? We are mere novice football fans, however he dropped a bollock and I’d say most would agree!

To be fair, both times he had won with Barcelona, his final lineups also had some “innovations”. I just think players there were quicker to assimilate them

 

[Mifred]

The main reason why we lost in Porto wasn't Pep's selection of the starting XI, but the fact that many players weren't in top form compared to January/February or even April. Cancelo, Rodri, Gundogan and Bernardo were fantastic earlier in the season but peaked a bit early and lost form in May. Even Dias and Stones weren't great in the final weeks. Even Foden and KDB were poor in the final. Nobody was good in Porto apart from Jesus who played 30 minutes.

In short, the team peaked in January-April and wasn't at its best in May. To explain our inability to create chances in Porto with the absence of, say, Fernandinho is very naive. We paid the price in May for having that extraordinary run of 21 wins from December to March which won us the league.

Players were playing out of position because of the team selection.We needed a holding CM.However I wouldn’t swap PEP for anyone

 

[franksinatra]

The main reason why we lost in Porto wasn't Pep's selection of the starting XI, but the fact that many players weren't in top form compared to January/February or even April. Cancelo, Rodri, Gundogan and Bernardo were fantastic earlier in the season but peaked a bit early and lost form in May. Even Dias and Stones weren't great in the final weeks. Even Foden and KDB were poor in the final. Nobody was good in Porto apart from Jesus who played 30 minutes.

In short, the team peaked in January-April and wasn't at its best in May. To explain our inability to create chances in Porto with the absence of, say, Fernandinho is very naive. We paid the price in May for having that extraordinary run of 21 wins from December to March which won us the league.

Very good post that. Not sure whether its a natural human emotion but once the title was won the players subconsciously lost a bit of sharpness/form where as Chelsea were still fighting on all fronts. I don’t think he should have played Sterling but when you watch him at the euros you can understand why he gambled on his inclusion, particularly to negate the threat of the Chelsea fullback. We penned them in today and I think playing Sterling was the intention in the final.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

The main reason why we lost in Porto wasn't Pep's selection of the starting XI, but the fact that many players weren't in top form compared to January/February or even April. Cancelo, Rodri, Gundogan and Bernardo were fantastic earlier in the season but peaked a bit early and lost form in May. Even Dias and Stones weren't great in the final weeks. Even Foden and KDB were poor in the final. Nobody was good in Porto apart from Jesus who played 30 minutes.

In short, the team peaked in January-April and wasn't at its best in May. To explain our inability to create chances in Porto with the absence of, say, Fernandinho is very naive. We paid the price in May for having that extraordinary run of 21 wins from December to March, which won us the league and left us 3 wins away from the quadruple.

a lot of truth in this. Pep picked a very attacking team for that game because he knew, as we saw today, that we are better than them and he thought we could smother them like we did today. It didn’t work because we were nervous and a lot of players underperformed.

If we’d lost today everyone would have said he “overthought it” by picking two false 9s and playing both on their wrong sides. He’s bold, he gambles, he makes big decisions. Most times it works but sometimes it doesn’t. The reason he’s brilliant is that he gets it right a lot more often than he gets it wrong.

Rodri should have played that game. It’s easy to say that in retrospect and his performance today reinforces it. But as you say, there was a lot more to that game than just that.

 

[Nihilist]

The main reason why we lost in Porto wasn't Pep's selection of the starting XI, but the fact that many players weren't in top form compared to January/February or even April. Cancelo, Rodri, Gundogan and Bernardo were fantastic earlier in the season but peaked a bit early and lost form in May. Even Dias and Stones weren't great in the final weeks. Even Foden and KDB were poor in the final. Nobody was good in Porto apart from Jesus who played 30 minutes.

In short, the team peaked in January-April and wasn't at its best in May. To explain our inability to create chances in Porto with the absence of, say, Fernandinho is very naive. We paid the price in May for having that extraordinary run of 21 wins from December to March which won us the league.

Form is no doubt important but Gundogan was a poor choice for that position. Maybe with Ferna we would've controlled the midfield better and we wouldnt have conceded the goal.
I think Pep got the selection for the final wrong, he was over confindent in our squad and their abilities , but now learned from his mistakes.

 

[FantasyIreland]

The main reason why we lost in Porto wasn't Pep's selection of the starting XI,

Of course it was,ive never been so confident of a trophy until that line up was announced.....then my heart sank and what had been an awesome day of prematch build up vanished in an instant.

We were/are better than Chelsea,and that game/result was a complete and utter clusterfuck

 

[The slaughtered lamb]

The main reason why we lost in Porto wasn't Pep's selection of the starting XI, but the fact that many players weren't in top form compared to January/February or even April. Cancelo, Rodri, Gundogan and Bernardo were fantastic earlier in the season but peaked a bit early and lost form in May. Even Dias and Stones weren't great in the final weeks. Even Foden and KDB were poor in the final. Nobody was good in Porto apart from Jesus who played 30 minutes.

In short, the team peaked in January-April and wasn't at its best in May. To explain our inability to create chances in Porto with the absence of, say, Fernandinho is very naive. We paid the price in May for having that extraordinary run of 21 wins from December to March which won us the league.

Some good comments and they all have merit. I reckon you’ve nailed it; we were busy winning the league for several months whereas Tuchel took over a side that could only improve under his leadership and had an easier ride earlier in the season. Even so, Pep overthought his cl final line-up.

 

[alexmcity]

Of course it was,ive never been so confident of a trophy until that line up was announced.....then my heart sank and what had been an awesome day of prematch build up vanished in an instant.

We were/are better than Chelsea,and that game/result was a complete and utter clusterfuck

Your personal feelings prove little. It's funny you refer to them as evidence.

There were signs in the weeks prior to the game in Porto that many players were losing form. We were poor for most of the 1st half in Paris and could have been 2 goals down. Then we were a bit lucky with both goals. Then PSG were the more dangerous team at the Etihad in the 1st half despite playing without Mbappe. Both Pep and Mahrez admiited after the game that we were poor in that 1st half. Dias had to put in a heroic performance to save us. That was 4 weeks before the CL final, the team peaked way before Porto. Stones was all over the place there, Dias wasn't great, same with Gundogan, Foden, KDB, Mahrez, etc. To explain their non-performances only with the formation and the manager is a bit simplistic.