Pep Guardiola - 2022/23

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I agree with people saying we are boring, at least when you step back and take the blue tinteds off. That's mainly because Pep suffocates flair in favour of being monotonous, perpetual non risk takers. Pass, pass, pass, opening, slide pass in, shot, maybe goal.
Players are encouraged to not show the individuality that got them the move to us in the first place. Look at Grealish vs Chelsea, Pep told him to not look for the pass and instead to shoot/do his thing in and around the box.. The result, looked twice the player. Pep took the shackles off him in the league cup, gave us a glimpse of the player Jack could be for us and then benched him the next game with no intention to bring him on. The next time we see him for us in league/champs he'll be back to being asked to be a safe pass merchant. Some players it makes look a lot better than they actually are(Sterling) other it holds them from their potential(Phil?). I say Phil because on occasion with no options he will happily dribble past 3/4 players but when outwide he seems to simply refuse to get at his fullback and I'm not believing for 1 minute that it could be due to Phil's lack of self beilef. For example, he makes 2.6 dribbles a game for England but just 0.7 for us. His numbers for us have dropped season on season since becoming a regular starter. His flair has been suffocated and now he's just another cog.

I don't think we've looked genuinely good as a team for over a month and 10 matches ago now, relying heavily on individual performances. The machine needs a good inspection and service else it'll not pass the MOT(league win min, unless Arsenal get 90+ then fair play) this year.
 
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Take yesterday for example,I'm coming down the spirals,and I hear at least 4 or 5 lads saying fucking Brentford,and I'm thinking it but not saying it,as I'm a believer in every PL game is there to be lost if we don't get selections and stuff right,which starts mainly with the manager.

I'm also old enough and seen loads of games,to not take anything for granted,especially with us involved,and that's despite all we have achieved and won over the last 10 year.

But it isn't rocket science,use the bloody subs,and don't use the excuse of we've played a lot of games blah blah,well freshen it up and use the subs,who have not played as many minutes then.

Although it was delicately poised,fuck me,delicately poised at home v Brentford,oops I slipped into the lads thoughts I heard walking down the spirals then for a minute,even throwing on FFS or Grealish could of helped turn the game in our favour,but no,he brings Alvarez on for last 10/13 mins.

We scraped over the line last week,won a 50/50 game that could of gone either way midweek,and got beat yesterday,but no holding of hands up,apart from saying better team won.

Cheers
 
01cravend said:
I agree with people saying we are boring, at least when you step back and take the blue tinteds off. That's mainly because Pep suffocates flair in favour of being monotonous, perpetual non risk takers. Pass, pass, pass, opening, slide pass in, shot, maybe goal.
Players are encouraged to not show the individuality that got them the move to us in the first place. Look at Grealish vs Chelsea, Pep told him to not look for the pass and instead to shoot/do his thing in and around the box.. The result, looked twice the player. Pep took the shackles off him in the league cup, gave us a glimpse of the player Jack could be for us and then benched him the next game with no intention to bring him on. The next time we see him for us in league/champs he'll be back to being asked to be a safe pass merchant. Some players it makes look a lot better than they actually are(Sterling) other it holds them from their potential(Phil?). I say Phil because on occasion with no options he will happily dribble past 3/4 players but when outwide he seems to simply refuse to get at his fullback and I'm not believing for 1 minute that it could be due to Phil's lack of self beilef. For example, he makes 2.6 dribbles a game for England but just 0.7 for us. His numbers for us have dropped season on season since becoming a regular starter. His flair has been suffocated and now he's just another cog.

The machine needs a good inspection and service else it'll not pass the MOT(league win min, unless Arsenal get 90+ then fair play) this year.
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We are not boring IF the other teams want to play. Also, we have scored about as many times 4+ goals as the other top 6 teams combined.

There are tradeoffs: we can play more direct football and take more risks, but the end result will be fewer titles. Pep's tactics tends to achieve perfect balance between taking and avoiding risks. We take a lot of risks by leaving huge spaces for the opposition, and we control the risks by "pass, pass, pass" and by suffocating the opposition. Will we be happier if we play a more adventureous football if that means more titles for Liverpool or United or Arsenal...? Not really.
 
alexmcity said:
We are not boring IF the other teams want to play. Also, we have scored about as many times 4+ goals as the other top 6 teams combined.

