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

Zoo said:


Brace of Pep to take on this challenge.
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You could argue City's fanbase is akin to that of Villarreal.

I do wonder what Pep makes of things when he stands on the touchline at the Etihad. Because no matter how much research he did into the club prior to his arrival, it must have dawned upon him by now that the views and objectives of the fanbase aren't aligned with that of a top European club - the apathy towards the Champions League being a prime example.

Standing on the touchline on a European night and seeing empty seats and hearing little in the way of atmosphere, must be jarring for him - it is a far cry from the Camp Nou or Allianz. Suspect that's why he mentioned the supporters a while back, he knows he has to change their mentality if he is going to be appreciated.
 
Easy to say now, however I'm genuinely pleased we don't have Pep. What a total nut job/all round fruit loop. Forgetting his bizarre interview yesterday (which is jokes), his press conferences give the impression that he prepares for them by huffing a couple grams of Bolivias finest.

Add to that his arrogance (remember when he sacked the Bayern doctor?) and ultimately boring brand of "midfielders everywhere" football - not that good when you don't have Messi, Iniesta and Xavi - and he's actually nothing United stand for.

I'll admit to having similar reservations about Mourinho, but he's shown nothing but deference to United's culture (granted it's not his third season yet).
 
Ramshock said:
:lol: Villareal

Question for you lot, would United have been an even harder job for Pep?
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If he went after similar transfers to what he did at City then yes I think the United job would be a lot harder.

We could hardly make chances last season and didn't have exceptional attackers like Aguero or KDB. If we added Stones, Gundogan, Nolito, Sane etc to the squad in the summer I think our team would still be like it was under LVG.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
Here's the twist. Chelsea won the Champions League in the 2011/12 season.

Also, Man Utd did have Ronaldo for six seasons.
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You being serious?

Chelsea won the UCL which was good, they were a very good side. Over a extended period Barca won it more they were obviously a much better side.
The United had Ronaldo for 6 seasons I can only assume is a joke, but I missed the white text. Had we kept him we'd have probably won the league much more than we have since he left.
Its as if we forget his peak season for us won him Ballon D'or and he scored 40+goals he wasn't even at his own personal peak then. We would have walk the PL titles if he kept him
 
Spark said:
What a total nut job/all round fruit loop. Forgetting his bizarre interview yesterday (which is jokes), his press conferences give the impression that he prepares for them by huffing a couple grams of Bolivias finest.
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Posted this in the other thread, because well apparently there's two fecking Guardiola threads at the same time.



My guess would be GHB, but I'll have whatever he's having before those pressers. Living in La La-land for sure. To be fair it's genuinely hilarious though, so I hope he keeps it up.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
What is this room that you talk of? If Pep wanted better players you get rid of the old ones, just like he did. City have pretty much unlimited funds.
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If it was that easy that's what would have happened, in our case our smaller team was suited to his style and he was free to bring players without being bothered by anyone because we lacked numbers, at the exception of Rooney and maybe Fellaini.

At City he has plenty of defenders and they don't suit him, he has strikers and they don't suit him and he can't sell them because they are old or on big wages.
 
Henrik Larsson said:
Posted this in the other thread, because well apparently there's two fecking Guardiola threads at the same time.



My guess would be GHB, but I'll have whatever he's having before those pressers. Living in La La-land for sure. To be fair it's genuinely hilarious though, so I hope he keeps it up.
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Haha it's genuinely hilarious. Am loving pep in the premier league for a whole host of reasons I never anticipated.
 
MartialsBeard said:
- Terrible fan base, barely sell out games in a 50k stadium vs rabid fans in the Allianz and over 100k sold out every game at the Camp Nou.
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That's false about the Camp Nou. They get around 70-80k and in recent years they've had plenty of La Liga games at around 67k. In the past year average attendance has risen from 70k to 78k.

This thing about the Bundesliga. Dortmund gave a good fight but the third place team was almost 30 points behind Bayern. No one is saying its no tough but you have to just concentrate on that one other team. Most weeks its a formality where as the premier League you have 6 teams all capable of getting top four or even coming first or second. It's bad enough having 4 top teams, let alone 6 as of right now. Week to week it's tough mentally when you have 5 teams winning around you.
 
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I didn't actually get to watch any highlights so can someone please answer:

- Was Fernandinhos challenge a clear red card?
- Did Bravo get fouled? Why was Pep making such a big issue out of it? Assuming its not related to the Fernandinho incident.
 
redshaw said:
That's false about the Camp Nou. They get around 70-80k and in recent years they've had plenty of La Liga games at around 67k. In the past year average attendance has risen from 70k to 78k.
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Mostly full and still more than the Etihad?
 
