Fantastic post. There are some on here who come out with the line that Pep's paid £20m. a year so us 'armchair managers' have no basis or right to criticise him. But we all saw it and said it when that line-up was published at 3:30pm and our fears were fully justified. I don't recall anyone saying "That's a fantastic line-up which will slaughter them".
I said on Twitter that I watched the Leicester game on Wednesday and felt quite pleased that I was watching the nucleus of what's likely to be the future City team of the next few years. Alright, it was Leicester, but there were a number of younger players in the team who acquitted themselves well, plus Grealish had an excellent game.
Then he reverts to the line-up that someone described as a Cocoon tribute act, and we look completely toothless against a team in the bottom half that Palace put 2 past at Old Trafford not that long ago.
We still have Khusanov, Reis and Echeverri to come into the squad plus injured players like Stones, Akanji, Ake, Rodri and Bobb. Savinho is is his first season at City. Marnoush has played less than 10 games for us. Both will improve. We may only need 1-2 players in the Summer.Sorry but that is a bullshit line that everyone comes out with...
If we had got beat yesteday no matter who he played it would have been way more toxic on here
He aint the only one responsible for watching the team age -Txixi and Khaldoon have a part in this as well.....the money that has been spent in winter -everyone seems to believe that was correctly spent as well BUT itsgoing to take way more than that and getting players into replace the likes of KDB Gundo, Bernardo doesnt happen in a winter transfer window...it will be hard enough in the summer transfer window
POTW.I'm not really sure where to put this post because it's more of a general feeling I'm about to express, but it is the derby that's made me feel this way, so here it goes.
I have to admit I've been pretty downbeat and sad after the game this evening. Not because of the result (we've seen worse at Old Trafford and a point isn't too bad in the circumstances) and not even because of the performance (I've seen worse in recent memory), but because I realised as soon as the team came out that this might well be it. The big it - the absolute end of the fucking line. For this set of players, absolutely, but somehow for Pep as well. It's hit me all at once - how long Pep's been in charge of City, how lucky we've been to have him this long, how much of my life he's been in Manchester for, how much my life has changed during his tenure with this group of stars, how many times he's fought back and changed his style to keep City dominant and a step ahead of the chasing pack, how many times he's shown that he can learn from his (very few) mistakes in order to keep growing as a manager and leader of men.
But now we're here, potentially staring at the end of it all. Another team selection this season where I just feel crushed as soon as it gets published. Not only by the inadequate, ageing personnel, but by the ominous feeling that Pep can't see the wood for the trees anymore. He's confused me dozens of times while he's been in charge at City, but he's always brought me round to his way of thinking after a time. There's always a moment, either a minute later or a few weeks later, when everything clicks and I realise that Pep has educated me again. He's come up with a new set-up that will sweep all before him and he's shown me a new way of seeing and visualising football. But it's been months now since I've felt that sudden *click* - and this strange persistence with Bernardo, Kovacic, De Bruyne, and Gundogan shows no signs of stopping. After today, I'm honestly heartbroken because we've been here before with Pellegrini, Mancini, Hughes, etc. where, as a fan, you start seeing exactly where the problem is but you don't feel, deep in your heart, that the man in charge has spotted it too.
With Pellegrini, we developed an unbelievably soft centre about 18 months before he was sacked and he did nothing to toughen it up in all that time. With Mancini our attacks were getting narrower and narrower and teams knew they just had to sit tight and force us into tight spaces to frustrate us. With Hughes our expansive style left gaping holes at the back but he presumed Wayne Bridge/Sylvinho would cope just fine with being completely abandoned by their wingers. Every week you'd turn up hoping that they'd spotted the problem and had done something in the week to combat it. Maybe a tweak to the formation, or maybe dropping a couple of players who hadn't been pulling their weight. But they just... didn't. Whenever structural issues have appeared in Pep's teams, he's always figured out a route forward. He has made necessary tweaks, he has changed formations, and he has dropped or sold certain players. But since before Christmas he's just... stopped doing those things. The intensity, pace, and discipline have vanished from our game, but he's seemingly made no attempt to bring them back. Right now, I just don't see where that next forward move is going to come from and it's honestly breaking my heart that this might well be the thing that brings about his end.
