Pep Guardiola : El Puto Amo!

With Fergie's retirement rumours next season, I wonder if Pep's move to an English speaking locale like NYC might suggest he could be weighing up a move to the Premiership and United

alexjanosik wrote:I dont get this.Most everyone seems to be of the opinion that Pep is leaving because of Rossell.Why should that be so?
Rossell may be the devil incarnate but he has done everything in his power to keep Pep happy.Got him all the players Pep asked for including the Prodigal Son,something Laporta himself couldnt do.

Perhaps I'm being unfair, but I think that Rosell has put too many rocks in Guardiola's way during this season. I can't prove this, it's just a feeling, but I feel like he has taken too many anti-Cruyffist moves (for example, letting 2 cruyffists go in Luis Enrique and Oscar Garcia and removing him from honorary president). Laporta has stated that if more had been done to accommodate Pep he would have stayed, and while I take this with a grain of salt, I have a suspicion that Pep sees Rossell as an adversary as well as an ally.

But like I said, I have no proof for anything, I'm just going by feeling here.

NYC's main appeal is that he wouldn't be a celebrity everywhere he goes, unlike in Europe.

^ I sense the same, actually...And I get the impression that there are many others who feel similarly

BarrileteCosmico wrote:I would frankly hate to see him go to another club. So how many of us think that Pep might still be our coach if Laporta or a Cruyffist were still president? I most definitely do.

On the plus side, if he goes to another club, will he take Keita with him?

If he was to go anywhere, it would be a club would be able to adapt to his playing style. The closest team imo who could play his style is Arsenal.

El Confidencial:

Pep Guardiola employed the use of a private detective agency to check up on his players.

It was crucial the players weren't distracted by the nightlife.

Pique and Eto'o were 2 players who were under surveillance off the pitch.

Given that Pep would call (or have someone call) all the players at midnight every night to check that they were home that's hardly surprising.

is that really necessary?

Yeah, it is

He isnt the first and he wont be the last.

This thing is a bit new to me tho, albeit not surprising when your playing for a big club. Now, I play for a club but u dont see my coach calling me in the middle of the night just to check if Im in bed or something. Just weird imho, as in general. Coaches shouldnt mix football to personal life.

Its pretty common place..coaches been doing things like that for decades now.

Coaches have no choice, personal life effects football so it is what it is.

The coaches job depends on his players. It's only natural a coach would go to great lengths to make sure his team is playing well or he's out of a job tbh.

I think its fair enough, but the players should be aware of it. Important to be strict, but should also be open about it. I feel Pep would have been quite open about it, particularly with Pique.

Thought I would discuss his Bayern tactics.
I watched his first 2 league games and was watching out for tactics and to see how different they are to his Barca tactics.
Saw some pretty interesting stuff.First of all,he seems to be playing a 4-1-4-1.
The one in front of the defense being Schweinsteiger.Bayern play out from the back similar to how we do.The fullbacks push up,the CB's go wide.But the interesting part is that the CB's look for the wide ball to the wingers very often.Many times I saw Dante and Boateng play long balls to Muller and Ribery out on the wings.
We dont play it all that often.Also the Bayern wide men stay wide and dont come inside a lot like our wide forwards.This in turn means that the fullbacks cant overlap.In yesterday's game I dont think I saw lahm overlap once.And it was not because the opponent denied that space.It was because Muller was hugging the touchline.Same with Alaba on the other side.Ribery stayed wide and it was Alaba who would cut in a lot and receive passes from Ribery on the edge of the box inside.Bit different from our play where the forwards go inside and the fullbacks overlap.

Also the 1 in front of the defense seems to enjoy a more prominent role.I am not sure about this but to me it seemed that there was a significant gap between Schweini and the 2 midfielders in front of him.As a result he didnt have those passing options into midfield.For us,Xavi and Iniesta play very close to Busquets and always offer him passing options.For Bayern,Schweini's main passing options seemed to be the fullbacks
and Ribery.I am not sure whether this is by Pep's design or because the likes of Kroos and Shaqiri(he played midfield yesterday) are still getting used to the system.Probably the latter.

