Pep Guardiola - 2025/26

Think I'd prefer him doing this most games instead of watching Savinho struggle to go past his man and Bobb passing the ball back where it came from.
 
Jack Grealish agrees with this

FWIW, I don’t think Grealish’s game was changed as much as people make it out to have been. He was always a player to be clever with the ball, win free kicks and open up space rather than running at players - the only thing that seemingly regressed here was his shooting ability.
 
Bluemoon thinking they know more about man management than Pep Guardiola. Fucking golden.
No one has said anything as such. Paying spectators (like me) are annoyed at Pep moaning and carping on about the one true moment of magic in yesterday's game saying, in effect, "no more of that". It begs the question, why did we sign Cherki in the first place if we don't like him displaying his natural ability ? If you want robots Pep, then sign them.
 
FWIW, I don’t think Grealish’s game was changed as much as people make it out to have been. He was always a player to be clever with the ball, win free kicks and open up space rather than running at players - the only thing that seemingly regressed here was his shooting ability.

It was a bit of a tongue in cheek comment really, but you can’t deny that his game changed a lot from when he first arrived, his whole game regressed not just his shooting really, and as many have said that was Pep.

However like I have said in the past Grealish is his own worst enemy off the pitch, but a bit of a coincidence he’s not had pictures all over the place looking pissed or in a bar somewhere since he went to Everton
 
I think he's trying to keep Cherki's feet on the ground so he keeps improving. Just like I think he's trying to boost Savinho's confidence by singling him out for praise.

If you can't tell what he's doing 9 years in, I don't know what to tell you.

Tell what he’s doing 9 years in? Even you don’t have a clue, so that’s a shit line to come out with
 
As soon I saw Cherki's assist for Foden on the big screens at the ground I knew Pep would be pulling him aside in the dressing room and saying "Listen, that might have worked on this occasion, but that's a 1% chance so don't do that shit again". It's the type of manager he is and he does know better than us - not sure how you can be surprised or disappointed by it by now after a decade.
Messi has played so much with his left foot when the right would have been easier. If Pep had sorted that out when Messi was younger, he could have been a hell of a player.
 
À
No one has said anything as such. Paying spectators (like me) are annoyed at Pep moaning and carping on about the one true moment of magic in yesterday's game saying, in effect, "no more of that". It begs the question, why did we sign Cherki in the first place if we don't like him displaying his natural ability ? If you want robots Pep, then sign them.

You don’t get Pep's point. True genius is in simplicity and doing the right thing for the team. Messi doesn't do difficult things to wow the fans but in order to help the team win.

There are trade-offs at times: playing beautifully or being efficient. Pep puts winning big trophies over doing nice tricks. If fans have to choose between winning the title and playing sexy football but losing to Arsenal, most will prefer the title. It's possible to combine these things, but at this stage of the evolution of this City team, it's mostly about putting the team and the results first.

BTW, nobody stopped Messi or Iniesta from displaying their natural ability. The reason they didn't do rabona crosses is not because they couldn't. This didn't make them robots either. Does Doku look like a robot?

Cherki is not the finished article. Pep wants to develop him into a team-first player. Some average players like Erik Lamela have scored rabona goals, it didn't make them special players.
 
FWIW, I don’t think Grealish’s game was changed as much as people make it out to have been. He was always a player to be clever with the ball, win free kicks and open up space rather than running at players - the only thing that seemingly regressed here was his shooting ability.
He just had less opportunity to shoot as we played with less space ahead of us than other teams.

He didn’t work because he couldn’t beat a man 1v1 from out wide, or open up enough space to shoot when he cut in, as we played against packed defences and pinned teams in.

That’s why Doku and Cherki works and Grealish didn’t.
 
Yep, great Manager but talks complete bollocks most of the time

Not sure whether that's sarcastic, but he doesn't talk bollocks. It's because some fans can't get why he says certain things that they think it's bollocks. Basically, people think they are right and if what Pep says doesn't correspond to what they think, it must be because he talks bollocks.
 
Not sure whether that's sarcastic, but he doesn't talk bollocks. It's because some fans can't get why he says certain things that they think it's bollocks. Basically, people think they are right and if what Pep says doesn't correspond to what they think, it must be because he talks bollocks.
It was a bit tongue in cheek but yes, he talks bollocks some of the time and he knows it
 
It was a bit tongue in cheek but yes, he talks bollocks some of the time and he knows it

Of course, he says things he doesn't believe in, say, to protect the team or some player, or to wind up some journalists. Most of the time he's pretty sound, though. He isn't a clown.
 
It's just Pep's way of telling him not to get carried away and start trying party tricks way too often to relive the praise he got for yesterday. The reason it was special is because it's rarely executed so well, so it's not something that's gonna happen all the time.

