Pep Guardiola - 2022/23

[Keeper!]

A weeks along time in football. Everything could be rosie by this time next week

And by the same logic our title bid could be over, we have a huge couple of weeks coming up which will define the season.

 

[RACHACE]

With the squad(s) we’ve had in the last 7 years, a manager with a more simple approach to football would probably have won a few Champions Leagues. That’s how Zidane and Ancelotti did it with Real - organise the defence, then let the talented attacking players go and win the game for you.

It’s as if he’s trying to prove to everybody how clever he is - everybody expects him to beat Everton by default, so he has to do it with inverting players everywhere, no width or crosses to the 6’4 striker.

If he coached a team like Everton you’d understand trying to neutralise the lack of quality at his disposal with a complexed game plan, but instead he ends up neutralising the abundance of quality we have with his tedious micromanagement of instinctively brilliant footballers.

Whilst I disagree with your comments regarding another coach having probably won us a couple if European Cups, I do agree with the point made about Pep and his micromanagement as you put it.

 

[sir baconface]

But we'd beaten Everton ten times in a row, Villa nine times in a row, and did the double over Brentford last season.

You can be the best team in the league, but you won't win every game, because that's how football works. City have broken so many records in recent seasons, but still dropped points against teams that weren't as good, because not everything goes right every single game. There has never been an English team as close to being a predictable winning machine as Pep's City, but they will still always drop points at some point.

Absolutely true.

But it’s because of this that there’s so much angst when standards slip. We have expectations which sometimes prove impossibly high.

Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately!) the days have long one when “we don’t give a fuck coz we’re all pissed up”. The stakes nowadays are astronomically high week in, week out. Each dropped point is a big deal.

Thats not to say that we shouldn’t criticise when we think tactics or selection are wrong - just that it’s best to keep things in perspective.

 

[JewelZee]

With the squad(s) we’ve had in the last 7 years, a manager with a more simple approach to football would probably have won a few Champions Leagues. That’s how Zidane and Ancelotti did it with Real - organise the defence, then let the talented attacking players go and win the game for you.

It’s as if he’s trying to prove to everybody how clever he is - everybody expects him to beat Everton by default, so he has to do it with inverting players everywhere, no width or crosses to the 6’4 striker.

If he coached a team like Everton you’d understand trying to neutralise the lack of quality at his disposal with a complexed game plan, but instead he ends up neutralising the abundance of quality we have with his tedious micromanagement of instinctively brilliant footballers.

Agree 100%. I've said numerous times you don't have to recreate the wheel every time or turn every game into some complicated chess match which Pep oddly feels the need to do. When you have the abundance of talent on your side it's the opposition who should be doing the majority of "figuring it out". So many supporters keep saying he'll figure it out. What is there to figure out exactly? A way out of his self-inflicted wounds? In watching Arsenal v Newcastle yesterday both teams lined up as expected and played exactly as expected. No gimmicks, shock selections or omissions. Both managers clearly trust their players and their systems. Whether it's arrogance, fear, boredom or whatever Pep needs to depart with the nonsense and get back to fielding as strong an 11 as possible game in and game out and commit to a system that isn't predicated on a bunch of gimmicks. And before I get the standard "so you know more than Pep" sarcastic inquiries I'll save anyone the trouble. No, I do not. But I do know its folly to believe there aren't plenty of managers who would be on 36 points or better with this squad having played who we've played to date. We're not the underdogs. City come into each season as the team to beat with the best overall pool of players available to a manager. You can't assemble a side with 18 full internationals and act like it's a surprise when you win. And you can't solicit excuses when you underperform. That's for lesser teams. It's a bad look. We don't need Pep to be a genius. We need him to be the great football manager he's been and get back to trusting the great players he's been blessed with to perform and get the job done minus the gimmicks. Just sayin'.

 

[JewelZee]

Whilst I disagree with your comments regarding another coach having probably won us a couple if European Cups, I do agree with the point made about Pep and his micromanagement as you put it.

I have zero doubt Ancilotti would have bagged a CL Cup or 2 with this squad.