I desperately want Pep to turn this around. I love him so much and he's earned the right to get things right again. But it's getting to the point where, even now, I honestly don't know if Kovacic, Bernardo, and Gundogan will be sold (or loaned out) at all this summer. None of them are out of contract and Pep seemingly still trusts them all to start in big games, so why would he? For years now I've always been happy with the feeling that Pep knows best. But I just... don't feel that right now, and truthfully I haven't felt it for months. The decisions he's making from game to game are baffling, his management of games from moment to moment is depressing, the calls he's made in the transfer market in very recent years have been unusual to say the least, and I honestly don't think I could name a player who has improved under his tutelage since we won the treble. If you were to ask me now, hand on heart, how I think the last two years of Pep's contract are going to go, I really don't think I could call it. Usually I'd be confident of us finishing 2nd/3rd in 2026 and then winning one last title in 2027 before he heads off into the sunset, but I just... don't trust him to do what's best for the team right now.
I'll repeat what I said before the game. Pep's told De Bruyne this week that he'll no longer be required in six weeks but we've started him in an Old Trafford derby; Grealish scored and got MOTM in midweek but he was rewarded with a place on the bench today; O'Reilly couldn't get a look-in 10 days ago and now he's starting at LB in a Manchester derby; Khusanov has been in basically every first XI since he signed but has randomly been dropped out of nowhere; we spent £50m on Gonzalez eight weeks ago and he's been dropped already for no obvious reason; Kovacic missed the last few games but was suddenly thrown back in today; McAtee was told to stay at City in January but has played about 20 minutes of football since then; Savinho is our most creative winger this season but has suddenly been left out of games he'd suit; Pep's acknowledged that Foden's not at the races this season but has started him in a massive game again; we couldn't promise Gundogan a two-year deal in 2023 but here we are two years later playing him three times in a week when he's just shy of his 35th birthday.
None of it makes sense and I just cannot see what Pep is trying to do anymore. I haven't been able to see what he's trying to do for months now. There's part of me imagining that, on the first day of next season, Bernardo, Gundogan, and Kovacic will all be playing for different teams and he'll still try to name them in the starting line-up. Given what he's achieved with us and given the unbelievable heights he's taken us to, he deserves unending goodwill and a full season with a new squad to bring this back around. But if City were to approach Simone Inzaghi this summer and offer him £300m to build a new team, I would completely understand and I would feel like it was the right decision. And that thought honestly breaks my heart because Pep is my favourite City manager of all time and he's helped me understand and look at football in ways I never thought would be possible. Him leaving Manchester without me ever getting to shake his hand and say thank you for everything he's given us since 2016 would upset me so much. But I just don't see where this goes unless he concedes to Viana and Txiki in the summer and allows his old boys to be forcibly removed from his grasp. I cannot imagine City without Pep but it feels closer than it ever has, and fucking hell that hurts.
Not sure which post is the worse tbh yours or the doomsday merchant. Yes Pep deserves respect and a chance to rebuild but from my position he is starting to slowly lose the plot. I don't think that's a simpletons perspective but rather a genuine observation.
Maybe his hugely successful tenure is fading out slowly or maybe he is at the beginning of creating another dynasty. After performances like yesterday which have now become commonplace one would have to be forgiven for thinking the well has run dry. We will have a much better picture one assumes this time next year as to which trajectory we are following.
No I didn't think it was a great team either but we have a injury-hit side that is in transition. Pep had a choice between 21 year old players who are still developing (Savinho, Doku, Bobb) and experienced players who are past their best. He took the cautious option.Great reply as well.
I don't want Pep sacked but that game yesterday had me considering it.
I don't get what he sees different to all of us, like you said, not one person on this forum or anywhere else saw that lineup up and said yep thats a great team.
And to watch us get outran, outfought when we had the players on the bench to to help alleviate this and he did nothing honestly baffled me.
