Is it too much to hope that the owners don't let Pep spend too much if he is only staying a year as they know the new guy will want his own players?
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Football without Origi is nothing -
Does it matter at this point?Originally posted by ChesterDave View Post
His spending on full backs alone is reason enough to sack him.
He was hired to won the Champions League and has failed miserablyComment
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Joe Hart was probably having a good chuckle to himself after Ederson’s mistake.Originally posted by McDermotX View Post
The commentary and punditry last night was just in a surreal state of blind support but I guess it just added to the personal enjoyment of seeing them all dumbfounded
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Yes. No extra spending this summer and they have to challenge us with the team they had this year. Which makes it easier for us to retain our crown.Originally posted by spud_gun View PostFootball without Origi is nothingComment
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Pep v Pellegrini
[ame]https://twitter.com/tonykular/status/1294767802356826114[/ame]Modifying post.Comment
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It is four years today since Pep Guardiola’s first European match in charge of Manchester City, a 5-0 thrashing of Steaua Bucharest. Coming shortly after Guardiola’s debut in English football, a nervy 2-1 win over Sunderland courtesy of a late own goal, it was a first taste of what was to come.
Guardiola used Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva, previously considered No 10s, tucked in as number 8s.
And two wingers!
And Sergio Aguero up front!
And Fernandinho, previously only used in a midfield duo, on his own as a holding midfielder!
This was Guardiola packing his side with as many creative talents as possible, stretching the boundaries of what we considered viable. But as De Bruyne and Silva one-twoed their way through the Steaua defence majestically, you sensed this was going to be something special.
And throughout the past four years, over the course of many surprise team selections, of baffling formations, of “overthinking”, that has remained Guardiola’s general principle — trying to get as many creative attacking players in the side as physically possible. He’s played holding players in defence, creative midfielders at full-back, used all manner of players as a false nine and tried all kinds of systems to get yet another attacking midfielder in the side. You read the starting XI, and then stopped midway through and had to start again to get your head around it. More often than not, it has worked.
Then there was last night’s team selection. It was essentially comprised of five defenders and two holding midfielders — for a contest against the side that finished seventh in the fifth-best league in Europe. If you’re a Lyon player, knowing you’re going to spend the majority of the game on the back foot, who are you scared of? De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling, certainly. Maybe Gabriel Jesus, although he’s still to convince. But also the likes of David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez, maybe Phil Foden, and probably — considering both sides were playing wing-backs — Benjamin Mendy too. Guardiola, at his boldest, has six of those players in his XI. Last night, he only had three.
Guardiola’s formation change, switching to a 3-5-2, was dramatic but had some merits. The use of three centre-backs allowed City to keep the ball easily at the back, playing around Lyon’s forward duo comfortably, and allowing the wide centre-backs to move forward on the ball. Even then, the selection of players felt cautious — in previous years, Guardiola has played Kyle Walker as a wide centre-back, allowing him to advance on the ball. Here, Fernandinho was scared to push forward for fear of being caught out with speed in behind, and his long balls into the channels were straight and predictable. An early booking meant he was afraid of making any further tackles, and it was no surprise he was eventually the first man hooked when Guardiola switched to a four-man defence.
Before then, however, City had gone behind with a calamitous concession. It was remarkable that Walker, the wing-back on the near side, was playing Karl Toko Ekambi onside in the first place. That should never happen, for two completely different reasons — 1) Walker should be higher than his centre-backs and 2) higher than the defenders on the far side, who should be further back to cover. It was even more damning that Walker then failed to chase back with the man he should have been tracking, Maxwel Cornet.
On the other flank, Joao Cancelo manfully charged up and down the left flank, but a right-footed left-wing-back never looks comfortable on the overlap. His crosses into the box were hopeful but at 1-0 down, City surely needed the attacking thrust of Mendy. Infield, City supporters have long grown frustrated with Guardiola’s use of both Rodri and Ilkay Gundogan. This won’t have changed their minds — they moved the ball slowly, and City lacked the incision from midfield positions usually provided by the “free 8s”, to use De Bruyne’s own terminology.
At times, City’s forwards occupied Lyon’s defenders well. Jesus wasn’t impressive individually, but he had a thankless task here, primarily concerned with running laterally across Lyon’s back three, pinning centre-backs in order for City to feed De Bruyne and Sterling in pockets of space. But that trio received little support: it felt like seven players to defend and three to attack, like the Serie A sides of the 1990s. It was, put simply, a defensive starting XI, with the balance you expect of Jose Mourinho or Antonio Conte rather than Guardiola.
Sometimes it’s too easy to accuse Guardiola of overthinking his approach in big matches, but that doesn’t mean it’s always untrue. We shouldn’t ignore the fact that some of his surprise decisions have prompted his greatest successes. One of them, using Lionel Messi as a false nine, has changed football. And when things have gone wrong, it’s often because Guardiola has had too much faith in a youngster, or played too aggressively and left his defence exposed. It’s failed, but Guardiola can point to his philosophy, his belief in playing football the right way, his acknowledgement that to play sparkling football, you need to take risks.
But there was none of that last night. This was not merely Guardiola’s most damaging defeat of his managerial career, in terms of the scale of the occasion and the standard of the opposition, but also the first time his side has been eliminated from the Champions League because he’s been too defensive.
We used to debate what was more important: style or success, and then Guardiola came along and proved you could have both. Last night, for perhaps the first time in his managerial career, his team had neitherComment
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What’s particularly awesome about this defeat is, for sure, City though their name was on the cup this year
Might be a tough defeat to pick themselves up from. Peps biggest challenge will surely be re-motivating. Most have them have won the League at least once, but the CL remains elusive - they can’t even get to a final. It’s been a long hard strange season and theyve only got the League Cup to show for it.
We are where they were 2-3 years ago. Hungry.Modifying post.Comment
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Only just clocked this. Didn’t realise they were playing.3rd place. Worst champions ever.
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[ame="https://twitter.com/bernardocsilva/status/1295032534703714309"]https://twitter.com/bernardocsilva/status/1295032534703714309[/ame]
Ha ha - the ****er refused to applaud the guard of honour and sang songs about Sean Cox on a flight with the rest of the City playersComment
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City fans are taking it well in the repliesOriginally posted by Irishnev View Post
Football without Origi is nothingComment
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Originally posted by Irishnev View Post
[ame]https://twitter.com/Realaldo474/status/1295091589400993794[/ame]
Slight disappointment with "you're" though...Was muß, das muß.Comment
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[ame]https://twitter.com/bernardoocsilva/status/1295052353960325121[/ame]Modifying post.Comment
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Bernardo really would have been better off just taking his medicine and it'd be forgotten about by next week.
Rookie mistake."I will make the boys feel your support"
Jurgen Klopp June 2020Comment
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What an odd little man he is - everything from the guard of honour to that ridiculous singing to the reaction to his Mendy comments. He must go home and scream into his pillow every night, just seems an incredibly repressed, frustrated little personOriginally posted by Irishnev View PostComment
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