Pep Guardiola - 2019/20 Performances

[OrigamiNinja]

I am not saying that we should follow Pep like he is the 2nd coming of Jesus and never question anything he does but he is the best manager around and if anyone thinks any replacement will be better, you are basically asking for perfection and will be sorely disappointed. Every manager has faults, including Pep, Mancini had them and Pellegrini definitely had them and they both won us PL titles. We will not find that perfect manager, no matter who we appoint, or how much they win. No manager in the history of the game has won everything, every season and it is completely normal for us to have off-seasons like the current one but when did our off-seasons of years gone by, ever involve cup finals and CL knockout stages? I moan a lot on here, particularly about individual players but I am also fully aware of just how lucky I am, to be supporting this great club, which is currently managed by the best manager in the world. I think some on here need to be careful what they wish for.

 

[domalino]

That team and formation tonight almost got what it deserved against a shocking scum team. Not to single anyone out but Mahrez! Playing brilliantly and full of confidence. Have you ever played wing back at u9’s maybe whilst 2-0 up.

Mahrez didn't play wingback.

This is presumably what @Gordyola is talking about, people criticising Guardiola for doing things he hasn't actually done.

Just because some Sky Sports producer thinks putting Mahrez at RWB makes sense when he's doing the graphics for TV doesn't mean he actually played there.

The only person out of position on Wednesday was Cancelo, and he's played there before.

 

[Fazz28]

Unfortunately, I do think most of our issues beyond the poor finishing today were down to player selection, formation, and tactics chosen by Pep.

Hopefully he has learned from this and will set things up right for Madrid.

issues beyond poor finishing? are you for real? if wed of taken chances, it would of been 4-1/5-1 and pillocks like you would be coming on here saying how wonderful Pep is.

 

[blueinsa]

Unfortunately, I do think most of our issues beyond the poor finishing today were down to player selection, formation, and tactics chosen by Pep.

Hopefully he has learned from this and will set things up right for Madrid.

Sorry mate but i cant agree at all.

Tactically Sterling through on goal with just the keeper to beat or Dave a few yards out with effectively an open goal says not much was wrong at all.

Several very good saves as well.

Ball was in the net twice but unless being slightly offside is now a tactical mistake then im really struggling to see how we tactically got it wrong the other night as we dominated the game, dominated corners, dominated play in the boxes and dominated chances.

Players just didn't put them away its that simple so yes it was a poor result on the night but on the whole it was a very good result as we are at Wembley and its was a very good performance, finishing aside.

 

[mosssideblue]

Sorry mate but i cant agree at all.

Tactically Sterling through on goal with just the keeper to beat or Dave a few yards out with effectively an open goal says not much was wrong at all.

Several very good saves as well.

Ball was in the net twice but unless being slightly offside is now a tactical mistake then im really struggling to see how we tactically got it wrong the other night as we dominated the game, dominated corners, dominated play in the boxes and dominated chances.

Players just didn't put them away its that simple so yes it was a poor result on the night but on the whole it was a very good result as we are at Wembley and its was a very good performance, finishing aside.

Spot on

 

[SebastianBlue]

issues beyond poor finishing? are you for real? if wed of taken chances, it would of been 4-1/5-1 and pillocks like you would be coming on here saying how wonderful Pep is.

Behave.

 

[SebastianBlue]

Sorry mate but i cant agree at all.

Tactically Sterling through on goal with just the keeper to beat or Dave a few yards out with effectively an open goal says not much was wrong at all.

Several very good saves as well.

Ball was in the net twice but unless being slightly offside is now a tactical mistake then im really struggling to see how we tactically got it wrong the other night as we dominated the game, dominated corners, dominated play in the boxes and dominated chances.

Players just didn't put them away its that simple so yes it was a poor result on the night but on the whole it was a very good result as we are at Wembley and its was a very good performance, finishing aside.

You seem to be going further with my post then it was intended.

I did caveat my post with “beyond the poor finishing” for a reason and nowhere did I say the issues were sweeping. I said that the issues that existed apart from us not scoring our chances were mostly on Pep for this game, which in my mind included our midfield selection/shape, tactics with the fullbacks, and selection of Nico. As opposed to just poor performances from the players, as has been the case in some of our other poorer results this season. We did generally dominate, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t issues, especially when you consider we were up against what I think we can all agree were a very poor side.

I think you’ll find from my posts about the match and players that I am one of the few that hasn’t been moaning about the result — I am very happy we’re off to yet another final and think the players actually played fairly well (save perhaps Raheem, but I have a theory that I shared in his thread that it really isn’t down to football any more).

I was just pointing out that hopefully Pep has learned from the shortcomings of our setup on Wednesday (he most certainly has, as he demands perfection of himself and the team) and will take what he’s learned to the Madrid match (which he’ll most certainly do). It was an acknowledgment, not an indictment, as it seems to have been interpreted.

 

[Saddleworth2]

His post match presser was a good one and more open than usual about the rationale for his tactics. Walker and Cancelo as part of a back three are his fastest backs and were there to protect us from fast counter attack. We missed the fast transition play that Laporte and Fern are capable of and as a result made fewer chances. The fact that we had the ball in the net twice and disallowed because of avoidable offsides, two open goals and three excellent saves from DeGea whilst restricting them to a couple of half chances says the performance was good hence we won the tie overall.

That doesn’t do much for the natural feeling of disappointment that we lost a game at home against our historic rival though. But if blame is to be apportioned, blame injuries and piss poor finishing not Peps tactics or lack of effort.

 

[Craig]

Mahrez didn't play wingback.

This is presumably what @Gordyola is talking about, people criticising Guardiola for doing things he hasn't actually done.

Just because some Sky Sports producer thinks putting Mahrez at RWB makes sense when he's doing the graphics for TV doesn't mean he actually played there.

The only person out of position on Wednesday was Cancelo, and he's played there before.

I was at the game so don’t know what was said on sky. If you don’t think Mahrez had to play deeper than he usually would and didn’t have to get back more than usual then fair play.:)

 

[domalino]

I was at the game so don’t know what was said on sky. If you don’t think Mahrez had to play deeper than he usually would and didn’t have to get back more than usual then fair play.:)

You can look up a heat map of his touches and compare it to his normal positioning on the RW and it's pretty much the same.