Khusanov isn't a right back but he is a centre-back. Reis is inexperienced. Dias and Gvardiol played very well so that choice was correct. Marmoush played. So you're effectively asking about Gonzalez and that's possibly the strongest question mark you can make against our team. KDB and Gundogan are very limited and I don't think we can be a really effective side until they are replaced. We may already have replacements in the squad who need time to develop (Echeverri?) but I don't think we will see them this season.I still can't understand what I watched yesterday.
City bought in January fresh legs and we don't use them.
Rags are shit
It almost seemed like a deal had been done that both teams wanted a draw.
Young legs in midfield and City would have walked that game.
The atmosphere was piss poor City could be heard but apart from a few minutes the rags were silent.
A very very odd game glad I didn't pay 70quid to watch that like the rags did.
I feel cheated by that game
We made it easy for them and they always looked dangerous on the break, and that's been the case with 95% of the teams we have played this season.Playing against a team, at home, with little attacking ambition and stacking 11 men behind the ball for 85% of the game is not an easy thing to break down at Premier league level. With a 5 man back line the rags were happy to invite us on and try to hit us on the break for the whole game. as soon as we gained possession they dropped off to their defensive third of the pitch and we were unable to break them down. They won't have played that way against Southampton or Ipswich.
At the moment, through ageing players and injury, we are lacking the talent to unlock this tactic.
This ...I'll repeat what I said before the game. Pep's told De Bruyne this week that he'll no longer be required in six weeks but we've started him in an Old Trafford derby; Grealish scored and got MOTM in midweek but he was rewarded with a place on the bench today; O'Reilly couldn't get a look-in 10 days ago and now he's starting at LB in a Manchester derby; Khusanov has been in basically every first XI since he signed but has randomly been dropped out of nowhere; we spent £50m on Gonzalez eight weeks ago and he's been dropped already for no obvious reason; Kovacic missed the last few games but was suddenly thrown back in today; McAtee was told to stay at City in January but has played about 20 minutes of football since then; Savinho is our most creative winger this season but has suddenly been left out of games he'd suit; Pep's acknowledged that Foden's not at the races this season but has started him in a massive game again; we couldn't promise Gundogan a two-year deal in 2023 but here we are two years later playing him three times in a week when he's just shy of his 35th birthday.
Peps always made bizarre decisions. The difference we invariably won alot.Both posts I agree with,, I'm the same I just can't get my head around his selections anymore, it may not sound like it, but I to would love him to turn it round, I just don't see it though
There’s a lot of assumptions here.I'm not really sure where to put this post because it's more of a general feeling I'm about to express, but it is the derby that's made me feel this way, so here it goes.
I have to admit I've been pretty downbeat and sad after the game this evening. Not because of the result (we've seen worse at Old Trafford and a point isn't too bad in the circumstances) and not even because of the performance (I've seen worse in recent memory), but because I realised as soon as the team came out that this might well be it. The big it - the absolute end of the fucking line. For this set of players, absolutely, but somehow for Pep as well. It's hit me all at once - how long Pep's been in charge of City, how lucky we've been to have him this long, how much of my life he's been in Manchester for, how much my life has changed during his tenure with this group of stars, how many times he's fought back and changed his style to keep City dominant and a step ahead of the chasing pack, how many times he's shown that he can learn from his (very few) mistakes in order to keep growing as a manager and leader of men.
But now we're here, potentially staring at the end of it all. Another team selection this season where I just feel crushed as soon as it gets published. Not only by the inadequate, ageing personnel, but by the ominous feeling that Pep can't see the wood for the trees anymore. He's confused me dozens of times while he's been in charge at City, but he's always brought me round to his way of thinking after a time. There's always a moment, either a minute later or a few weeks later, when everything clicks and I realise that Pep has educated me again. He's come up with a new set-up that will sweep all before him and he's shown me a new way of seeing and visualising football. But it's been months now since I've felt that sudden *click* - and this strange persistence with Bernardo, Kovacic, De Bruyne, and Gundogan shows no signs of stopping. After today, I'm honestly heartbroken because we've been here before with Pellegrini, Mancini, Hughes, etc. where, as a fan, you start seeing exactly where the problem is but you don't feel, deep in your heart, that the man in charge has spotted it too.
