Pep Guardiola - 2022/23

[BlueMoonRisin’]

Good team selection in tactics that worked a treat.

The only slight gripe I've got about Pep was his post match interview. He blew far too much smoke up Bayern's arse for my liking without heaping enough praise on how magnificent our players were.

 

[vmsuhail]

No. Akanji has been centre back and stones right back. Tonight they were the opposite. It was a subtle but important change because it tightened up the right flank when Stones joined the midfield.

A bit of change here and there is to be expected, and nobody calls out Pep on that. It's when the changes are so striking and impact the performance of the whole team, the manager gets questioned and rightfully so.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

A bit of change here and there is to be expected, and nobody calls out Pep on that. It's when the changes are so striking and impact the performance of the whole team, the manager gets questioned and rightfully so.

You mean like if we'd lost the game to a break on that side and all of you lot would have been on here accusing him of "overthinking" by not playing Walker?

He made a significant change by playing Akanji at right back and it worked a treat. It hasn't even been mentioned by the tactical geniuses who populate this thread when we lose.

 

[Pam]

You mean like if we'd lost the game to a break on that side and all of you lot would have been on here accusing him of "overthinking" by not playing Walker?

He made a significant change by playing Akanji at right back and it worked a treat. It hasn't even been mentioned by the tactical geniuses who populate this thread when we lose.

But .... but .... but ... bald fraud!

 

[vmsuhail]

You mean like if we'd lost the game to a break on that side and all of you lot would have been on here accusing him of "overthinking" by not playing Walker?

He made a significant change by playing Akanji at right back and it worked a treat. It hasn't even been mentioned by the tactical geniuses who populate this thread when we lose.

Probably if Akanji was getting slaughtered by Coman/Sane and Pep refused to bring on Walker in the second half to fix it. I cannot speak for others, but I haven't felt Walker deserves an automatic starting place this season.

 

[skillman]

He deserves so much credit for this turnaround. He's gone against his 'control' principles in the sense that he's essentially allowed teams to hit us at right-back on any given turnover of the ball for the sake of the greater good of the team.

The start of the season it was all about control because, for some reason, he was scared shitless of every team counter-attacking us. Suddenly he's not overly-focussed on it and it's showing. Giving freedom to the attackers while having the stability of Ake, Dias and Akanji.

Plus it helps when Stones very rarely gives the ball away and is efficient whenever he does have it. Maybe he wanted Walker (who can't play that role) in every game at the start of the season for his pace to make up that hole behind? No idea. But either way the change in mentality has been a kickstarter.

 

[khoitnm]

You mean like if we'd lost the game to a break on that side and all of you lot would have been on here accusing him of "overthinking" by not playing Walker?

He made a significant change by playing Akanji at right back and it worked a treat. It hasn't even been mentioned by the tactical geniuses who populate this thread when we lose.

Yeah, I still can't understand how a Man City fans can call Pep "overthinking". "Overthinking" is just a normal Pep thinking, he do overthinking almost every game.
P/S: while fans are "underthinking" at the same time.

 

[footballmanager]

pep found something with his new tactical scheme. as some previously said, he has been tinkering with it since the beggining of the season and its now paying off. Also, with 4 cbs we are physically stronger and more equiped to defend/attack set pieces

 

[joe123]

Yeah, I still can't understand how a Man City fans can call Pep "overthinking". "Overthinking" is just a normal Pep thinking, he do overthinking almost every game.
P/S: while fans are "underthinking" at the same time.

Yep - overthinking is just that he’s thought of something others haven’t. More often than not he gets it right, but as in any sport, not everything goes to plan 100% of the time and he gets ridiculously pilloried for it. Utter nonsense, the man is a genius.

 

[OB1]

You mean like if we'd lost the game to a break on that side and all of you lot would have been on here accusing him of "overthinking" by not playing Walker?

He made a significant change by playing Akanji at right back and it worked a treat. It hasn't even been mentioned by the tactical geniuses who populate this thread when we lose.

Good point. I thought Kyle might get the nod but went with Akanji; quite possibly that was a decision based on game intelligence, a mental strength rather than physical. He mentioned how calm the back four was.

It was also quite amusing to watch him in the post match presser emphasising to the media dimwits how easily the game could have been different if Bayern had produced an unstoppable strike, which they have plenty of players capable of. A manager can only do so much but when we lose, so many love to drop the blame at Pep's doorstep.