Pep has said he's one of the best individual talents he's seen. It's clear he wants to mould him in to a very efficient player that can use his special ability in a way that's going to yield an a successful outcome more often, rather than just look like one of the Harlem Globetrotters.

What you want is someone that can master the simplicity and then has the tricks he can pull out of his back pocket when necessary. Then you've got a truly great player.

Pep knows this but he also knows he's got a hell of a talent on his hands and it won't be lost on him the amount of chances he is creating.

Of course you don't wanna go too far the other way and strip away everything to the point he doesn't enjoy playing but Pep will know this, he's not stupid.
 
Not sure whether that's sarcastic, but he doesn't talk bollocks. It's because some fans can't get why he says certain things that they think it's bollocks. Basically, people think they are right and if what Pep says doesn't correspond to what they think, it must be because he talks bollocks.
Pep does often talk bollocks in press conferences and he often does it on purpose due to the stupid questions he’s asked or a stupid question or comment he remembers from the journo from a previous presser so doesn’t give them what they want from a question.

Pep’s probably the vaguest and least engaging manager with the press I can remember. I don’t think he likes journalists (probably a defensive cultural thing coming from the pro-Madrid Spanish media).

Sometimes he says stuff to the press which is the total opposite to what he says to the players. You hear things he says in press conference but then see him in the end of season documentaries being the total opposite with the players in the changing rooms to what he’s said to the press.

Then half the rest of the time he doesn’t translate a question in his head right and talks about something else entirely to what he was asked.

Pep’s pressers are mostly pointless because you can’t take anything he tells them seriously for those reasons.
 
Pep does often talk bollocks in press conferences and he often does it on purpose due to the stupid questions he’s asked or a stupid question or comment he remembers from the journo from a previous presser so doesn’t give them what they want from a question.

Sometimes he says stuff to the press which is the total opposite to what he says to the players. You hear things he says in press conference but then see him in the end of season documentaries being the total opposite with the players in the changing rooms to what he’s said to the press.

Then half the rest of the time he doesn’t translate a question in his head right and talks about something else entirely to what he was asked.

Pep’s pressers are mostly pointless because you can’t take anything he tells them seriously for those reasons.

I don't agree with some of your points. In press conferences, he explains some aspects of his tactics or views on football pretty well. Some on here don't get them and could benefit from listening to him a bit more.
 
Cherki has just arrived at City. Pep will work with him for few months and wants to turn him into one of the best footballers in the world, just as he has trained nearly everyone he encountered who wanted to be coached.

And people forget about this or lie about it. We can clearly see it right now with players like Nico G. or O’Reilly, and over the years we’ve seen it with Foden, Stones, and others. No one has created as many outstanding footballers as Pep. This includes many non-obvious ones, like Busquets, whom he brought up from Barcelona B and who didn’t really have a clear path to the first team, yet became one of the best defensive midfielders ever. Today, many idiots — unfortunately including some City fans — try to claim that Pep had prime Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Dani Alves, etc. at Barça. It was the opposite: Pep created them or helped them reach the level they later maintained for many years and achieved huge success. Proof? Why do all of the above players today say that Pep was the best, and not, for example, Enrique or Tito? The same applies to Lahm, Kroos, Thiago, Müller, and others.

Cherki is outstanding in terms of footballing skills; he’d probably be one of the best street footballers in the world. He has been a star everywhere and a standout player. Players like this tend to be arrogant. Players like this — like anyone, especially young people — tend to ignore team duties, shift blame onto others, and inflate their own ego. Pep’s own history shows this perfectly: Ibrahimović, Touré, Cancelo. The ones who clashed with him the most were those who placed their own talent or role above the good of the team.

Pep’s task is delicate. He has to balance positive motivation with critical feedback. Pep has a clear rule, and we all know it — or should know it. If Cherki plays poorly, Pep will defend him. If Cherki plays great, then Pep will find a moment to point out areas for development and progress.

The main principle for Cherki is — and will be: more simplicity, more efficiency, more stepovers/heels/roulette moves — less showiness. Over large samples — hundreds of matches and thousands of actions — the facts are simple: a rabona is dramatically less effective than a simple pass. And that’s just how it is. Is this really such a hard lesson to understand? And Pep is delivering it at the best possible moment. You have to constantly instill standards in young people and players, in different ways, sometimes publicly.
 
I wonder how Pep would of taken Mario’s shoulder goal against Norwich way back in the winter of 2011, I can’t remember what Mancini said at the time, but I do remember Mancini laughing when asked about it.
 
Two points off the supposed 'run away leaders'.

Where are the Pep out posters now? Waiting for another 5-4 win to vent their bile? Imagine being so spoilt and entitled that you get angry over a win.

I dare anyone to look back at the last 5 pages and see the absolute state of the comments.

I was tempted to quote them but can't be arsed with their shitty replies.
 
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