Pep Guardiola - 2023/24

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

I’d dearly love if all City fans supported the lads in Sky blue whoever plays, and gets behind the team, instead of quotes like “he’s not good enough or he will be gone next year” .

There's a difference between routing for a player and taking sober stock of his performance on the field. All of us do the former - strangely, some refuse to do the later, or worse still, confuse the later with anti-player or anti-City sentiment.

And for the record, I like Akanji at CB. His skillset though makes him a poor choice to push forward into mid.
As for Doku, he may come good. But I'd like to see more of Bobb instead.

 

[balotellishaircut]

There's a difference between routing for a player and taking sober stock of his performance on the field. All of us do the former - strangely, some refuse to do the later, or worse still, confuse the later with anti-player or anti-City sentiment.

Look they were saying the same about Rodri after a few games in 2019, you have to give new players a season to adapt to Peps demands and style of play, but obviously some fans can’t do that, I dread to think how they would of coped 30 years ago when we were proper shit.

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

Look they were saying the same about Rodri after a few games in 2019, you have to give new players a season to adapt to Peps demands and style of play, but obviously some fans can’t do that, I dread to think how they would of coped 30 years ago when we were proper shit.

See my clarified post above.

BTW - I never doubted Rodri for a minute. Or Gundogan. Or Silva. Each of them were class which was obvious from the start.

 

[alexmcity]

I’m not sure what the point is here? If someone says Bernardo should have started instead of Alvarez on Saturday are they not allowed to do so because Pep knows more than them?

I don’t think any sane person would suggest they know more than Pep but it seems a bit odd to suggest they can’t comment on what they believe to be mistakes he makes…

The point is that fans don't have enough information and understanding of the game to be certain (!) that a given decision is a mistake. Many of those questioning Pep about his decisions when and where to play some (less popular) players (talk as if they) are certain he is wrong and is hampering our campaign with those decisions.

Take the Bernardo/Alvarez example. We don't have enough info whether Bernardo was fit/fresh enough to start the game. We don't have enough info why Pep opted for Alvarez. Given his ability to manage outstanding squads and talents, he is likely to have good reasons to go with Alvarez. We don't have enough understanding of Pep's reasoning behind the roles he gives to players, say, why Akanji is in midfield. Etc.

Personally, I think Pep might have been wrong to start Lewis at Arsenal and Villa. But I can't be certain, for I don't know the context and many other things.

 

[Odd socks]

If he could work out how too draw out the park the bus sides allowing us space to work in then he would have found the final piece of the jigsaw.
We spend so much time in the last third looking for space that it allows average defenses to look good because all they do is spend time blocking, they would struggle if they needed skills to defend
I think it was Jack Charlton who said something along the lines that Bobby is a footballer, I just stop people playing football.

 

[nellyonthewing]

What do Pep's critics think when they moan about his decisions?

Most of them realise he's the best or one of the best managers. Yet they think they know better than him whether he should play X, Y and Z (insert names of less popular players). How come?

Guess their theory is that Pep is a genius at finding winning formulas, but doesn't stick with them sufficiently long and tinkers to the detriment of the team (and the psychological well-being of fans). That is, he has character flaws, which make him a tinker man making avoidable mistakes.

For instance: What's the point of playing Gvardiol at LB? What's the point of playing Alvarez when you have both KDB and Foden to choose from? What's the point of playing Doku who dribbles, loses the ball, and repeat? What's the point of Akanji in midfield? Etc.

Well, this theory of Pep's flaws doesn't strike me as plausible. It's natural to asume Pep sees both the big picture and details much better than any fan. He is a top manager because there are good reasons behind his decisions. He wouldn't be so successful if personal quirks affected his decision making. Any of his less popular choices is motivated by things some of us don't understand sufficiently well. Pep wouldn't be Pep if he wasn't seeing things fans couldn't see or understand. Remember the time many on here thought Gundo and Rodri weren't good enough and Pep was stubborn and foolish to play them together?

No opinions will be allowed until further notice . Jawohl mein fuhrer!!!

 

[alexmcity]

No opinions will be allowed until further notice . Jawohl mein fuhrer!!!

It's normal to have critical opinions, and critical opinions of critical opinions as well :)

 

[Mcfc_110]

Seems strange that you can't comment on things without the "pep knows best" tag line being rolled out. As great as he is, he makes mistakes. As fans we're entitled to question his decision and rational behind things and aren't down playing him, his knowledge or suggesting we know better than him by doing so. On the Chelsea game, we created chances and on another day could of won but the performance itself was far from convincing. We didn't control the game as we should and its not the first time either. Bernardo has come out himself saying the same. Too many players aren't playing to their strengths and are being asked to play roles that don't suit them. Alvarez and Akanji being prime examples. Both are great players but as it stands they can't play the roles they're being asked to play to the level needed at this stage in a season against top opposition. This then has a knock on affect to the rest of the squad. Foden is being forced to hold width despite being our best attacking threat from central areas and Rodri is left both trying to link the defence to the attack and defend the whole of the middle of the park on his own. Fingers crossed Pep can make his usual tweaks and get a system fully firing for the run in.

 

[Middedon]

Seems strange that you can't comment on things without the "pep knows best" tag line being rolled out. As great as he is, he makes mistakes. As fans we're entitled to question his decision and rational behind things and aren't down playing him, his knowledge or suggesting we know better than him by doing so. On the Chelsea game, we created chances and on another day could have won but the performance itself was far from convincing. We didn't control the game as we should and its not the first time either. Bernardo has come out himself saying the same. Too many players aren't playing to their strengths and are being asked to play roles that don't suit them. Alvarez and Akanji being prime examples. Both are great players but as it stands they can't play the roles they're being asked to play to the level needed at this stage in a season against top opposition. This then has a knock on affect to the rest of the squad. Foden is being forced to hold width despite being our best attacking threat from central areas and Rodri is left both trying to link the defence to the attack and defend the whole of the middle of the park on his own. Fingers crossed Pep can make his usual tweaks and get a system fully firing for the run in.

I think there are some things in which criticism is warranted but I also can see that there are some cases when it’s somewhat tiresome to complain. The Chelsea game was an example of maybe the tactics not working and being worthy of some complaints. Akanji moving into midfield gets a ton of complaints but it seems like that’s more an issue with injuries and personnel - which I do think Pep probably knows more than us. And Gvardiol as a LB - everyone moans about it, but it’s clear Pep is set on it, so after a point it just gets tiresome.

 

[Mcfc_110]

I think there are some things in which criticism is warranted but I also can see that there are some cases when it’s somewhat tiresome to complain. The Chelsea game was an example of maybe the tactics not working and being worthy of some complaints. Akanji moving into midfield gets a ton of complaints but it seems like that’s more an issue with injuries and personnel - which I do think Pep probably knows more than us. And Gvardiol as a LB - everyone moans about it, but it’s clear Pep is set on it, so after a point it just gets tiresome.

Valid points, like everything there's always extremes I guess. I feel with Akanji that's where Pep should do what he does best and adapt the system to the players rather than forcing Akanji in that role. Having said that though he clearly feels he can play it so it isn't forcing anything in his eyes. Players probably show things in training that don't always translate in games and I think his stubbornness/confidence in his players stops him changing it as soon as he should sometimes. I also don't mind certain amounts of it in the early season for the overall education of the player (I think Gvardiol will benefit in the long run from this role for example) but we're at the crunch point in a season now where we can't afford these more experimental roles over a run of games if they aren't showing promise.