Pep Guardiola - 2023/24

[buhz]

i can understand his selection at the start, to have all the runners on the start up line as we can, to press them and escape the first gung ho period they usually have at the start of the games. the changes were also correct as kdb and alvares were non existant as the game went on. i guess only becasue of the stupid mistake we could have seen another performance from the boys.
i still 100% have the opinion that we are our biggest enemy. we shot ourself in the foot and rilled them up in the second half

 

[shemnel]

good first half selection, with no reason to change for the second, but it became very apparent very quickly that we had gone into our shells and were getting pummeled, post penalty, but Pep waited until the 69th minute which was probably 5 mins too many, in my eyes.

 

[Gordyola]

Dont understand Pep's obsession with Alvarez and Walker one who he play out of position and the other who's form has been poor all season Akanji RB and play Dias then Kovacic as a double pivot with Rodri Im positive it would have resulted in better control and more solid defence Pep is also so stubborn

 

[Damanino]

with our press easily beaten and it makes our often 1 man midfield bypassed easily I wonder why he doesnt try to sort it for the big games at least where we really struggled this season apart from the two derbies.

we know Haaland unable to press properly even for 45 mins let alone 90, we know KDb aint gonna track back like crazy anymore, we know Alvarez are not able to hold onto balls or get a high % of pass succession, and we know our defense can concede high number of goals from low number of shots generally.

 

[JewelZee]

For me hung rodri out to dry today .:+(

Again...

 

[Alias]

I think 3-4-3 would suit this side.

Defence is used to playing as a 3 so that part is fine. Wing backs would give us some proper width. Maybe give Gomez a run?

Rodri and Kovacic in the middle. Rodri was so isolated yesterday and needs a partner.

2 out of Foden/Silva/Grealish/KDB in free roles in the half spaces behind Haaland.

 

[JTFactsPlz]

Dont understand Pep's obsession with Alvarez and Walker one who he play out of position and the other who's form has been poor all season Akanji RB and play Dias then Kovacic as a double pivot with Rodri Im positive it would have resulted in better control and more solid defence Pep is also so stubborn

IMO Pep/the club gave them both minutes commitments to persuade them to sign new contracts. It's the only thing that makes sense to explain how much they've played this season.

Last season they both spent a lot more time on the bench and City win a Treble. Neither of them have given performances this season to justify them becoming constant starters.

I know people don't believe that Pep would make these kinds of commitments but so much goes on behind the scenes we can have no idea about.

 

[Gabriel]

IMO Pep/the club gave them both minutes commitments to persuade them to sign new contracts. It's the only thing that makes sense to explain how much they've played this season.

Last season they both spent a lot more time on the bench and City win a Treble. Neither of them have given performances this season to justify them becoming constant starters.

I know people don't believe that Pep would make these kinds of commitments but so much goes on behind the scenes we can have no idea about.

There’s no evidence for your first and second paragraphs, so it’s pure conjecture on your part.

Walker had a significant injury in the middle of last season and we also had Cancelo for some of the season and Mahrez ahead to support. We lost both these pieces and Walker has played even more as a result.

The reality is that we have a smaller squad and have had key injuries to Grealish, de Bruyne, Doku, Haaland, and Kovacic. In fact, the only players that have remained healthy and available so far are Walker, Alvarez, and Foden, with Rodri in the hat but missing games for ill-discipline. Walker has often been asked to do the work of two players this season and Alvarez has been shunted from pillar to post to cover absences and to cover up the fact that our transfer business has been sub-optimal. Seems a tad harsh to criticise two guys for turning up to work.

 

[Keeper!]

Dont understand Pep's obsession with Alvarez and Walker one who he play out of position and the other who's form has been poor all season Akanji RB and play Dias then Kovacic as a double pivot with Rodri Im positive it would have resulted in better control and more solid defence Pep is also so stubborn

Akanji at RB is very good, but Dias has has a poor season and his lack of pace when facing Nunez would have been a serious issue for me.

One issue Sunday showed up yet again in a big fixture is the lack of a proper natural LB, Ake and Gvardiol have done well there but for me we need to sort out that position properly.

 

[alexmcity]

Dont understand Pep's obsession with Alvarez and Walker

I understand his choices.

Walker is a no-brainer when we play teams that are quite good at counter attacking.

Alvarez has 29 goal involvements, as many as Foden, and works harder than the other attackers. He's the best at high-pressing among the attacking players and our defence doesn't function without high pressing. When you have two players who lack the legs (currently) to press efficiently, i.e., Haaland and KDB, and Foden who can run more than these two but is not that great at pressing either, you fall back to Alvarez.

Now, Alvarez was poor at Anfield, he's not versatile enough to play on the left. But Pep knows he's a fighter, more so than other players, and decided to go with him. Nothing mysterious here.

 

[HaalandEffect]

If Haaland and Alvarez should start at the same time, should go for a 4-4-2 formation to get best of them both

 

[vincent]

I understand his choices.

Walker is a no-brainer when we play teams that are quite good at counter attacking.

Alvarez has 29 goal involvements, as many as Foden, and works harder than the other attackers. He's the best at high-pressing among the attacking players and our defence doesn't function without high pressing. When you have two players who lack the legs (currently) to press efficiently, i.e., Haaland and KDB, and Foden who can run more than these two but is not that great at pressing either, you fall back to Alvarez.

