Manchester City under Pep Guardiola | Pep on City v Liverpool ref: "He likes to be special"

KingMinger22 said:
Seems like they will very likely be adding:

Sane
Stones
Jesus

Minimum to Gundongan, Nolito and that other chap.

Would that represent a good window for them?

It's certainly a heavy financial outlay at £170m or something.

I think they may add another player or two on top.
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I think they'll buy another player after those yeah, either way I'd say that's a very good window with an eye on the future.

Sane is a very good player, although I think they could do better. Stones has huge potential and Guardiola should be able to get him focused. He's only 22 remember. Nolito is possibly the bargain of the summer, excellent player for next to nothing.

Jesus has the potential to be a very special player I think. Handled right he could be a household name, they may even start praising his name. Seriously though, insane potential. Obviously, Gundogan and Aguero need to be available, but if they are then they're two of the best around on their day.

I'd put them as title favourites but I think Pep might have an adjustment period in the PL, so we'll see.
 
KingMinger22 said:
Seems like they will very likely be adding:

Sane
Stones
Jesus

Minimum to Gundongan, Nolito and that other chap.

Would that represent a good window for them?

It's certainly a heavy financial outlay at £170m or something.

I think they may add another player or two on top.
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I'm happy but it does seem we are building more for the future with Stones, Sane, Jesus, Morano and zinchenko - which is what we need to be honest.
 
BobbyManc said:
He looked solid there when he briefly played against United in defence after Demichelis had to be subbed for his shambolic performance. Fernandinho is hugely underrated on this forum and always has been, so it's no surprise people are laughing at Guardiola's comments. I imagine a fair few people had the same response when Guardiola started playing Mascherano as a CB too, and look how that turned out.
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Meh, is Fernandinho really underrated on here? I've read quite a few positive comments on him, he's miles better than the inept Fernando and gets a job done (though he's not exactly the type of player that excites me). I'd be surprised honestly if he turned out to be a good CB (as in good performances against top sides), though I'm sure he can be decent against average to okayish opposition, most CMs and DMs usually can to be fair.

The Mascherano example is dubious at best for me, it was in a different league and especially playing for a team with huge possession stats most of the time, and a defence being very rarely sollicited on a regular basis. City might turn out to have the same playing style and possession as Barça, but I doubt it.
 
Was reading this morning that there are heavy concerns in Argentina that Aguero has put on a lot of weight. Not sure where I saw the link but there was a picture, he looked the same to me but IDK that would be a terrible start considering he has a chronic knee issue. Perhaps that is what Peps little dig at over-weight players was about.
 
Xeno said:
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Don't blame him. You have to go for it after all those keepy-uppies. I was a defender myself and the chance to score an absolute wonder goal doesn't present itself very often...you have to chance your luck.

I remember once I was running on to a ball that had been cleared from a cross. it came rolling right in to my path (about 40 yards out, slightly to the right of the goal). I wasn't a great striker of a ball by any means, but as I approached the ball I had already envisaged it walloping into the top left corner of the goal. I struck that ball with all my might, then shuffled back into position trying to shield myself from the mocking laughter as it sailed miles over the crossbar. If I went back in time I'd do it all over again too.

It's weird. The best players in the world, with the best long-range strikes, probably wouldn't even try these kinds of shots, but for some reason defenders can descend into a moment of madness, where they forget who they are can already picture themselves telling their grandchildren about the time they scored that goal. I imagine that's what was going through John O'Shea's head here:

 
MartialsBeard said:
Was reading this morning that there are heavy concerns in Argentina that Aguero has put on a lot of weight. Not sure where I saw the link but there was a picture, he looked the same to me but IDK that would be a terrible start considering he has a chronic knee issue. Perhaps that is what Peps little dig at over-weight players was about.
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He hasn't in the pics I've seen. He's always had a bulky build.
 
