I didn't really see him play much for Arminia Bielefeld, but I do recall reading somewhere that he was very highly rated. Probably went under the radar of most people since he was playing for such a humble club.

EXCLUSIVE: Pep Guardiola has agreed a new contract at Man City. Not yet signed but now in place + understood to commit 51yo Spaniard to club until 2025 via two-year deal. Sealed on visit to #MCFC owners in Abu Dhabi. W/ @SamLee @polballus @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/KU3ONwYP9K

— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) November 22, 2022

Not a surprise! With Haaland now on team, he would be a fool to leave.

Casciavit wrote:German Legacy

How good was Stefan Ortega last year? City signed him as their backup to Ederson, but he’s legitimately a better shot stopper than him. He needs to start in the CL. He was super clutch against Chelsea tonight.

Bayern wanted to sign Ortega as a backup too. Was absolutely fantastic the last couple of seasons. For Bielefeld, of course, and he's not young anymore, so no big club dared to make him no. 1 even though he's probably better than 80% of starting GKs in the top leagues..

futbol_bill wrote:Not a surprise! With Haaland now on team, he would be a fool to leave.

Even without Haaland, he would be a fool to leave. Why would you leave a megarich club that can get you any player you want, gives you a terrific salary, and doesn't demand that you win the CL otherwise you will be sacked? He's living the dream

obviously this extension solely comes from the fact that he is looking forward to the rivalry with 'Teta

I think he does face some future issues, or elements of uncertainty with some of his key midfielders growing older or considering other options. I might be wrong, but it looks to me like KDB is showing some signs of a decrease in consistency. And that's common for players in their 30s, but with how much the club have been relying on his ability to sustain his lofty standards in recent years, I think they may be in for a rude awakening when he starts ghosting through games more frequently. Gundogan seems to be on his way out, Bernardo Silva may leave as well.

Those 3 aren't easily replaceable, and the midfield is key to how Pep wants to play. But of course, there probably aren't any other clubs that are going to allow him the luxury of composing his own team to quite the same extent that Man City have allowed him to. He has a strong and pretty stable core at Man City, and apart from Haaland, there's also Foden and Alvarez who are both young and have a lot of potential. But the midfield will likely become an issue unless the club manages to bring in adequate replacements.

Haaland already told Bellingham to join Man City, 2 weeks ago it was reported that initial talks have already started between the clubs aswell

Obligatory bump after yesterday

felt the pressure of the Arteta title challenge, so had to sacrifice his beloved cup

soo.....

corruption and flagrant rule breaches defining both periods of his success in his career huh? (nobody cares about the Bayern stint, I could win that league)

oooooff, damning for his legacy imo

SAF is clear

One of his best press conferences. He directly addressed fans criticisms and more.

What's Julia Roberts got to do with anything?

Thimmy wrote:What's Julia Roberts got to do with anything?

Pep Guardiola: "I have three heroes in life, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Julia Roberts. JR came to Manchester. She didn’t come to see us. Even if I win the CL, it will be a failure because of the disappointment of Julia Roberts going to United."

— Simon Stone (@sistoney67) March 14, 2023

Casciavit wrote:

One of his best press conferences. He directly addressed fans criticisms and more.

Nice Cas, pls post more of these great stuff if u see them, I dont get to see these at all

Interesting he mentioned past CL they didnt have trouble scoring goals, but just gave free goals away from mistakes basically. Praising Bernando as the most intelligent player who can press n nullify opponents. Bernando has been a real transformation under Pep, I think he used to be just an attacking dribbler type at Monaco iirc? Then address the need to criticise top players even De Bruyne if when they underperform.

Then cant help himself to talk about Julia Roberts. Its true though, Man U still has more pull in general despite Man C being the better team for like a deacde now its pretty funny

these past 3 months has been the most dominant a Pep team has been since 2011 Barcelona

Gotta put their hands up the Pep haters, including myself basically writing him off for the CL after so many yrs of failure

But lately its clear hes explain reasons for those n hes basically stopped those stupid weird tactics, n most importantly of cos he has got a proper top scorer in Haaland to lead the line n everything is just easier going forward n adds balance to the overall team play as a result, etc.

Im sure many will still say hes a top coach becos he gets the most money to buy whoever he wants though, which is also true

115 financial irregularities

nuff said

all these 'achievements' are getting stripped eventually

Firenze wrote:115 financial irregularities

nuff said

all these 'achievements' are getting stripped eventually

This is no way to cast a shadow over one of Pep's all time great performances.

Better to get a DVD copy of the game and enjoy. They'll get a 2 transfer window ban at best.

Thank you the Bald One for saving us from Real Madrid. Last time it was decided by inches, I forgive you. May your baldness guide you and shield you.

City's form this run-in has been insane. They've demolished the top teams. Big scorelines against Madrid, Bayern, Arsenal, and Liverpool....

Definitely an all-timer team if they can secure the treble. 3 games to go.

Guys it's 2023 no way you're still letting one man live rent free in your heads like this.

Took him 7 years to finally buy a treble.

I like to see a comparison of what he spent over the 7 years vs your club along side trophies obtained in that period. You probably won’t do it, but I sure such a comparison will make your comment embarrassing!

I am not a pep fan, but I think we should give credit when it’s due. The Haaland purchase moved them to another level and Pep after getting out coached in first game made several small adjustments in his strategy and as a result allowed the dominance of this team to excel.

Edit: sorry RG, it sounded like Firenze to me. I am referring to ManU expenditures and their lack of trophies!

futbol_bill wrote:I like to see a comparison of what he spent over the 7 years vs your club along side trophies obtained in that period. You probably won’t do it, but I sure such a comparison will make your comment embarrassing!

I am not a pep fan, but I think we should give credit when it’s due. The Haaland purchase moved them to another level and Pep after getting out coached in first game made several small adjustments in his strategy and as a result allowed the dominance of this team to excel.

What kind of a stupid post is this? Obviously when city who have spent over 1.2bn since 2008 is going to win more trophies than a club who has spent half of that?





7 years.

€1,239,000,000 spent on players

-€667,000,000 net spend.

I'm pretty sure I've seen more recent charts where Man United had the highest net spend over the past decade or so. Since Pep brought Txiki Begiristain over to the club, City have made mostly sensible sales and purchases. Their transfer strategy in the early years after the current ownership took over had very little rhyme or reason to it, but they have completely turned things around since then.

Personally, I don't think there's any point in complaining about rich club ownership anymore. First it was Man City and PSG, and then the short-lived, Malaga project, and now Newcastle. It's going to become normal. Might as well accept that it's part of the game. Come to think of it, I've already forgotten that Chelsea had a similar path to success before any of the clubs I just mentioned.

RealGunner wrote:

futbol_bill wrote:I like to see a comparison of what he spent over the 7 years vs your club along side trophies obtained in that period. You probably won’t do it, but I sure such a comparison will make your comment embarrassing!

I am not a pep fan, but I think we should give credit when it’s due. The Haaland purchase moved them to another level and Pep after getting out coached in first game made several small adjustments in his strategy and as a result allowed the dominance of this team to excel.

What kind of a stupid post is this? Obviously when city who have spent over 1.2bn since 2008 is going to win more trophies than a club who has spent half of that?





7 years.

€1,239,000,000 spent on players

-€667,000,000 net spend.

Hardly a stupid post when you look at net spend which is club’s actual outlay and especially when you add the other side of the equation! What trophies has ManU won in comparison to City! They may have been like ManU in early acquisitions in that a lot didn’t work but they corrected it when not only little expenditures, they actually made money. My question then is what has ManU got to show for their expenditures!