With Pellegrini, we developed an unbelievably soft centre about 18 months before he was sacked and he did nothing to toughen it up in all that time. With Mancini our attacks were getting narrower and narrower and teams knew they just had to sit tight and force us into tight spaces to frustrate us. With Hughes our expansive style left gaping holes at the back but he presumed Wayne Bridge/Sylvinho would cope just fine with being completely abandoned by their wingers. Every week you'd turn up hoping that they'd spotted the problem and had done something in the week to combat it. Maybe a tweak to the formation, or maybe dropping a couple of players who hadn't been pulling their weight. But they just... didn't. Whenever structural issues have appeared in Pep's teams, he's always figured out a route forward. He has made necessary tweaks, he has changed formations, and he has dropped or sold certain players. But since before Christmas he's just... stopped doing those things. The intensity, pace, and discipline have vanished from our game, but he's seemingly made no attempt to bring them back. Right now, I just don't see where that next forward move is going to come from and it's honestly breaking my heart that this might well be the thing that brings about his end.
I desperately want Pep to turn this around. I love him so much and he's earned the right to get things right again. But it's getting to the point where, even now, I honestly don't know if Kovacic, Bernardo, and Gundogan will be sold (or loaned out) at all this summer. None of them are out of contract and Pep seemingly still trusts them all to start in big games, so why would he? For years now I've always been happy with the feeling that Pep knows best. But I just... don't feel that right now, and truthfully I haven't felt it for months. The decisions he's making from game to game are baffling, his management of games from moment to moment is depressing, the calls he's made in the transfer market in very recent years have been unusual to say the least, and I honestly don't think I could name a player who has improved under his tutelage since we won the treble. If you were to ask me now, hand on heart, how I think the last two years of Pep's contract are going to go, I really don't think I could call it. Usually I'd be confident of us finishing 2nd/3rd in 2026 and then winning one last title in 2027 before he heads off into the sunset, but I just... don't trust him to do what's best for the team right now.
I'll repeat what I said before the game. Pep's told De Bruyne this week that he'll no longer be required in six weeks but we've started him in an Old Trafford derby; Grealish scored and got MOTM in midweek but he was rewarded with a place on the bench today; O'Reilly couldn't get a look-in 10 days ago and now he's starting at LB in a Manchester derby; Khusanov has been in basically every first XI since he signed but has randomly been dropped out of nowhere; we spent £50m on Gonzalez eight weeks ago and he's been dropped already for no obvious reason; Kovacic missed the last few games but was suddenly thrown back in today; McAtee was told to stay at City in January but has played about 20 minutes of football since then; Savinho is our most creative winger this season but has suddenly been left out of games he'd suit; Pep's acknowledged that Foden's not at the races this season but has started him in a massive game again; we couldn't promise Gundogan a two-year deal in 2023 but here we are two years later playing him three times in a week when he's just shy of his 35th birthday.
None of it makes sense and I just cannot see what Pep is trying to do anymore. I haven't been able to see what he's trying to do for months now. There's part of me imagining that, on the first day of next season, Bernardo, Gundogan, and Kovacic will all be playing for different teams and he'll still try to name them in the starting line-up. Given what he's achieved with us and given the unbelievable heights he's taken us to, he deserves unending goodwill and a full season with a new squad to bring this back around. But if City were to approach Simone Inzaghi this summer and offer him £300m to build a new team, I would completely understand and I would feel like it was the right decision. And that thought honestly breaks my heart because Pep is my favourite City manager of all time and he's helped me understand and look at football in ways I never thought would be possible. Him leaving Manchester without me ever getting to shake his hand and say thank you for everything he's given us since 2016 would upset me so much. But I just don't see where this goes unless he concedes to Viana and Txiki in the summer and allows his old boys to be forcibly removed from his grasp. I cannot imagine City without Pep but it feels closer than it ever has, and fucking hell that hurts.
We did m8,, but his old guard then, was not so old they had legs,, they just simply can't do it nowPeps always made bizarre decisions. The difference we invariably won alot.