MartialsBeard said:
Was reading this morning that there are heavy concerns in Argentina that Aguero has put on a lot of weight. Not sure where I saw the link but there was a picture, he looked the same to me but IDK that would be a terrible start considering he has a chronic knee issue. Perhaps that is what Peps little dig at over-weight players was about.
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I suspect he's indeed one of those players on the sidelines training apart from the main group
 
MartialsBeard said:
Was reading this morning that there are heavy concerns in Argentina that Aguero has put on a lot of weight. Not sure where I saw the link but there was a picture, he looked the same to me but IDK that would be a terrible start considering he has a chronic knee issue. Perhaps that is what Peps little dig at over-weight players was about.
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VanGaalEra said:
Did you say overweight players?

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Doesn't look too bad? Certainly not Rooney-levels of pre-season.
 
SirMonteyne said:
they are playing really good against Dortmund, even with bunch of kids.
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Yeah, they've grown into the game. Pretty shocking in the first 10 minutes though, could've given away 2/3 goals by messing around at the back.
 
Tarrou said:
Yeah, they've grown into the game. Pretty shocking in the first 10 minutes though, could've given away 2/3 goals by messing around at the back.
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That's what happens when you have Kolarov at centre back AND ask him to play football. To be honest it's remarkable how quickly Pep has adapted our style of play.
 
Looking pretty good - I've only seen the last ten minutes of the half though. Wonder if Pep will start the season using three at the back.
 
My biggest thing with Pep is that I'm not sure how effective his style can be if he doesnt have the quality at his disposal like he previously had. Im not saying any half decent manager would have done what he did (though any half decent manager wins the title at Bayern), more his Barca achievements being the ones that were great, but not possible if he didnt have Messi, xavi and iniesta. At City he wont have the best squad at his disposal, wont have world class players in every position, will be in a much more frantic league so it will be interesting to see how it pans out. Ive never joined in with the Pep being up there with Mourinho as the best because I dont think he has been challenged too much, and the biggest accomplishment was to turn around an underperforming side and get them to play to their full potential like he did at Barca. He had a style that got the best out of the phenomenal players he had, more so then anyone else would have. But its not a style that every team can play, and thats where he will struggle the most imo.
 
That look from Pep..are my guys even footballers? Damn this league lacks individuals with composure on the ball. At some point he'll have to employ Allardyce tactics to get something out of this bunch.
How is Fernando a mainstay for a team like City?
 
Cityfaninpeace said:
That's what happens when you have Kolarov at centre back AND ask him to play football. To be honest it's remarkable how quickly Pep has adapted our style of play.
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Kolarov wasn't at fault, it was Tosin and Caballero who both gave the ball away in dangerous positions two or three times. I really think Pep needs to shift Caballero out and sign a decent GK who is confident with the ball at his feet. No point having Hart's backup as someone who is equally inept at passing out from the back.
 
I have said it before but I predict City struggling for a while under Pep until he brings in his own kind of players.

They simply don't have the players to excel in his philosophy.

Posession football with a high press when they haven't got the ball is what I think he is trying to achieve, similar to his Barca side. Except this time he hasn't got Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets, Pique, Puyol and a GK who is good with his feet.

Huge job on for him.
 
BobbyManc said:
Kolarov wasn't at fault, it was Tosin and Caballero who both gave the ball away in dangerous positions two or three times. I really think Pep needs to shift Caballero out and sign a decent GK who is confident with the ball at his feet. No point having Hart's backup as someone who is equally inept at passing out from the back.
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I know, my statement on Kolarov was tongue in cheek because he's one of my least favourite players. I agree about our keepers, we need to bring someone in. Nice to see Maffeo and Angelino holding their own against good opposition and Zinchenko looks good.
 
Their pressing game is great, something United seem to never want to do or understand how to do.
 
bosnian_red said:
My biggest thing with Pep is that I'm not sure how effective his style can be if he doesnt have the quality at his disposal like he previously had. Im not saying any half decent manager would have done what he did (though any half decent manager wins the title at Bayern), more his Barca achievements being the ones that were great, but not possible if he didnt have Messi, xavi and iniesta. At City he wont have the best squad at his disposal, wont have world class players in every position, will be in a much more frantic league so it will be interesting to see how it pans out. Ive never joined in with the Pep being up there with Mourinho as the best because I dont think he has been challenged too much, and the biggest accomplishment was to turn around an underperforming side and get them to play to their full potential like he did at Barca. He had a style that got the best out of the phenomenal players he had, more so then anyone else would have. But its not a style that every team can play, and thats where he will struggle the most imo.
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Pep definitely has a style but his Bayern side didn't play exactly the same as his Barca side. In fact I would say he had a number of systems he used at Bayern, which he switched depending on the opposition, whereas at Barca he had one excellent system that suited his core players. I imagine City will play closer to his Bayern team than his Barca one for the obvious flaws you've pointed out.
 