There are tradeoffs: we can play more direct football and take more risks, but the end result will be fewer titles. Pep's tactics tends to achieve perfect balance between taking and avoiding risks. We take a lot of risks by leaving huge spaces for the opposition, and we control the risks by "pass, pass, pass" and by suffocating the opposition. Will we be happier if we play a more adventureous football if that means more titles for Liverpool or United or Arsenal...? Not really.
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No team without the quality should/will play us and attempt to play to our strengths. rightfully so they sit deep and try to pinch a result. That unwillingness to play us actually plays into our hands. as you see when a team is capable of playing and pressing high we are suceptible to a bed shitting, it's why we are always found out in the Champions League and why we lose so often to the likes of Liverpool/Tottenham.

It hasnt always been like this(risk adverse, becoming one dimensional) it's more a result of Peps evolution here. 17/18-18/19 team and tactics ect wipes the floor with the current one. More pace, more press resistant, younger legs in midfield, allowed to be direct, didnt rely on 1 player to score 50% of our goals.
 
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01cravend said:
No team without the quality should/will play us and attempt to play to our strengths. rightfully so they sit deep and try to pinch a result. That unwillingness to play us actually plays into our hands. as you see when a team is capable of playing and pressing high we are suceptible to a bed shitting, it's why we are always found out in the Champions League and why we lose so often to the likes of Liverpool/Tottenham.

It hasnt always been like this(risk adverse, becoming one dimensional) it's more a result of Peps evolution here. 17/18-18/19 team and tactics ect wipes the floor with the current one. More pace, more press resistant, younger legs in midfield, allowed to be direct, didnt rely on 1 player to score 50% of our goals.
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17/18 and 18/19 were different teams. In 18/19 Sane didn't start many games in the run-in. Also, in 21/22 we scored more league goals than in 18/19 in spite of not having Aguero and Sane, and Sterling playing only a bit part role.

The 17/18 and 18/19 teams did worse in the CL. There's that as well. Plus, the league now is arguably better (more competitive) than in 17/18 and our style is not new to the league any more. Superficial comparisons between then and now won't get us far.

Time will tell about this team. We've played only 1/3 of the season so far. What if we win both the PL and the CL?
 
It's more the not conceding leagues to Liverpool et al when playing more risky football as you suggested we would/might. There can be a balance, but Pep is slowly tilting the scale more toward risk adverse season by season. And as a result you can see the drop in quality, even from last year's team. This team isn't remotely the same. For one about 75% of our passes into the box now seem to be purely attempts to find Haaland, no-one else is playing centrally or operating in that space. It's becoming one dimensional. Reduced to mostly longshots vs Brentford as they were easily dealing with Erling.

And we haven't improved in the Champions League, still shitting the bed every season
 
argyle said:
I think some on here are saying Pep Out without actually saying it.
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You are correct. Thankfully they aren’t anywhere near any decision making and will not be seen for a while once the WC is over and the team kick on and go and win the league again.
This idea that we are boring always pops up after a defeat.
He had a bad day yesterday and it’s hard to defend what happened on the pitch and lack of attempt to change what was obviously not working, but there are posters who have very short memories on here.
This first half of the season was always going to be about squad management due to the circumstances surrounding the timing of the WC. He’s tried to keep as many players involved and has spread minutes out far more than anytime in the past. Not always successfully mind and it’s lead to points dropped in the most unexpected games.
I’ve no doubts that the aim of the club was to be there or thereabouts at the top within a few points before the break for the WC and in that regard we are probably happy.
I think we will see a far more settled team going into the second half of the season (injuries aside) and I think we will prove to be too strong for Arsenal in the run in.
He’s certainly going to get the benefit of the doubt from me and I won’t be rushing to get him out and be replaced with someone not fit to lace his boots.
 
sign your new contract you lovely bald genius ,that's the only thing i want from pep , hes doing an amazing job 99% of the time and one bad performance from him and the players wont change my mind on that .

personally think that display was down to the players maybe not putting in the required % we need from them, be it fatigue or world cup that wasn't acceptable , we have set the bar high and the players need to reach that level every game, fucking shocking some of the performances yesterday, personally i would of dragged gundo off yesterday he was shocking(and not the only one) bernie in the middle with jack or mahrez coming on .
 
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