Pep Guardiola - 2020/21 Performances

[LongsightM13]

During the Lyon game as poor as we were, it wasn't until Pep got brave that Lyon started countering us regularly and scored twice in fairly quick succession.

They got in behind us a couple of times in the first half as the back three/five struggled in a needlessly alien system. Maybe if he picked his best team and went out to win the game we would have been out of sight.
He would never nowadays pick the sort of brave starting line up in a big game that Klopp did today

 

[mccity]

They got in behind us a couple of times in the first half as the back three/five struggled in a needlessly alien system. Maybe if he picked his best team and went out to win the game we would have been out of sight.
He would never nowadays pick the sort of brave starting line up in a big game that Klopp did today

You praise Klopp for picking a brave team but they drew to our "cowardly" one, and were lucky not to lose. In fact his brave attacking side only scored thanks to a penalty.

 

[LongsightM13]

You praise Klopp for picking a brave team but they drew to our "cowardly" one, and were lucky not to lose. In fact his brave attacking side only scored thanks to a penalty.

They could quite easily have been three up after 10 minutes as they strolled past Rodri and Gundogan at will

 

[mccity]

They could quite easily have been three up after 10 minutes as they strolled past Rodri and Gundogan at will

So we should have been even more pragmatic? Because if we'd been even more attacking they could have been 5 up, with all the space we'd have left behind given how relentlessly they started and how that surprised us.

 

[City Raider]

Hard to judge. Think he’s just managing the season. Sharpness lacking in players at top end so makes sense to make sure we’re solid. They work with the players every day so know where we’re at and that second half proved legs aren’t there yet, for both teams. Stay in the race and hopefully we will see a change.

 

[FantasyIreland]

Another Pep thread,great.

 

[Keeper!]

Some say pragmatic, others say negative.

Moving to that turgid, double pivot of Rodri and Gundogan has been such a negative for us because it has completely destroyed our pressing game which was one of the best in world football and it's actually made us far worse and more prone to losing the game because we've not been dominating possession like we used to.

It has but playing every three days, no preseason, an ageing team and an apparent disillusioned manager means we are not capable of the pressing game that was our greatest strength.

We are a shadow of the great formidables team, defence apart. At least we have a high quality CB pairing.

 

[FantasyIreland]

We just look so stagnant at present.

His lineups and tactics have become predictable and tiresome,any excitement has vanished.

On a personal note,he has look more enthused in his latest interviews,but sadly that hasn't translated to the pitch.

 

[adam.marrett]

They got in behind us a couple of times in the first half as the back three/five struggled in a needlessly alien system. Maybe if he picked his best team and went out to win the game we would have been out of sight.
He would never nowadays pick the sort of brave starting line up in a big game that Klopp did today

Klopp wasn't brave, he was opposite of that. He picked his front 4, and had either Robertson or TAA attacking depending what side of the pitch they built from, and kept his centre half's and midfield back so we couldn't break quickly. To say he was brave is to get seduced by the names in the front 4 and not watch what they were doing.

The game played out that way in the second half with both teams cancelling each other out and the tired legs taking over.

 

[vmsuhail]

What position in the table is pragmatic Pep aiming for - 10th ?

12 points from 7 games, and the 3 tough games were at home as well. Spurs away coming up next, that will be another pragmatic game where a draw will be acceptable as they're only a point behind the Leaders.