Pep Guardiola - King of the Carabao Club

Firenze wrote:He only needs another 700M in the summer to compete

Imagine ppl criticising his defensive options when he's spent something like 400M on defenders alone since he joined City ffs.

Man owes his career to Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. Without those, there are no teams coming to him with unlimited budgets.

Give Eddie Howe the resources Pep has and he would probably get to at least a CL final

Unique wrote:

Firenze wrote:He only needs another 700M in the summer to compete

Imagine ppl criticising his defensive options when he's spent something like 400M on defenders alone since he joined City ffs.

Man owes his career to Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. Without those, there are no teams coming to him with unlimited budgets.

Give Eddie Howe the resources Pep has and he would probably get to at least a CL final

since fergie left you lot have spent as much as city and you aint made it to no champions lge final.

Kaladin wrote:They'd all comfortably finish in the top 4 of Bundesliga mate

Unique wrote:people want to beat pep so bad they asking for help from magic powers in the sky an shit if you want to beat pep beat the man fair and square like klopp has. dont be asking zeus to help ffs.

Casciavit wrote:

Winter is Coming wrote:

Casciavit wrote:Players let him down today. Not his fault they miss sitters.

Do you feel his failure of establishing a starting XI has been a big issue with his squad management? Outside of a few players, he doesn't seem to know his starting XI and almost every season he seems to scrap something that's working and implementing something else.

You know, I haven't written many detailed posts about City this season compared to previous seasons because I've sort of lost interest in their project, but I will now.

Pep succeeded. There's the centurion season, the first team to win the PL back to back in a decade, the first team to win the English treble, and making a comeback against Liverpool in one of the most competitive title races in PL history. All that's remaining is the CL, and that's the cherry on top. I'll talk about their chances later.

But as for their struggles this season, I believe the table is an exaggeration. Does Liverpool deserve to win the PL? Absolutely. Do I feel like they are +20 points better than City? I don't think so. It's natural that City dropped off after last season. People don't give them enough credit for their comeback. They won the league after being 10 points behind against a challenger who finished with 97 points and won the CL. That's the same challenger who hasn't won the PL in 25 years and is extremely motivated to do so. It was always going to be difficult to replicate that feat.

City this season reminds me of Pep's first season. They create chances, but they miss them. Unlike the first season, they've been unlucky with injuries too. They've missed their best defender and their best big-game forward. Hell, they had to start Rodri and Fernandinho in central defense in some games. So I don't think it's all doom and gloom over there.

But they do have their fair share of issues.

To answer your question, there are many factors at play. Pep has always been big on rotations and playing specific players against specific opposition because he believes those players' strengths will help City, and he isn't wrong.

But let me ask you this if he's playing a 3-4-1-2 and City is playing well, but then Mendy gets injured who does he play as his LWB? There's no one else. Zinchenko is limited as he can't do anything when he's on the touchline. Inverted he's fine, but playing on the outside he's shit because he's not a LB, he's a midfielder. So Pep has to revert to something else.

So he goes back to his 4-3-3. Then let me ask you something else...when you have the players City have why wouldn't you rotate them? They have world-class players on the bench on big wages who are capable of starting. If you don't play them issues arise. City's schedule is insane, they have the depth to play these different guys. Even then Pep usually has a big game 11 himself.

So I don't think rotation is the issue, but I think personnel is. And this goes back to why I can't see them winning the CL. City is mentally fragile. If you want to win the CL, you have to take your chances. The small details matter. Laporte doesn't make a mistake all season last year and he makes two in 15 min against Spurs. City constantly misses sitters and penalties in the biggest moments, then they end up paying for it later. They also have this issue of once they concede a goal they're prone to conceding another in quick succession. They have no natural passers in the team. They don't have a Xavi who could kill the momentum of the opposition by just ball hogging and passing it sideways. They have KDB instead who is always looking to counter-attack the moment he has the ball.

And that comes back to personnel. I don't think they'll win the CL playing Pep's way because they don't have the players to win the CL in that way. Stones and Otamendi have a brainfart in them at any moment. They're absolute clowns. Hell, even guys like Mendy/Walker/Cancelo are suspect. Then you have the midfielders who can't hold the ball in high-tempo games and the inefficient forwards. Now I'm not saying those guys are bad players by any means, but their playing styles just don't translate to CL success. You win the CL by having players who don't make mistakes. You win the CL by having players who can make the difference with the least opportunities, not the most.

Pep also has the issue of overthinking and fielding unusual teams in away legs. One can also lay blame on the purchases for the lack of CL success but those players are fine for the PL. Again, they aren't bad players, they just aren't suited to win the CL the way he wants them to. He also makes selection decisions that I don't agree with but I do see the logic behind. Gundogan should only play as a DM, but then again Gundogan is the only actual CM on the team. Mendy should never play inverted, but if you play him wide that means you play the LCM deeper, and then left-wing loses its combinations. I could see Pep tinkering the structure and play a 3-4-3 against Madrid. It helps defend against counterattacks and aids ball circulation in deeper areas City will have an extra man.

That being said, I don't see City getting past Madrid. Madrid is filled with CL champions and they are efficient unlike City, but they do miss that killer in front of goal like back when they had Cristiano, so we'll see. Maybe City will be extremely motivated after the VAR stuff last year. They also know that the PL is lost and they'll be willing to put all their eggs in the CL basket. That being said if City does get past Madrid I can see them making it all the way as that could be the catalyst in helping them get over their mental hiccups in the CL. Liverpool is my favorites for the CL though. If Hazard's fit, I see a Liverpool-Madrid final.

That being said time will ultimately tell what happens.

iftikhar wrote:@Casciavit, do you think City players have stopped trying in last few weeks? I haven't watched them that regularly, but in recent games only Kevin, Agüero and Bernardo seemed (to me) to be putting on a shift.