VP89 said:
I didn't actually get to watch any highlights so can someone please answer:

- Was Fernandinhos challenge a clear red card?
- Did Bravo get fouled? Why was Pep making such a big issue out of it? Assuming its not related to the Fernandinho incident.
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Clear red card; for Bravo, seen them given as fouls, seen them not given. He needs to be stronger and more commanding in that situation in any case.
 
VP89 said:
I didn't actually get to watch any highlights so can someone please answer:

- Was Fernandinhos challenge a clear red card?
- Did Bravo get fouled? Why was Pep making such a big issue out of it? Assuming its not related to the Fernandinho incident.
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- Fernandinho was a red but weve seen them not given before, could have gone either way, but it was a similar tackle to the one that broke Shaws leg.
- Bravo wasnt fouled before the ball went it, he was fouled after (the ball bounced from behind the line and he caught it, someone headed it out of his hands)
 
JPRouve said:
If it was that easy that's what would have happened, in our case our smaller team was suited to his style and he was free to bring players without being bothered by anyone because we lacked numbers, at the exception of Rooney and maybe Fellaini.

At City he has plenty of defenders and they don't suit him, he has strikers and they don't suit him and he can't sell them because they are old or on big wages.
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Joe Hart is on big wages too. City have loaned out numerous players on big wages in recent years to clear the squad when they couldn't sell them. He spent badly and that is his fault, no one else's.

Great coaches make the best of what they have regardless.

Lets dispel the myth that he won't change his style for the players he has, which is the height of stupidity if it were true, he has already said that the high press won't work in England so he doesn't use it. Why limit pragmatism to just one thing?
 
Zoo said:


Brace of Pep to take on this challenge.
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:lol: wtf? City is like Villareal? A Villareal spending 150M in one transfer window and a billion in 8-9 years? At least Bluemoon will be a fun reading after this.
 
Arsenal and Liverpool fans will be upset too. City are a Chelsea prototype.
 
MartialsBeard said:
Agreed, also, unlike us it remains to be seen if they can attract the worlds best without Champions League football, they hardly did with it. Id say Gundogan, Sane, Stones, Nolito, Bravo and Gabriel are hardly statement signings nor do they scream out to me "were a team taking the next step" most are worse replacements for what they have or sideways steps.

Not to mention they will be competing with us, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and potentially Spurs for the same small pool of very expensive players. Id say our summer was leaps and bounds better than theirs and it looks like we have identified a market we can operate in- the elite level. Not a chance City could have got Pogba. Ibra. Mikhi without CL football.
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Did you really type that? Granted, Bravo hasn't exactly been all that so far but the others? Injuries aside, it's pretty much universally accepted that Gundogan is a quality player. Nolito is well respected in his native Spain and has actually been a decent signing so far. Sane is still young and is one of Germany's best prospects, as is Stones from an English point of view. So that just leaves the 19 year-old, 5 games in his first 6 games for Brazil, Gabriel Jesus and if you don't rate him then you really do need to have a word with yourself. Not only that, the kid hasn't even played a single minute for us yet and you're writing him off already.

By the way, we signed Silva, Yaya, and Tevez when we didn't have Champions League football.
 
says Fergie is his idol

tells city fans they are shit

concludes they are a small club

whilst taking 17m a year from them

I like Pep :D
 
The Man Himself said:
:lol: wtf? City is like Villareal? A Villareal spending 150M in one transfer window and a billion in 8-9 years? At least Bluemoon will be a fun reading after this.
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It's like it has suddenly dawned on him that the job is actually really difficult and this article helps him have a bit of an excuse. As a Man Utd fan it pains me to say it but City are a top EPL team nowadays - I would also argue they had the best squad at the beginning of the season so just a ludicrous comparison with Villarreal.

Has there actually been much improvement? Man City after 20 games:

2016/2017 - 3rd on 42 points Spent - £168,850,000
2015/2016 - 3rd on 39 points Spent - £152,100,000
2014/2015 - 2nd on 46 points Spent - £87,500,000
2013/2014 - 2nd on 44 points Spent - £103,200,000
 
MartialsBeard said:
This is non-sense based on nothing,

I agree they would be great teams in the prem but they wouldnt walk it by a long shot, say you plonked them in the league now, they play two distinct styles that are not proven by any stretch in the prem. They have fantastic players of the the highest quality but none have been through the rigors of the premier league the unforgiving schedule and the conditions.
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Suarez alone was enough to take an average team very close to winning the league. Add the rest of the Barca team in and they'd steamroll most of the sides. Yeah they might not rack up as much big scores (because goal difference matters) but they'd dispatch of Stoke, Palace etc easily.

It isn't based on nothing either, they beat City comfortably, then lost when they were missing a fair amount of starters. The last few years in Europe, Spanish teams have proven to be miles better than English sides currently. Madrid easily swept aside Pool when they played too. Atletico made us look incredibly average a couple of years back too.
 