Past their best is being generous they were quite simply fucking awful.No I didn't think it was a great team either but we have an injury-hit side that is in transition. Pep had a choice between 21 year old players who are still developing (Savinho, Doku, Bobb) and experienced players who are past their best. He took the cautious option.
What's more important, MCFC or Grealish, Gundi, KDB etc?FFS change the record..you slag off Grealish all the time..we get it you don't rate him..
When he plays central he's much better than what we have in Gundo and Kev as they are past their best albeit both are legends.
Keep the faith young bob, Pep has already admitted refresh is 12 months late, combined with injuries and players knowing their time coming to an end is the perfect storm.I'm not really sure where to put this post because it's more of a general feeling I'm about to express, but it is the derby that's made me feel this way, so here it goes.
I have to admit I've been pretty downbeat and sad after the game this evening. Not because of the result (we've seen worse at Old Trafford and a point isn't too bad in the circumstances) and not even because of the performance (I've seen worse in recent memory), but because I realised as soon as the team came out that this might well be it. The big it - the absolute end of the fucking line. For this set of players, absolutely, but somehow for Pep as well. It's hit me all at once - how long Pep's been in charge of City, how lucky we've been to have him this long, how much of my life he's been in Manchester for, how much my life has changed during his tenure with this group of stars, how many times he's fought back and changed his style to keep City dominant and a step ahead of the chasing pack, how many times he's shown that he can learn from his (very few) mistakes in order to keep growing as a manager and leader of men.
But now we're here, potentially staring at the end of it all. Another team selection this season where I just feel crushed as soon as it gets published. Not only by the inadequate, ageing personnel, but by the ominous feeling that Pep can't see the wood for the trees anymore. He's confused me dozens of times while he's been in charge at City, but he's always brought me round to his way of thinking after a time. There's always a moment, either a minute later or a few weeks later, when everything clicks and I realise that Pep has educated me again. He's come up with a new set-up that will sweep all before him and he's shown me a new way of seeing and visualising football. But it's been months now since I've felt that sudden *click* - and this strange persistence with Bernardo, Kovacic, De Bruyne, and Gundogan shows no signs of stopping. After today, I'm honestly heartbroken because we've been here before with Pellegrini, Mancini, Hughes, etc. where, as a fan, you start seeing exactly where the problem is but you don't feel, deep in your heart, that the man in charge has spotted it too.
With Pellegrini, we developed an unbelievably soft centre about 18 months before he was sacked and he did nothing to toughen it up in all that time. With Mancini our attacks were getting narrower and narrower and teams knew they just had to sit tight and force us into tight spaces to frustrate us. With Hughes our expansive style left gaping holes at the back but he presumed Wayne Bridge/Sylvinho would cope just fine with being completely abandoned by their wingers. Every week you'd turn up hoping that they'd spotted the problem and had done something in the week to combat it. Maybe a tweak to the formation, or maybe dropping a couple of players who hadn't been pulling their weight. But they just... didn't. Whenever structural issues have appeared in Pep's teams, he's always figured out a route forward. He has made necessary tweaks, he has changed formations, and he has dropped or sold certain players. But since before Christmas he's just... stopped doing those things. The intensity, pace, and discipline have vanished from our game, but he's seemingly made no attempt to bring them back. Right now, I just don't see where that next forward move is going to come from and it's honestly breaking my heart that this might well be the thing that brings about his end.
I desperately want Pep to turn this around. I love him so much and he's earned the right to get things right again. But it's getting to the point where, even now, I honestly don't know if Kovacic, Bernardo, and Gundogan will be sold (or loaned out) at all this summer. None of them are out of contract and Pep seemingly still trusts them all to start in big games, so why would he? For years now I've always been happy with the feeling that Pep knows best. But I just... don't feel that right now, and truthfully I haven't felt it for months. The decisions he's making from game to game are baffling, his management of games from moment to moment is depressing, the calls he's made in the transfer market in very recent years have been unusual to say the least, and I honestly don't think I could name a player who has improved under his tutelage since we won the treble. If you were to ask me now, hand on heart, how I think the last two years of Pep's contract are going to go, I really don't think I could call it. Usually I'd be confident of us finishing 2nd/3rd in 2026 and then winning one last title in 2027 before he heads off into the sunset, but I just... don't trust him to do what's best for the team right now.
