Pep Guardiola - 2024/25

[BillyShears]

So let me get this right, we have a winning side and you change it, when you need three points. Please tell me what Foden, Haaland and Lewis added?

You’re just ranting mate. You just name checked last seasons POTS and the best striker we’ve ever had. Have a pint on me and relax

 

[Fordyboy46]

The same thing will happen next season. Pep is too loyal and sadly those players are done. To have no new signings in the side today was mad and it’s hardly surprise the performance was similar to the ones before January!

Honestly think it would be for the best if the club and pep move on in the summer. Won’t happen but we need fresh eyes and a new start

Maybe we are planning a change because I'm still convinced the new arrivals in January weren't Pep's signings

 

[pbueno16]

So let me get this right, we have a winning side and you change it, when you need three points. Please tell me what Foden, Haaland and Lewis added?

Foden created some chances, Lewis wasn’t a defensive liability and Haaland got no service. You’re just naming people who haven’t played recently. How you going to ignore McAtee who was a ghost again, de Bruyne who’s washed or Silva who killed all our attacks on the right before Savinho came on.

 

[Dax777]

If one of them wasn't overplayed earlier in the season and the other wasn't banished to the shadow realm, I'm picking Gundo and Grealish over those two anyday.

I personally don't like Grealish in the middle. Saw him there and he was slow with his decision making. Even Lewis looked more in tune

The best we've played this season was against Palace with Gonzo, Gundo, Kova , Kev. Playing a diamond. Bernardo also excelled in a box formation with him as part of a 4.

We came close to that when we subbed Gonzo for Bernardo in another game.

I suppose we could play with Bernado instead of Kevin in the box midfield or Beeny for Gundo. I think Kova is a must plus 3 of the other 4. But if you add Gonzo as the base, Kova is even far better. So in a sense he and Gonzo are a must plus 2 of the 3 legends.

That's the 4 I'd consider personally.

 

[come-on-barney]

Foden created some chances, Lewis wasn’t a defensive liability and Haaland got no service. You’re just naming people who haven’t played recently. How you going to ignore McAtee who was a ghost again, de Bruyne who’s washed or Silva who killed all our attacks on the right before Savinho came on.

I wouldn’t disagree with any you mentioned. Changing a winning side cost us this game.

 

[Stiff Little Wingers]

You’re just ranting mate. You just name checked last seasons POTS and the best striker we’ve ever had. Have a pint on me and relax

Playing Rico is okay if he's moving alongside Kova. That should then mean no need for Bernarfo and let Marmoush or Doku of Savinho or Grealish play instead - would have quickened the team up

 

[robbieh]

Maybe we are planning a change because I'm still convinced the new arrivals in January weren't Pep's signings

Well whose were they Txiki's?

 

[Fordyboy46]

Well whose were they Txiki's?

Viana's for a new manager maybe. Just being cynical

 

[PeterBarnesShorts]

Being the best coach in the world, which he has been for years comes with a lot of expectation. Our squad is underperforming and we’ve been witness to some very questionable decisions in personnel this season along with tactics that don’t suit the players we have.

People are right to question Pep this year regardless of what has gone before. There are glaringly obvious mistakes that should have been rectified and weren’t.

I’m not calling for his head at all, nowhere near that. I just can’t understand what he’s seeing this season. He is absolutely petrified of us losing the ball and so he’s killed every ounce of creativity we have to compensate. That to me says he doesn’t trust the players and that’s fine, so why not play a different game that suits them?

There’s being scared to lose the ball,and then there’s being scared to lose the ball against this Southampton team!?A very untimely and baffling performance indeed..

 

[youngbob]

I don't know why, but I've started thinking that if we secure top five and win the FA Cup, Pep should bow out on that and leave with his head held high.

Not in an angry "Pep Out" kind of way. I actually think if we kept him for the final two years of contract he'd win us the Premier League one more time.

But the entire club is entering a new era with Txiki going and De Bruyne is joining him. Maybe this is the right time to flood the club with new ideas and fresh faces.

Let Pep sort out issues in his personal life, take the massive payout and spend a year out of the game, picking the best offer on his desk at the point of his return.

Let's get Inzaghi on the phone from Inter and see if he fancies giving England a go and turning us into a counter-attacking side with Marmoush and Haaland leading the line.