"I'm so happy, happy new year" might be my favourite thing ever :lol: :lol:

Such an absurd post match interview. He seemed to be absolutely livid at something. Him needing to pump the home crowd up and commenting about them leaving suggests he's not entirely comfortable there yet.
 
Outside of money, City doesn't meet any criteria for a big club. Chelsea are now where City can be in 6-8 years or even sooner depending on how Pep does.
 
How have you reached that conclusion? Not possible unless you have a very narrow definition of 'big club'.
They have won the league twice in the last five seasons
They have won 3 domestic cups during the same period as well
They regularly play in the Champions League
They have a new and impressive stadium that averaged 54,000 last season
They have some top players in their ranks
They have one of the most recognised managers from the modern era leading them

They have an average to non-existent history though, I'll give you that.

serghei said:
Outside of money, City doesn't meet any criteria for a big club. Chelsea are now where City can be in 6-8 years or even sooner depending on how Pep does.
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Ramshock said:
:lol: Villareal

Question for you lot, would United have been an even harder job for Pep?
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Yes, I do believe it would be harder for him at United. The scrutiny he'd be under would be much more intense. He'd also have to deal with ex players and fans etc reminding him of the 'United' way. It would piss off a tetchy guy like Pep. Then continuing with LVG's possession football would be another hurdle especially if it's not going well...

He strikes me as someone who just wants to concentrate on his football 'vision' and doesn't want to deal with politics (plenty at United it would seem) and the other things that come with management. He especially hates the press, and everything United does makes the news - that would drive him nuts.

Putting all the banter aside, he'll be fine. This will pass. Whether or not he wins anything or makes (or not) top four won't matter. He'll be backed by the owners and he'll get it right somehow.

In the meantime though, it's nice to have a little fun at his expense:D
 
Classical Mechanic said:
Joe Hart is on big wages too. City have loaned out numerous players on big wages in recent years to clear the squad when they couldn't sell them. He spent badly and that is his fault, no one else's.

Great coaches make the best of what they have regardless.

Lets dispel the myth that he won't change his style for the players he has, which is the height of stupidity if it were true, he has already said that the high press won't work in England so he doesn't use it. Why limit pragmatism to just one thing?
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You are debating a point that I haven't made. The question I responded to has nothing to do with your grievances.
 
Kag said:
Likewise. Giving Guardiola stick is fair game but some people are getting a little carried away. Their points total is very respectable.
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True, and if those points had been earned in a fairly consistent manner over the season, that'd be one thing. But having won their first 6 matches in a row, they've since only won 7 from 14 games, losing 4. That's not even top 4 form, so there's obviously a problem.

As with all these things, he's not as good as some of the praise he gets or as bad as some of the criticism he get. But there's a definite problem at the moment.
 
stevieg4ever said:
How have you reached that conclusion? Not possible unless you have a very narrow definition of 'big club'.
They have won the league twice in the last five seasons
They have won 3 domestic cups during the same period as well
They regularly play in the Champions League
They have a new and impressive stadium that averaged 54,000 last season
They have some top players in their ranks
They have one of the most recognised managers from the modern era leading them

They have an average to non-existent history though, I'll give you that.
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I thought a necessary requirement for a "big club" is to have a European trophy.

lol, Arsenal.
 
Surely this thread must be renamed 'Pep Guardiola goes into Meltdown'? He's choking harder than Papa Doc.
 
stevieg4ever said:
How have you reached that conclusion? Not possible unless you have a very narrow definition of 'big club'.
They have won the league twice in the last five seasons
They have won 3 domestic cups during the same period as well
They regularly play in the Champions League
They have a new and impressive stadium that averaged 54,000 last season
They have some top players in their ranks
They have one of the most recognised managers from the modern era leading them

They have an average to non-existent history though, I'll give you that.
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None of those are markers for a big club, they are markers for heavy investment. They simply aren't one of the worlds biggest clubs theres no quick fix to do that, you cant just tick all the boxes and suddenly they are one of the best or biggest clubs in the world.

They may be one day but they will always be behind Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and United, those are the top 4 biggest clubs in England and United have a stake to being the biggest in the world or in the top 3. That didnt happen over-night or over 10, 20 years it happened from the moment we went from Newton Heath to Manchester United and had world cup winners in our squad developed our own crop of players that went on to win the Champions League, took a sharp teenager and turned him into a legend, in fact we did that multiple times.

Im sorry but City will never, ever get to that point and its nothing to do with time (at this stage) the football landscape has changed and unfortunately for them Chelsea already did the oil money thing.

Late to the party and just another Chelsea simple as.
 
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