Pep Guardiola - 2021/22 Performances

[JDV]

Agreed about Klopp. He’s the best manager the English game has seen since Ferguson. Bar none.
Its not just that he has won a league title and come second with 97 points, and it isn’t even that he has won one, (probably two in a couple of weeks) CLs as well as making a third final.
For me it is that his whole team, whomever he picks, plays with a confidence and arrogance that only the very best managers can instill.
Liverpool never ever look beaten. They always play with a belief that they will find a way to win. Think back to the turn around against Barcelona the other year. Does anybody think City under Pep would or could turn around a first leg deficit like that? No chance. He would have spent the week leading up to that second leg telling everyone who listened that Barcelona deserved to be there and we were still learning to play like a big club.

I think he’s great and I’d be delighted to see him extend as over a long season his deficiencies can be overcome with the quality of players he has been provided with, but I’m sorry he is second to Klopp in terms of his overall ability as a manager.
Pep takes great players and keeps them great, albeit whilst flogging them to death.
Klopp takes great players and makes them believe they are unbeatable and makes very good players into beasts.

A Klopp side would not have thrown away a two goal lead going into injury time against a poor Madrid side. Our players look, and have done for some time now, like a group that cannot function instinctively. The moment Madrid scored their first we went to pieces as our ability to play through setbacks has been exhaustively coached out of us.
And why the fuck doesn’t he use our youth set up more. No point in spending millions setting up the best academy in the world if we then let it’s highest potential lads move to rivals for peanuts because they cannot get sensible game time at City. Thank god Foden is a city fan or else no doubt would have left as well.

He’s a great manager. Only a fool would suggest otherwise, but he isn’t quite the very top level a la a Ferguson or a Klopp or a clough.

From the outside looking in, Pep seems to have a lack of trust and belief in the quality and football instincts of his players. He even micro manages them throughout the game, shouting instructions constantly.

In big games we have seen him over complicate the game plan due to a lack of trust in his players to outplay the opposition based on their world class talent.

If you look at Ancelotti (one of the greatest European coaches in history), he is so calm and has completed trust in the players to win the game and you can see the confidence it instills and also allows the players to learn how to get out of tough situations by themselves.

You can tell how much the players love and how close they are with guys like Ancelotti and Klopp where Pep seems to have a very different relationship with his players (I feel due to the lack of confidence and trust he instills through his management style).

I really hope he signs a long extension and learns to ease the reigns, simplifies the game plan and instill real trust in our players to get the job done.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[oldius]

From the outside looking in, Pep seems to have a lack of trust and belief in the quality and football instincts of his players. He even micro manages them throughout the game, shouting instructions constantly.

In big games we have seen him over complicate the game plan due to a lack of trust in his players to outplay the opposition based on their world class talent.

If you look at Ancelotti (one of the greatest European coaches in history), he is so calm and has completed trust in the players to win the game and you can see the confidence it instills and also allows the players to learn how to get out of tough situations by themselves.

You can tell how much the players love and how close they are with guys like Ancelotti and Klopp where Pep seems to have a very different relationship with his players (I feel due to the lack of confidence and trust he instills through his management style).

I really hope he signs a long extension and learns to ease the reigns, simplifies the game plan and instill real trust in our players to get the job done.

Just my 2 cents.

Ancelotti was 88 seconds away from being condemned as lacking passion and delivering failure by the Spanish press. In this big game, Pep played exactly the team that nearly every single fan wanted. We were seconds away from another final and the players let it slip, over a few seconds, having controlled most of the tie. Had Pep delivered the trophies that Klopp delivered, in the first couple of years, he would have been sacked - now the people who were comparing Klopp unfavourably to Pep have changed their minds in those 88 seconds.

 

[JDV]

Ancelotti was 88 seconds away from being condemned as lacking passion and delivering failure by the Spanish press. In this big game, Pep played exactly the team that nearly every single fan wanted. We were seconds away from another final and the players let it slip, over a few seconds, having controlled most of the tie. Had Pep delivered the trophies that Klopp delivered, in the first couple of years, he would have been sacked - now the people who were comparing Klopp unfavourably to Pep have changed their minds in those 88 seconds.

