Pep Guardiola - 2021/22 Performances

[Johnny Mars Bar]

Stood by his word to play his 'cup keeper' and paid the penalty. In my opinion, Steffen never looked comfortable at any point in the match.

If he'd picked Ederson, we'd probably be in the final. We could say exactly the same about last season

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Pep should have learned from it last season. There's no room for sentiment if you want to win trophies.

This.

 

[Lavinda Past]

When did this trend of playing the backup keeper in the FA Cup start anyway? I swear until a few years ago the backup keeper only played in the league cup.

Or is this just a Guardiola thing?

I'm leaving myself open to be shot down on this, but I honestly think that Pep sometimes picks on sentiment. I can't imagine any manager/coach opting to play a weakened side in a major cup final. Not least when it means leaving out one of the world's top players.

The only other conclusion I can see is that he doesn't see the FA Cup as an important trophy. Which is, frankly, quite bizarre.

 

[Maly]

I'm leaving myself open to be shot down on this, but I honestly think that Pep sometimes picks on sentiment. I can't imagine any manager/coach opting to play a weakened side in a major cup final. Not least when it means leaving out one of the world's top players.

The only other conclusion I can see is that he doesn't see the FA Cup as an important trophy. Which is, frankly, quite bizarre.

Or another possibility is that Pep wants a happy & harmonious squad, whereby Steffan has been told he’s the domestic cup keeper & Peo is a man of his word

If he breaks his word, he loses trust of the whole squad

I’d suggest that’s far more likely than him being sentimental or throwing the FA Cup

That’s my take on it anyway

 

[Lavinda Past]

Or another possibility is that Pep wants a happy & harmonious squad, whereby Steffan has been told he’s the domestic cup keeper & Peo is a man of his word

If he breaks his word, he loses trust of the whole squad

I’d suggest that’s far more likely than him being sentimental or throwing the FA Cup

That’s my take on it anyway

That's pretty much my take on it Maly. He obviously trusts Steffen and had no doubts about him on Saturday.
Mistakes happen and thats a fact. When a goalkeeper makes a mistake, it always looks worse than anywhere else on the pitch.

The issue for me, and probably many others, is that any guaranteed place given to a reserve player is almost certain to weaken the team.

Do we want harmony or trophies? Would leaving Steffen out have caused disharmony in the dressing room? Not a chance. Indeed, I suspect that most of the team would want Ederson to play 999 times out of 1000.

Sentiment doesn't win trophies. Pep's picked Steffen twice over Ederson in FA Cup semi finals, and we've lost both. Learn from experience.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

I get that but not replacing sergio and sanes goals was a real open goal , no pun intended

The reason Sané left was because we’d signed Mahrez the season before and then Sterling had to shift over to Sané’s position. Then Foden started playing on the left regularly and he looked like the best left forward in Europe last season. So we didn’t really need a Sané replacement.

And for Kun - just like it took a year to replace Kompany with Dias - it was always going to be extremely difficult to replace Kun immediately. Kane was too expensive, most of the other options were too old, and others weren’t good enough. Football isn’t as easy as *click your fingers* and sign the exact right player we need at the exact right time. We’ve now signed Alvarez who looks a good prospect and we’re first in-line for Håland. If we’ve had to wait a year to get those two instead of getting short-term fixes, then I think we’ve done the right thing.

With DSilva, he didn’t really need replacing. We still had the best midfield options in Europe without him: de Bruyne, Bernardo, Gundogan, Foden. Without DSilva, Gundo stepped up last season and filled his shoes with more goals than David ever scored in a season and lead us to the title and a CL final.

 

[HolisticJim]

The reason Sané left was because we’d signed Mahrez the season before and then Sterling had to shift over to Sané’s position. Then Foden started playing on the left regularly and he looked like the best left forward in Europe last season. So we didn’t really need a Sané replacement.

And for Kun - just like it took a year to replace Kompany with Dias - it was always going to be extremely difficult to replace Kun immediately. Kane was too expensive, most of the other options were too old, and others weren’t good enough. Football isn’t as easy as *click your fingers* and sign the exact right player we need at the exact right time. We’ve now signed Alvarez who looks a good prospect and we’re first in-line for Håland. If we’ve had to wait a year to get those two instead of getting short-term fixes, then I think we’ve done the right thing.

With DSilva, he didn’t really need replacing. We still had the best midfield options in Europe without him: de Bruyne, Bernardo, Gundogan, Foden. Without DSilva, Gundo stepped up last season and filled his shoes with more goals than David ever scored in a season and lead us to the title and a CL final.

Agree with all that but Sane is twice the player Foden is. The drop off between to two is fairly big. Even Sterling isn't where Sane was.

 

[blueparrot]

Or another possibility is that Pep wants a happy & harmonious squad, whereby Steffan has been told he’s the domestic cup keeper & Peo is a man of his word

If he breaks his word, he loses trust of the whole squad

I’d suggest that’s far more likely than him being sentimental or throwing the FA Cup

That’s my take on it anyway

Agree,I remember the problems and criticism at united when they went back on their word to Romero and dropped him for a final. Always see the bigger picture and long term benefit of keeping to your word.

 

[Brewster's millions]

Or another possibility is that Pep wants a happy & harmonious squad, whereby Steffan has been told he’s the domestic cup keeper & Peo is a man of his word

If he breaks his word, he loses trust of the whole squad

I’d suggest that’s far more likely than him being sentimental or throwing the FA Cup

That’s my take on it anyway

I think the decision to play Steffen was due to several factors, and the back-up keeper issue is a tricky one to resolve.

I do think Guardiola wants to maintain a happy squad, and taking a step back for the minute, he probably does have to promise playing in a number of games each season (10 or more) in order to attract and keep a good backup keeper at the club. If he promised Steffen the cup games, then there he probably needs to play him, but I’m not sure this sort of arrangement really works for the team as once you get to the semis, you need to put your best team out.

I do however think that Guardiola fails to see the FA cup as a priority, and his team selections for the semi-finals over the past few years also back this up. Personally I’d rather he play a really weakened team, with lots of academy players, and risk going out in rounds 4/5 than playing four games in the competition - increasing the players’ workload - only to put a weak team out in the semi. All seems a bit pointless to me, and we also lose momentum at the sharp end of the season. Not to mention asking fans to buy expensive tickets and travel all the way to Wembley for a shit day out.

The issue on Saturday was that in a weakened team we were always going to be pressed high - we seemed to be encouraging it - and this pressure exposed Steffan’s shortcomings with his footwork, whereas Eddie would have just dealt with it. It may just be better to play the No. 2 keeper against shit teams at home in the league than in important cup games against our main rivals.

 

[Plain Speaking]

Nothing wrong with peps selection yesterday...

If gundogan and kdb weren't available/deemed too risky then why are they on the bench? leaving us with just mahrez and Delap as attackers because we've filled the bench with unfit players is something beyond my understanding.

Is it possible KDB and Gundogan weren't fit enough to run around but could have come on just before a shoot out to convert a penalty if the match went that far? Both experienced penalty takers.

 

[Plain Speaking]

When did this trend of playing the backup keeper in the FA Cup start anyway? I swear until a few years ago the backup keeper only played in the league cup.

Or is this just a Guardiola thing?

Pep is entitled to make a verbal agreement with his back up keeper that he will play both domestic cups but not PL and CL unless it's a dead rubber. The chances of keeping a decent keeper happy in the squad and match sharp, with that assurance are much higher. Pep is an innovator settings new trends that other managers follow. Steffen did have a nightmare game but before that he had been a good second choice keeper. I value squad harmony and I wouldn't swap Pep for any other manager.