Pep Guardiola - 2025/26

[Prestwich_Blue]

Doing anything other than keeping him as long as possible is fucking moronic.

No it's not. Are we going to be wheeling him around in a wheelchair while he drools down his chin and doesn't know what day it is? Wenger stayed at Arsenal far too long because they had the same attitude.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

It's a legitimate question to those who were calling for his immediate dismissal.
Of course we'll have to replace him at some point unless we can harvest his brain, Steve Martin style.

I'd be somewhat surprised if the club didn't have a plan for his replacement.

 

[Bluewonder]

No it's not. Are we going to be wheeling him around in a wheeelchair while he drools down his chin? Wenger stayed at Arsenal far too long because they had the same attitude.

Wenger went 15 years without a league title at Arsenal. We're into year 2 for Pep.

That comparison is grossly offensive to Guardiola and all he's achieved.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

Wenger went 15 years without a league title at Arsenal. We're into year 2 for Pep.

That comparison is grossly offensive to Guardiola and all he's achieved.

And Arsenal probably thought if they keep Wenger another season they'd win something. There's virtually no doubt Pep will be gone either at the end of this season or next, so we'll have to face the "who?" issue soon.

And people forget that we won the PL with Pep's two predecessors.

 

[TonyBookEnd]

I'd be somewhat surprised if the club didn't have a plan for his replacement.

I would hope we have.
We should have succession plans for a lot of positions and continually look for improvement. I just don't see an outstanding candidate at the moment to replace Pep. Obviously if results and performances continue to disappoint then it becomes an inevitability
However I feel the club have been asleep at the wheel in terms of recruitment and we're seeing the consequences of that.

 

[WesthoughtonJohn]

Wenger went 15 years without a league title at Arsenal. We're into year 2 for Pep.

That comparison is grossly offensive to Guardiola and all he's achieved.

It's a slippery slope that one though.
There were plenty over those 15 years suggesting Arsenal were only in it for the "top 4" trophy.
Pep has been a brilliant manager, but that doesn't mean you can't consider a change if you think things are stale

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

I would hope we have.
We should have succession plans for a lot of positions and continually look for improvement. I just don't see an outstanding candidate at the moment to replace Pep. Obviously if results and performances continue to disappoint then it becomes an inevitability
However I feel the club have been asleep at the wheel in terms of recruitment and we're seeing the consequences of that.

I completely agree about being asleep at the wheel in terms of recruitment. Txiki admitted as much. But Pep's last contract extension was one too many because it was the easy option.

 

[Bluewonder]

It's a slippery slope that one though.
There were plenty over those 15 years suggesting Arsenal were only in it for the "top 4" trophy.
Pep has been a brilliant manager, but that doesn't mean you can't consider a change if you think things are stale

Slippery slope logical fallacy. It isn't even close to stale.

 

[Bluewonder]

I completely agree about being asleep at the wheel in terms of recruitment. Txiki admitted as much. But Pep's last contract extension was one too many because it was the easy option.

If Guardiola hadn't signed that extension we'd have crashed like Liverpool have this season. We were always going to have a slightly weaker year or two as we replace incredible players.

 

[cleavers]

I don't think he was proactive enough today with the subs, not for the first time.

It was obvious from minute one in the second half that we weren't at it, sleeping basically, again not for the first time.

Foden said the "team meeting" improved things, it didn't, it just disrupted leeds momentum, and I absolutely despise that we are now doing "arteta" stuff, I hate them doing it, and we shouldn't be doing it.

He picked a stupid team on Tuesday night, completely unnecessary, he picked the right team and we should have been 4 up at HT. My biggest gripe today (apart from the time out), was when Phil scored the winner, was that we didn't get John Stones on right away before kick off, it took nearly 4 minutes to make that obvious change, to see time out.

He's not had a great couple of games for me !

 

[RodneyRodney]

Enrique.

Vinny

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

If Guardiola hadn't signed that extension we'd have crashed like Liverpool have this season. We were always going to have a slightly weaker year or two as we replace incredible players.

That's entirely possible as there's always a risk when you change manager (as our friends in the borough of Trafford have found).

But the counter-argument against an extension was that it was only going to be 2 years at most, possibly just one, and would not be long enough for him to integrate the new players we knew we needed.

So even if Pep stays 2 years, we still have to get in a new manager and he'll maybe faced with a group of players who don't fit the way he wants to play. And we start again.

 

[69FACUPfinal]

Vinny

Enrique for me. Was always pro Vinny but the collapse v Arse second half, not enough nous to see the game over. The German league is no where near the standard as the PL. Vinny would sort out the defence but needs a few more years top level experience for me. And I love him, I cried all that Sunday after the domestic quad when he announced the move to Ajax.

 

[cleavers]

I think a lot of what happened in the second half today, goes back to the stupid team he picked on Tuesday, picking that team must have baffled the squad, and it doesn't take much to hurt confidence. Farke made some tweaks at HT today, and we completely lost the plot, making wrong decision after wrong decision at the back, and thanks to Phil we got very lucky.

 

[Clembo]

Would honestly just be happy with a sub or two before the 80th min.

 

[RodneyRodney]

Enrique for me. Was always pro Vinny but the collapse v Arse second half, not enough nous to see the game over. The German league is no where near the standard as the PL. Vinny would sort out the defence but needs a few more years top level experience for me. And I love him, I cried all that Sunday after the domestic quad when he announced the move to Ajax.

?
Anderlecht ?

 

[JewelZee]

A number 2 is a number 2, to advise on all things football.

Ok, so do you know what he's telling Pep? Me either...

 

[Bluewonder]

That's entirely possible as there's always a risk when you change manager (as our friends in the borough of Trafford have found).

But the counter-argument against an extension was that it was only going to be 2 years at most, possibly just one, and would not be long enough for him to integrate the new players we knew we needed.

So even if Pep stays 2 years, we still have to get in a new manager and he'll maybe faced with a group of players who don't fit the way he wants to play. And we start again.

It's entirely feasible that Pep signs another deal. He's only 54.

And if the club appoints a new manager who wants to play an entirely different style I'll collapse with shock. The whole point of the set up is there being one style from top to bottom, with the manager being just one (inportant) cog in the machine.

 

[bondsman]

If Guardiola hadn't signed that extension we'd have crashed like Liverpool have this season. We were always going to have a slightly weaker year or two as we replace incredible players.

Might not have been the case if we’d replaced incredible players with other top level players. We didn’t do that. In fact some of our signings are looking Wilfred Bony type

 

[Bluewonder]

Might not have been the case if we’d replaced incredible players with other top level players. We didn’t do that. In fact some of our signings are looking Wilfred Bony type

Yeah but expecting to replace KDB, the best player of the PL era (alongside Henry), and the best right back of the era overnight is pretty fanciful. Players of that calibre literally don't exist.