City have restricted Dortmund from playing, which is what we didn't do, and I guess that the big difference between Jose and Pep. Both effective in their styles, but Pep demands his team to press high up the pitch, whereas Jose will only use a half press.

That said, you have to take into account the different teams, systems, etc.
 
Cityfaninpeace said:
Pep definitely has a style but his Bayern side didn't play exactly the same as his Barca side. In fact I would say he had a number of systems he used at Bayern, which he switched depending on the opposition, whereas at Barca he had one excellent system that suited his core players. I imagine City will play closer to his Bayern team than his Barca one for the obvious flaws you've pointed out.
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I agree, but the style is still largely based on very high pressing and dominating possession play that might not be possible to the same extent without having the same quality at his disposal.
 
chb23 said:
Are they doing better than we did?
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A lot better, Dortmund are barely touching the ball this 2nd half. If they had their best attackers on they prolly would of scored a few. At first look I do not see any PL team being better than them, but its early days. Won't do much in CL though.
 
FreakyJim said:
Unless by brilliant you somehow mean poor, then yes. Otherwise - no.
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It was actually quite good with Van Gaal, it's just his style didn't have us to do anything with it. We pressed and then went back to keeping possession for the sake of having the ball. Not pressing into forcing a mistake and capitalizing it with quick play.
 
FreakyJim said:
Unless by brilliant you somehow mean poor, then yes. Otherwise - no.
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Are you serious? Our football wasn't great, but more often than not, we won the ball back very quickly. There's different types of pressing. Our striker didn't always press up the pitch, but the ball got beyond the striker, we used very intelligent pressing to win it back.
 
They've looked good tonight, but I think a few things need to be remembered before the customary start-of-season "City's going to blow everyone away" reaction.

First, City is much more prepared to play Guardiola ball than we were to play LVG's football or even Mourinho's football. Pellegrini drilled that team to play nice, fluid, possession football, and to press high up the pitch on defense. Pep's working with players who already have an idea of what he wants and have been executing a similar system for the last few years.

Second, this is Pep v. Tuchel. Two managers who know each other well, and thus Pep had intimate knowledge as to how to stop this particular Dortmund team. We still have yet to see how his style and system will play against the pace and physicality, and the end-to-end nature of the PL.

But as I said, they've looked quite good. I don't expect them to blow the league away this year, and I do expect us to match them blow for blow when we meet in the first Manchester derby of the season, though.
 
Anyone watching this would think Aguero wasn't overweight and the press were making stuff up based on one unflattering picture. Funny that.
 
Kearnkoff69 said:
They've looked good tonight, but I think a few things need to be remembered before the customary start-of-season "City's going to blow everyone away" reaction.

First, City is much more prepared to play Guardiola ball than we were to play LVG's football or even Mourinho's football. Pellegrini drilled that team to play nice, fluid, possession football, and to press high up the pitch on defense. Pep's working with players who already have an idea of what he wants and have been executing a similar system for the last few years.

Second, this is Pep v. Tuchel. Two managers who know each other well, and thus Pep had intimate knowledge as to how to stop this particular Dortmund team. We still have yet to see how his style and system will play against the pace and physicality, and the end-to-end nature of the PL.

But as I said, they've looked quite good. I don't expect them to blow the league away this year, and I do expect us to match them blow for blow when we meet in the first Manchester derby of the season, though.
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As a city fan I can tell you Pellers didn't play possession football and certainly didn't get us pressing well! The turnaround is quite remarkable (I know it's only pre-season...)
 
Xeno said:
Why are people saying City look great? Dortmund should have been three up.
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In the first half when we literally had all our kids and reserves out. We held our own and now we are dominating the second half. Or am I watching another game?
 
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