Pep Guardiola - 2024/25

[bluegaz13]

I wouldn’t swap Pep…..but he’s not immune to criticism.
My biggest disappointment with him is that Liverpool, the Rags etc will pick a youngster to replace an injured player in a specialised position.
Even before this dreadful run started, we weren’t playing well but apart Simpson ( when he had no other choice) Pep is very reluctant to give any of the youngsters a start.
I have no idea how good Wright or O’Reilly are going to be, but Silva, Rico and Gundogan have obviously not worked against lesser teams than Liverpool so why did he think it would work today…..could the youngsters do any worse?
I have said for a long time that Grealish in the middle would give us something we lack….(providing he’s fit) a ball carrier plus someone who very rarely gives it away and some physicality …..again Pep looks like using Jack in the middle because he has run out of options.
Looking forward to Pep’s latest reinvention….In Pep I still trust !

 

[Monsters.]

Pep main philosophy is be a team be selfless that's how he has got us so consistent winning league titles and why no one else has ever got 100 points the domestic quad the treble four leagues in a row!

Best squad in English football history wins leagues shocker.

If he compromised that philosophy and allowed the plethora of talented players to express themselves intuitively he might have succeeded more often in Europe - as that squad should have.

 

[nellyonthewing]

After a disastrous start and being lucky not to be 3 or 4 down we then managed some ball retention but they just sat back and conceded ground .Liverpool did exactly what an opposition player said recently about playing City i.e 'when they have the ball we rest'. Its now a tired and flawed strategy with this team to slowly meander into the final congested third where 8 opponents wait for us to pass pass then rinse and repeat with zero threat. Come up with something else Pep.

 

[DATOIA]

We need to be realistic and start to look at certain things..

Like... KDB + Gundo + Bernie earn 1m per week and that's a lot of money...

But if we selected our best trio in midfield, that would be:

-------Rodri--------Kovacic-------
--------------Foden-----------------

And funny is that, these three earn like twice less than above mentioned three guys :D

So it's obvious that they need to go.

We should go for Zubimendi in January and that would be Rodri's cover and due to injuries, Kovacic should be regarded as a sub player, who covers for Zubimendi, so:

-------Rodri --------- Zubimendi--------
---------------Foden-----------------------

On the bench we have left: Kova, Matheus and Macatee..
Macatee as Foden's cover and Matheus as Zubimendi / Kovacic's..

But if till the end of this season Matheus doesn't improve significantly, then he should be moved as well and we need another player there, like Wirtz of someone like that.

I would give Macatee +1 season to prove himself and I'm sure, when defensive midfield plays well and our system starts to work again, Macatee will be great squad player, who will provide assists and goals.

That's why I am not so critical about other areas. Unless midfield starts to work again, which has always been cornerstone of our success, I can't blame defenders or attackers for poor displays.

So to sum up, we need to buy maximum of 2 top-class players in midfield.
Plus we will have Oscar Bobb and Echeverri.

KDB, Gundo and Bernie will most probably leave for free.

PS if we get Wirtz, who can also play LW position, I would also kick out Grealish, who earns 300K per week and hasn't done anything since the UCL final in 2023 and it's 2025 already..

 

[Eric Hitchmough]

He gave the feral Dippers’ fans (and by extension the red top journalists) the reaction they were praying for at the end, unfortunately.

Cherry on the cake for them.

 

[meeesh]

He gave the feral Dippers’ fans (and by extension the red top journalists) the reaction they were praying for at the end, unfortunately.

Cherry on the cake for them.

Only telling them the truth, I remember bingo on back of bus on of their parades doing similar regarding CL wins

It’s not too professional I concur but these reactions from Pep is because he’s proper feeling the strain now, I was hopeful two years was adequate when he signed a few week back, now I’m not sure if that will go the distance, he’s gonna crack up otherwise, and be a sad ending to what’s been a wonderful time at City

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

Best squad in English football history wins leagues shocker.

If he compromised that philosophy and allowed the plethora of talented players to express themselves intuitively he might have succeeded more often in Europe - as that squad should have.

Maybe, maybe not. What is the point of buying into peps philosophy, buying the players to fit and then doing something different? You could equally argue that pullis would have won the CL last year with city by just lumping it up to Haaland

 

[shemnel]

usual caveats we seem to need to not be called a bed wetter etc: Pep's the best we've had, im so grateful etc etc and on and on

I still dont understand why the defensive line is permanently so high? anyone figured this out yet?

 

[jimharri]

Has he gone yet?

 

[skillman]

I wouldn’t swap Pep…..but he’s not immune to criticism.
My biggest disappointment with him is that Liverpool, the Rags etc will pick a youngster to replace an injured player in a specialised position.
Even before this dreadful run started, we weren’t playing well but apart Simpson ( when he had no other choice) Pep is very reluctant to give any of the youngsters a start.
I have no idea how good Wright or O’Reilly are going to be, but Silva, Rico and Gundogan have obviously not worked against lesser teams than Liverpool so why did he think it would work today…..could the youngsters do any worse?
I have said for a long time that Grealish in the middle would give us something we lack….(providing he’s fit) a ball carrier plus someone who very rarely gives it away and some physicality …..again Pep looks like using Jack in the middle because he has run out of options.
Looking forward to Pep’s latest reinvention….In Pep I still trust !

The lack of McAtee and Wright have been major disappointments for me this season. Especially when the team/midfield has been so poor with younger, energetic legs being so obviously needed.