Like how Wenger should have left Arsenal in 2014 but didn't, I don't want us hanging on and on and on, never knowing when Pep's actually going to go until it's too late.

Win the FA Cup and leave with yet another piece of silverware. Put a lovely cap on his time here by winning the third FA Cup of his tenure with his old guard and send him off with a smile.

 

[King Jay]

He will change stuff just to change it . As a player I would be mad. You score 2 goals and in the next game you on the bench

 

[TonyM]

Pep has to go ...
a. sooner or later or
b. sooner rather than later

Either way we need a replacement that excites us and the players.

We are boring. Most of the players must be very frustrated.

 

[decmancity]

Sick to death of the fucking negativity to be honest. Been banging the drum for weeks about how players deserve fuck all if we get CL and FA cup or not, talking up our opponents like we are playing prime Barca and how the lads have basically thrown him under the bus if we play shit.

He's acting like he's doing us a favour being there to manage the games ffs.

Throwing his arms around on the sidelines today and not a single fucking thing changed, we were playing the same turgid passes and movement so god knows what the flailing arms was supposed to be telling the players.

Picked a team today that wouldn't look out of place in a Carabao cup game against someone like Stoke.

Been telling everyone for weeks how we have several cup finals left, so is today an indication of what to expect on Saturday?

 

[sh249]

We won the CL with Bernardo and Grealish playing important roles on the wings.
Gundo Rodri and Kev. Erl up top.

Essentially 5 midfielders at their peak as witnessed in the demolition of Madrid.

Since then we seem to have bought more direct players to complement Haaland.

Doku and Sav are never going to play like Jack and Bernie.

We seem to be unsure what we want to do.

Agree. I think the last two years have seen a lot of muddled thinking. Started right after we won the treble - feels like there was a decision made by someone to move away from what we were doing to something more direct, more based on playing ‘in the transitions’. Fairly clear from the signings - Nunes, Kovacic and Doku all make little sense if we were committed to carrying on playing as we were.
That change in style hasn’t really worked, Pep has seen it leaves us susceptible to the counter and so has gone back to prioritizing control - but we just don’t have the creative players to make it work.
All a bit of a mess. Can only hope that there is a clear vision of how we want to go moving forward - and that we commit to that properly in terms of our business in the summer.

 

[robbieh]

I think the constant chopping and changing is basically saying I'm not responsible for this shit show. I just don't have the players.
He was given a new young midfielder in January but has decided to persevere with Bernardo and Kevin, who despite not being good enough for a contract extension, is playing every league game, normally 90 minutes.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

so is today an indication of what to expect on Saturday?

I think it is sadly.

His muddled thinking this season has been part of the problem.

Only he will know why he made so many changes today in a game that he himself had described as a cup final.

His thinking next week will be about Bournemouth the following Tuesday now as that game is so important.

He has been poor this season, even he has alluded to that.

 

[Mike N]

This thread has got to end up in the ‘classic threads’.

In 10 years time blues will be amazed at the utter madness spoken about our greatest ever managers.

What a clown he must have been. Proper idiot.

 

[bluegaz13]

Is Peps ego taking over……none of the new signings in the starting 11…..(understand maybe Marmoush being rested )

His treatment of Khushanov and Gonzales is bizarre.

Today was a repeat of the beginning of the season….but if we are honest we haven’t been great in the last few games.
The only difference has been we have had some luck on our side.

Pep has been brilliant for us and there was always going to be a drop off this season….but some of his decisions and team selections added to the treatment of the younger players has been strange.

I can take not winning anything especially if the some of the blocks are in place for the future, but we see Gundogan, Kovacic (who has been decent to be fair) De Bruyne and Silva week after week.

Why even bring Echerverri or Reis in if he’s not going to play them….why not leave them where they were to gain some valuable playing time.

Hope I’m wrong but are some of the decisions in defiance to what possibly were probably Vianas signings.

 

[Blu1]

We have to let him go end of this season. It’s clear he’s exhausted. Just like the old boys. The success of recent years has taken its toll & energy.

To give pep 300 million this summer for one season is crazy.

He’s a city legend but we need a new manager with new ideas

 

[Bluewonder]

We have to let him go end of this season. It’s clear he’s exhausted. Just like the old boys. The success of recent years has taken its toll & energy.

To give pep 300 million this summer for one season is crazy.

He’s a city legend but we need a new manager with new ideas

Why, would he take the 300m players with him?