We played poorly in last year's final and again let it slip against Liverpool twice and against Madrid in the semis. We were the better team in all 4 games. Seems like a mentality issue.

I don't think Klopp has close to the knowledge and understanding of football that Pep does but I do think, like Ancelotti, that Klopp is a better man manager and this is important in the big games.

 

[oldius]

We played poorly in last year's final and again let it slip against Liverpool twice and against Madrid in the semis. We were the better team in all 4 games. Seems like a mentality issue.

I don't think Klopp has close to the knowledge and understanding of football that Pep does but I do think, like Ancelotti, that Klopp is a better man manager and this is important in the big games.

Ah, the 'Mentality Monsters' notion.
I wonder if people levelled the same criticism at Klopp when we won 14 games on the trot to beat them to the league?

 

[JDV]

Ah, the 'Mentality Monsters' notion.
I wonder if people levelled the same criticism at Klopp when we won 14 games on the trot to beat them to the league?

We've been outstanding in the PL and that's why I want us to re-sign Pep as stated.

What I'm specifically referring to are the big games where we fail to get the win when we've been the better team.

If you've been satisfied with that aspect of our game then we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

[Lauz9888]

Our players love Pep. You only have to look at Rodri after we scored against Real the other night - straight over to the manager for a huge hug.

I thought this was interesting, about the time it took him to understand Cancelo and what he needs to be at his best.

Pep reveals reason for Cancelo's impressive form, 'really pleased' with Alvarez signing

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is happy with Joao Cancelo's new contract and has provided reasoning for his impressive performances.

www.football365.com

I think his man-management style is certainly different to Klopp's, and if it takes him a while to click with a player and work out how best to manage him then that may well be one of the reasons why so few players seem to be at their best for us straight from the off.

But I do think that eventually he gets it right with most of them.

 

[oldius]

We've been outstanding in the PL and that's why I want us to re-sign Pep as stated.

What I'm specifically referring to are the big games where we fail to get the win when we've been the better team.

If you've been satisfied with that aspect of our game then we'll have to agree to disagree.

I think the frustration of those losses can cloud judgement - mine included. I was gutted on Wednesday and it was a difficult loss to bear but it won't be long before luck and referees change OR we just stick two fingers up and win it anyway. In this game, their first goal rebounded straight to Rodrygo's head and we know that if Casimero played for us, he would have been off. We should have seen it out, of course, but those near misses were bloody unfortunate and then they got the rub of the green.

 

[D'Silva]

I think it's ludicrous to claim Klopp is a better manager than Pep. However in the late stages of CL though Klopp recently has had better end product. I don't think it's wrong to point out the performance gap that Pep shows between his CL and league results/performances. How many times has it been brought up that he was not specifically brought here to win the league, he's services were engaged to bring the club over the line in the CL. I'm more than happy for the board to keep him as I'm firmly in the PL camp but the elephant in the room grows bigger every year.

 

[hilts]

That's what annoys me. If UCL was a super league, we would have won it at least 3 times in the last 5 years. I have no doubt we are the best team because we dominated and deserved to win against Liverpool and Madrid who are the finalists, and we are above liverpool in our league.

What annoys me is we won't get that recognition unless we win UCL. But we will. Especially with an elite striker

We didn't deserve to win against Madrid I'm afraid.

 

[JDV]

I think the frustration of those losses can cloud judgement - mine included. I was gutted on Wednesday and it was a difficult loss to bear but it won't be long before luck and referees change OR we just stick two fingers up and win it anyway. In this game, their first goal rebounded straight to Rodrygo's head and we know that if Casimero played for us, he would have been off. We should have seen it out, of course, bit those near misses were bloody unfortunate and then they got the rub of the green.

You're probably right. I'm still frustrated from last year's loss, let alone this recent game, so my judgement is likely clouded.

I just know that these opportunities don't come along very often and we seem to just keep falling short.