 

[Mancini’s Pastilles]

Agree 100%. I've said numerous times you don't have to recreate the wheel every time or turn every game into some complicated chess match which Pep oddly feels the need to do. When you have the abundance of talent on your side it's the opposition who should be doing the majority of "figuring it out". So many supporters keep saying he'll figure it out. What is there to figure out exactly? A way out of his self-inflicted wounds? In watching Arsenal v Newcastle yesterday both teams lined up as expected and played exactly as expected. No gimmicks, shock selections or omissions. Both managers clearly trust their players and their systems. Whether it's arrogance, fear, boredom or whatever Pep needs to depart with the nonsense and get back to fielding as strong an 11 as possible game in and game out and commit to a system that isn't predicated on a bunch of gimmicks. And before I get the standard "so you know more than Pep" sarcastic inquiries I'll save anyone the trouble. No, I do not. But I do know its folly to believe there aren't plenty of managers who would be on 36 points or better with this squad having played who we've played to date. We're not the underdogs. City come into each season as the team to beat with the best overall pool of players available to a manager. You can't assemble a side with 18 full internationals and act like it's a surprise when you win. And you can't solicit excuses when you underperform. That's for lesser teams. It's a bad look. We don't need Pep to be a genius. We need him to be the great football manager he's been and get back to trusting the great players he's been blessed with to perform and get the job done minus the gimmicks. Just sayin'.

Yes yes yes. Wholeheartedly agree with every word of this post

 

[wolviedinho]

Agree 100%. I've said numerous times you don't have to recreate the wheel every time or turn every game into some complicated chess match which Pep oddly feels the need to do. When you have the abundance of talent on your side it's the opposition who should be doing the majority of "figuring it out". So many supporters keep saying he'll figure it out. What is there to figure out exactly? A way out of his self-inflicted wounds? In watching Arsenal v Newcastle yesterday both teams lined up as expected and played exactly as expected. No gimmicks, shock selections or omissions. Both managers clearly trust their players and their systems. Whether it's arrogance, fear, boredom or whatever Pep needs to depart with the nonsense and get back to fielding as strong an 11 as possible game in and game out and commit to a system that isn't predicated on a bunch of gimmicks. And before I get the standard "so you know more than Pep" sarcastic inquiries I'll save anyone the trouble. No, I do not. But I do know its folly to believe there aren't plenty of managers who would be on 36 points or better with this squad having played who we've played to date. We're not the underdogs. City come into each season as the team to beat with the best overall pool of players available to a manager. You can't assemble a side with 18 full internationals and act like it's a surprise when you win. And you can't solicit excuses when you underperform. That's for lesser teams. It's a bad look. We don't need Pep to be a genius. We need him to be the great football manager he's been and get back to trusting the great players he's been blessed with to perform and get the job done minus the gimmicks. Just sayin'.

The reason City are the team to beat each season is because of Pep. Don’t get too comfortable on that lofty position. The decline when he goes will be steep. The ideology
he has brought to the club far outweighs any trophy. Before the great man arrived we were a rich club with no identity. He gave us a credibility that could not be bought no matter how much money we throw at it.

The selection of players and rotation has left us winning league after league. It might frustrate fans but why change what is not broken? It’s clear we are not hitting the heights of previous seasons and Pep is part of that reason. The players are not performing. He don’t ask Jack to dribble into player time and time again, he don’t ask Kev to miss hit pass after pass or Akanji and stones to let Everton score by defending like shit.

We are who we are. I wouldn’t change it at all. The highs and lows of football. Arsenal are playing better than us and deserve to be top.

Ultimately as a collective the team needs to improve. Each individual needs to improve. City have no right to win each season. A lot goes into each team selection. Players attitudes, fitness and so on. If you think pep is stood around and thinking this is all right then you have not been paying attention.

stick by the coach otherwise we are just another rich plaything with no identity and a bunch of players deciding when the are going to perform or not. So all in all I would rather have what we have warts and all than become like everyone else.

Oh and fuck the champions league. We all watched the corrupt games at play to stop us winning that competition. We may have messed up against Chelsea but prior to that final we got shafted time and time again.

 

[citizen_maine]

... In watching Arsenal v Newcastle yesterday both teams lined up as expected and played exactly as expected. No gimmicks, shock selections or omissions...

How did that work out for them?

 

[oscbarcelona]

Whilst I disagree with your comments regarding another coach having probably won us a couple if European Cups, I do agree with the point made about Pep and his micromanagement as you put it.

we would have won the CL with Mancini. I am certain of that.

 

[Txiki Txiki Bang Bang]

we would have won the CL with Mancini. I am certain of that.

Lol