He doesnt employ a false nine with Bayern .Mandzukic plays more a traditional 9 role and I guess he has to because as I mentioned the likes of Muller and Ribery are strictly staying wide and taking on fulllbacks than making runs.The likes of Kroos and Shaqirir were making forward runs.

Another interesting thing I noted was the pressing.Only Mandzukic was pressing the Cb's when they tried to play out from the back.Ribery and Muller dropped deep immediately almost near the halfway line.In stark contrast to us under him,where the wide forwards would press almost as high as the false nine.
Sometimes the 2 midfielders in Kroos and Shaqirir pressed but it was limited.Mostly Mandzukic did the forward pressing.The rest pressed only in midfield.

Will post more after watching them more.

alex, that was an immense read. I have been wanting to watch Bayern closely this season but in the first match I was too tired and fell asleep while yesterday I had to go out a short while after the match started. There's always a next time and I will keep eagerly waiting.

Width is one of their biggest strengths. We didn't have it to that extent. At the same time as you said their midfield is a long way away from the level our midfield in its heydays reached.

Where I think Pep faces a big challenge which I daresay he is likely to lose is the one or more major changes he is trying to make to Heynckes' team and that too a bit too soon. Last year's Bayern team were great technically and tactically but I would say one of their USPs was their ability to physically overpower their opponents. Javi Martinez was the ace here though many players contributed. Pep seems intent to take Javi totally out of the equation. He wants a 4-1-4-1 instead of last year's 4-2-3-1. I think that with this the team will lose some of it's dominant prowess and may not be able to succeed to the same extent. Just my current feelings though since it's early days.

What you describe Alex with the fullbacks is known (at least to me) as an "underlap".

Its very effective if you have the right sets of players. For example, Marcelo is more of a "underlapper" than an overlapper. If Cristiano recieves the ball on the sides, he doesnt want anyone to interfere, so Marcelo's run is usually inside of him...as you described with Alaba.

Equally so I see this at Liverpool with Jose Enrique and Glen Johnson, both are underlapping at least as much as overlapping.

And while I have not seen the games, I did watch preseason and I do think Pep is without question adapting his ideas to what Bayern have. He isnt forcing them to certain movements and actions which probably go slightly against what they have been doing.

You are right dani.
I have noticed them with Madrid and Liverpool.
I was trying to compare his tactics with us and see the differences.
I love his tactical changes both within games and for different games.The man keeps tinkering and what makes him great is that he does it to great effect.

jd
It surprised me that he didnt even include Martinez in the squad. I know its early days but I get the feeling that Martinez wont see much game time.You are right that they will lose some of that physicality which can be to our advantage if we meet again.We were simply no match for them physically last season.
On width,I think he is smart to realize that width from wingers is a
major part of their game.He realizes that their superstars play wide( Ribery and Robben) whereas our superstar Messi played central.Which is why he may keep the role of Ribery and Robben the same.

What I am most interested to see is how he wants that midfield to perform.Especially the 2 in front of the 1.I didnt get a clear idea from the first 2 games as I think the players themselves are still adjusting.And ofcourse Thiago's progress.He played 30 odd minutes yesterdays.Had some wonderful moments and a couple of simple yet space creating passes.

Its also interesting to note the comments of Robben and Pizarro.
They have said that Pep's football is too complex and tactical and that football should be simpler.
Seeing our one dimensional play last season,I wish we could have some of that tactical variety in our game.

I certainly agree. I feel like he still doesnt know his best side, especially in attack and midfield. What do you think?

Do you think they are not pressing quite like we used to?

Too complex and tactical? Those guys have no idea what it takes to win multiple years...you come with the same stuff every year your going to get found out. Im not surprised though they are resistant to change.