I'll repeat what I said before the game. Pep's told De Bruyne this week that he'll no longer be required in six weeks but we've started him in an Old Trafford derby; Grealish scored and got MOTM in midweek but he was rewarded with a place on the bench today; O'Reilly couldn't get a look-in 10 days ago and now he's starting at LB in a Manchester derby; Khusanov has been in basically every first XI since he signed but has randomly been dropped out of nowhere; we spent £50m on Gonzalez eight weeks ago and he's been dropped already for no obvious reason; Kovacic missed the last few games but was suddenly thrown back in today; McAtee was told to stay at City in January but has played about 20 minutes of football since then; Savinho is our most creative winger this season but has suddenly been left out of games he'd suit; Pep's acknowledged that Foden's not at the races this season but has started him in a massive game again; we couldn't promise Gundogan a two-year deal in 2023 but here we are two years later playing him three times in a week when he's just shy of his 35th birthday.
None of it makes sense and I just cannot see what Pep is trying to do anymore. I haven't been able to see what he's trying to do for months now. There's part of me imagining that, on the first day of next season, Bernardo, Gundogan, and Kovacic will all be playing for different teams and he'll still try to name them in the starting line-up. Given what he's achieved with us and given the unbelievable heights he's taken us to, he deserves unending goodwill and a full season with a new squad to bring this back around. But if City were to approach Simone Inzaghi this summer and offer him £300m to build a new team, I would completely understand and I would feel like it was the right decision. And that thought honestly breaks my heart because Pep is my favourite City manager of all time and he's helped me understand and look at football in ways I never thought would be possible. Him leaving Manchester without me ever getting to shake his hand and say thank you for everything he's given us since 2016 would upset me so much. But I just don't see where this goes unless he concedes to Viana and Txiki in the summer and allows his old boys to be forcibly removed from his grasp. I cannot imagine City without Pep but it feels closer than it ever has, and fucking hell that hurts.
While there is little doubt our wingers are worse than previous wingers, the same can be said for the entire squad, what is our standard? for me it is our last game, which was crap, for the same reason the entire season has been crap, blind allies are caused by the midfield, for differing reasons, but in our case, it is caused by being slow and shit scared of losing the ball.Yep, your opinion. Mine is 180 degrees from this. Having seen Doku continually run down blind alleys, try to beat the same man 3 times, continually turn down ample opportunities to send a cross over and lose the ball for fun, I wont be wasting any more time waiting for him to change. Wingers for City see far more opportunities and have way more possession than most teams - I can recall Jeremy tearing Salford a new one, and playing well at Spurs....thats about it for 2025 and we are into April. Savinho was superb at Brenford and excellent against West Ham at home....and again thats it. They simply arent at the level of previous wide players weve had in Peps managerial stint.
This is going to take 2/3 seasons to sort out.Keep the faith young bob, Pep has already admitted refresh is 12 months late, combined with injuries and players knowing their time coming to an end is the perfect storm.
Let’s see what happens, my money is on Pep sorting this ( although I think backroom staff need refresh)
lolWe still have Khusanov, Reis and Echeverri to come into the squad plus injured players like Stones, Akanji, Ake, Rodri and Bobb. Savinho is is his first season at City. Marnoush has played less than 10 games for us. Both will improve. We may only need 1-2 players in the Summer.
No I didn't think it was a great team either but we have a injury-hit side that is in transition. Pep had a choice between 21 year old players who are still developing (Savinho, Doku, Bobb) and experienced players who are past their best. He took the cautious option.
They may have run around more but they wouldn’t have created anything. Our squad is average currently. A draw at United is currently our level. It’s going to be a dull watch until the end be of the season as we try to limp into a CL place.Great reply as well.
I don't want Pep sacked but that game yesterday had me considering it.
I don't get what he sees different to all of us, like you said, not one person on this forum or anywhere else saw that lineup up and said yep thats a great team.
And to watch us get outran, outfought when we had the players on the bench to to help alleviate this and he did nothing honestly baffled me.