Now, Alvarez was poor at Anfield, he's not versatile enough to play on the left. But Pep knows he's a fighter, more so than other players, and decided to go with him. Nothing mysterious here.

I still think the Walker and Alvarez situation are odd. We all know Walkers strengths but nobody can deny the change in formation in the 2nd half of last season transformed the team and set us up for winning the lot. Strange that Pep has completely ditched that formation that made us pretty much unbeatable.

 

[alexmcity]

I still think the Walker and Alvarez situation are odd. We all know Walkers strengths but nobody can deny the change in formation in the 2nd half of last season transformed the team and set us up for winning the lot. Strange that Pep has completely ditched that now.

Walker played in both legs vs Real, and we played our best football in that 2nd leg, arguably the best by any English side ever, with a back 4 of Walker, Dias, Stones and Akanji.

Walker can't cross the ball, but Ake's the same. Haven't seen voices to ditch Ake due to his inability to cross the ball. Also, Ake has made more mistakes this season than Walker. I like Ake more than Walker, but the latter has been voted captain by the players...

 

[Blue Maverick]

I still think the Walker and Alvarez situation are odd. We all know Walkers strengths but nobody can deny the change in formation in the 2nd half of last season transformed the team and set us up for winning the lot. Strange that Pep has completely ditched that formation that made us pretty much unbeatable.

Don’t forget Pep is the man who dropped Rodri and Fernandinho for a CL final, sometimes his choices are bizarre.

 

[alexmcity]

Don’t forget Pep is the man who dropped Rodri and Fernandinho for a CL final, sometimes his choices are bizarre.

They look bizarre mostly because fans lack information and understanding of the game.

Fernandinho was on his last legs then, and was terrible in the FA Cup against the same Chelsea side we played in Porto.

Rodri lost form in the final months and made some bad mistakes, including one vs Chelsea at home.

Plus, Gundogan had experience at DM and played an important role ad DM in 18/19 when Fernandinho was out injured.

What's bizarre is the insistence of some fans they know better than Pep whether X, Y or Z should have started a big game, despite Pep having the best record in history in big games and finals. Now that's bizarre.

 

[Blue Maverick]

They look bizarre mostly because fans lack information and understanding of the game.

Fernandinho was on his last legs then, and was terrible in the FA Cup against the same Chelsea side we played in Porto.

Rodri lost form in the final months and made some bad mistakes, including one vs Chelsea at home.

Plus, Gundogan had experience at DM and played an important role ad DM in 18/19 when Fernandinho was out injured.

What's bizarre is the insistence of some fans they know better than Pep whether X, Y or Z should have started a big game, despite Pep having the best record in history in big games and finals. Now that's bizarre.

Not one person who saw that line up thought we would win, we had played Rodri in almost every game upto that final, no DM was a crime that night.

 

[blueparrot]

Don’t forget Pep is the man who dropped Rodri and Fernandinho for a CL final, sometimes his choices are bizarre.

When everyone that trys to prove Pep is fallible all go back to one decision in one game 3 years ago,which if we'd taken some easy chances,Foden ,Mahrez,we could still have won. Then you know the barrel is being scraped.

 

[alexmcity]

Not one person who saw that line up thought we would win, we had played Rodri in almost every game upto that final, no DM was a crime that night.

Would you choose the first XI by making polls with our fans rather than let the best manager care about tactics and selections?

"It's bizarre" means: "I don't understand, hence Pep must be making a silly mistake".

What about: I don't understand because, well, I haven't managed even a pub team?

We wouldn't win anything if fans decided the line-up.

One must be clever enough to understand at least that his understanding is limited.

 

[Kamaro011]

Too many armchairs manager in the last few pages.

At the end of day Pep will not give a shit, he will do what he thinks needs to do in order for his team to win.

He is fucking Pep Guardiola, the best manager the world have ever seen in the last decades.

We will be lucky to get him in there and i doubt we will be as good as we do right now once he left us in the future, hopefully not to soon.

 

[Gordyola]

I understand his choices.

Walker is a no-brainer when we play teams that are quite good at counter attacking.

Alvarez has 29 goal involvements, as many as Foden, and works harder than the other attackers. He's the best at high-pressing among the attacking players and our defence doesn't function without high pressing. When you have two players who lack the legs (currently) to press efficiently, i.e., Haaland and KDB, and Foden who can run more than these two but is not that great at pressing either, you fall back to Alvarez.

Now, Alvarez was poor at Anfield, he's not versatile enough to play on the left. But Pep knows he's a fighter, more so than other players, and decided to go with him. Nothing mysterious here.

Thanks for the explanation but i don't agree
Alvarez early season form yes but his form of late hasn't been good and he doesn't have the skill set to play him as a left winger but Pep seems to have the need to start him regardless and will choose him in a position and move a player who is better there; eg Foden is infinitely better in CMF His ball retention is amongst the worse in the squad and this is not what is need against LFC
Walker has not been good this season and using him against a counter attacking team was an obvious choice when he was the "old Walker" but he has not done that job of late and it's easy to give numerous instances where he has failed and the rest of his game does not merit a place in the team
The above is not having a go at either player its Pep that plays them