Tough one to predict his best side,especially with the balancing act he has to perform.Bayern have a lot of big name players.
I think only two players have a guaranteed spot.I am assuming that he continues playing the 4-1-4-1.
I think he will settle with Schweini as the 1.For one he can play well there and he is too big a name to drop.i heard that he experimented with Thiago in that role in the friendlies but I dont think he will play there.I am almost certain Schweini will play there.Ribery is also a lock for that winger spot.The rest I am not sure but I can hazard a guess.
I am almost certain that Thiago and Kroos will be the 2 in front of Schweini.They are his kind of players and will play the way he wants.

I am not sure who will play right wing.I think he might experiment with both Robben and Muller and go with whoever performs best.
On the 9,I am almost certain that it will be Mandzukic.I dont agree with those that say that Gotze will play there.Have heard suggestions that Gotze will play false 9.Just wont work with the system that he is playing.He realizes that Bayern is no Barca and that he doesnt have a Messi to play false 9.
He is playing a 4-1-4-1 with the wide players acting like wingers.
If he plays Gotze up top,just no threat up front.Mandzukic seems perfect for that role.Can hold up the ball,makes runs and is a presence in the box for when the wide men cross.
I think Gotze is in for a tough season and wont play much.If he plays it will be in place of one of the 2 wide men.He cant play up top and he cant play one of the 2 midfield roles.
So for me midfield up,they should look something like this.

Mandzukic
Ribery Kroos Thiago Muller/Robben
Schweinsteiger


On the pressing,I know 2 games is not enough to make a judgement.But as i mentioned,only Mandzukic seems to be pressing up top when the opponent has the ball deep(with the GK,CB's or FB's).Ribery and Muller were not pressing aggresively and dropped deep almost to the halfway line.One of the 2 midfielders occasionally applied pressure on the CB's but not very aggresive.They seemed to do most of their pressing in midfield.
but it might be too soon to judge.

Yeah I saw the friendlies, about 3 of them, and Thiago played twice there. Also Kroos was tried there for 45 minutes IIRC.

What your saying is very intresting, because it seems very logical and functional. But in preseason he was very experiemental and I thought alot of it looked good.

When he used Robben as a "false 9", him, Shaqiri and Ribery played incredibly free and changed positions all the time.

It also seemed Pep might not be keen on Mandzukic because his touch was poor at times and his lack of speed stood out. But thats preseason, the real season is more telling and what you say makes sense.

Well its Pep.As we know from experience,just cant predict him.
Of the 2 games I did see,didnt see the false 9 or the interchanging.
My gut feeling is that he wont play a false 9 but he may.Robben as good as he is,is no Messi and doesnt have the tactical sense to play false 9 the way Pep wants.Gotze might but I think he is too young to take on that kind of pressure.

I think if he does, it will be Robben. But I agree, I dont think he will either.

I dont understand why he asked for Gotze if your feeling is true, because Pep really pushed for him I read.

I read that Pep pushed for Neymar and didnt get him.Gotze was apparently a board signing.

alexjanosik wrote:jd
It surprised me that he didnt even include Martinez in the squad. I know its early days but I get the feeling that Martinez wont see much game time.You are right that they will lose some of that physicality which can be to our advantage if we meet again.We were simply no match for them physically last season.
On width,I think he is smart to realize that width from wingers is a
major part of their game.He realizes that their superstars play wide( Ribery and Robben) whereas our superstar Messi played central.Which is why he may keep the role of Ribery and Robben the same.

alex, I agree completely. There was some talk about moving Ribery more into the centre but I guess it has died down now.

alexjanosik wrote:I read that Pep pushed for Neymar and didnt get him.Gotze was apparently a board signing.

That's exactly what I read as well.

Not "apparantly". It's been confirmed by Hoeneß multiple times.

Interesting alex that you think Thiago will be a regular starter. All I know is that if that happens some people will start sharpening knives against Pep.

Why do you think Gotze cannot be one of the two AMs? After all he usually played as a 10 for BVB last season.