A Pep talk

[Rosco]

So he acknowledges the season hasn't been up to the standard expected:

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BY JONATHAN SMITH, MAN CITY CORRESPONDENT
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Man City's Pep Guardiola: I'd have been sacked by Barcelona or Bayern Munich


Pep Guardiola admits he will be sacked by Man City if his side don't challenge for the Premier League title next season.
MANCHESTER -- Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he would have been sacked had he had his current season with previous clubs Barcelona or Bayern Munich.

Guardiola will finish the campaign without silverware and his City side face West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday needing to avoid defeat to keep Champions League qualification in their own hands.

The City boss says that the pressure to win does not compare to his time at his previous clubs in Spain and Germany, but added that he will be fired if he does not improve in his second season in England.

"I am not staying here because I am Pep or what I have done a long time ago, I know what the problem is," he told a news conference. "I am not going to be [wondering] all summer: 'Oh, what will happen next season if I don't win some titles?'

"Pressure I had when I arrived in Barcelona, when I had nothing to defend [myself with]. At that club, if in six months you don't win, you are really out, like Barcelona or Bayern Munich. There you have to win by far. If not, they don't give you a second chance.

"Here they gave me a second chance and we will try to do it. In my situation at a big club, I'm sacked, I'm out, sure, definitely. At the clubs I worked at before I am not here, but here we have a second chance and we will try to do it better than this season.

City finished 4th last year and look good for 3rd this year so you could argue there was marginal improvement but they spent 200m odd and recouped less than 4m (for a player now regarded as one of the better young midfielders in Serie A).

Whilst Sane and Jesus look like good additions ( at hefty prices) the rest of the additions are questionable at best:
50m for Stones
27m for Gundogan
15m for Bravo
18m for Nolito.

Peps comments are openly admitting that he needs to do a lot better or his job will be under threat. And that gives me a ton of hope - desperation is exactly the mindset that leads to absolutely dreadful decisions.

Am i wrong to be excited about Peps comments ?

 

[LeTallecWiz]

Wrong I think as they will sign some fucking top quality players -

 

[Mystic]

Peps one of those people who likes to brag about self-reflection and all that lark as he thinks it makes him look more sophisticated and intelligent, so it's hardly surprising. It is nice to hear though, and I do agree with your conclusion, I do think he's going to start over thinking things ultimately to his own detriment. Also encouraging was his comments about big clubs whilst implying City wasn't one, that's not going to earn him any friends anywhere around the club. I'm still hoping they lose on Sunday and end up fifth as a result, what a beautiful end of season that would be.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

Who did they sell to Serie A btw?

 

[choperman.v01]

We've got to devise a plan to string Palace along and bait City to bid 50m for Sakho.

 

[manwithnoname]

So he acknowledges the season hasn't been up to the standard expected:



City finished 4th last year and look good for 3rd this year so you could argue there was marginal improvement but they spent 200m odd and recouped less than 4m (for a player now regarded as one of the better young midfielders in Serie A).

Whilst Sane and Jesus look like good additions ( at hefty prices) the rest of the additions are questionable at best:
50m for Stones
27m for Gundogan
15m for Bravo
18m for Nolito.

Peps comments are openly admitting that he needs to do a lot better or his job will be under threat. And that gives me a ton of hope - desperation is exactly the mindset that leads to absolutely dreadful decisions.

Am i wrong to be excited about Peps comments ?

Yeah, because they're going to spend a quarter of a billion this summer, or something ridiculous.

 

[Rosco]

Who did they sell to Serie A btw?

Fofana to Udinese.

The Guardian said the following:

Seko Fofana, 21, Udinese, France
Seko Fofana is quickly winning the plaudits with some dominant displays in his debut season on the peninsula with Udinese. Signed last summer from Bastia, the former Manchester City youth player has adapted well to life in Italy. A midfielder in a similar mould to Amadou Diawara and Franck Kessie, Fofana is a blend of power and technical prowess.

An example of what he brings to the team was seen in the December fixture away to Atalanta where, receiving the ball on the periphery of the opposition penalty area, he curled the ball beautifully with his right instep into the far corner in a surprise 3-1 victory over Gian Piero Gasperini’s high flyers.

The 21-year-old has already scored four goals from midfield, more than his last two seasons combined. It is only a matter of time before one of the bigger clubs in the league begin to sniff around the Frenchman. But, for his future development, he would be well advised to stay in northeast Italy for at least another season

 

[Rosco]

Yeah, because they're going to spend a quarter of a billion this summer, or something ridiculous.

On who ?

The almost spent that last summer

 

[Frogfish]

Gundagan looked quality before his injury and Stones is young and bought for the future- he could develop into a top CB.
They'll be flashing the cash big time this Summer, on FBs, a top Keeper, CM and CB. Maybe even a top striker too (especially if Aguero leaves and maybe also if he stays).

 

[manwithnoname]

On who ?

The almost spent that last summer

They'll buy a keeper, at least two defenders and probably another AM

 

[keniget]

I liked the fact that what he said basically amounted to "if I was managing Barca or Bayern, i.e. a top club, then I'd get the sack, but here, i.e. not a top club, I have another chance".

I don't really see anything to be too excited about. They have a technical director and others working alongside Pep and one or two decisions aside (e.g. Hughes and Santa Cruz) haven't done anything mad.

 

[6TimesaRed]

He will be sacked when they finish 5th on Sunday...

 

[gkmacca]

I don't want to sound like Allardyce, but Guardiola has been indulged far, far more than a less glamorous manager would have been in his position. Martinez quite rightly was ridiculed last season for claiming Everton had been brilliant and superb after dismal losses; Guardiola has said after several defeats much the same, and only provoked the odd eye roll; his stubborn praise for Bravo, his 'best goalkeeper in the world,' has indeed attracted plenty of criticism but any other manager would have been destroyed for continually dismissing the complaints; and he's already offered enough weird excuses for poor results to overtake Wenger on the loon list. And only Guardiola could go to megabucks Man City and talk like a big manager testing himself at a modest club like Norwich.

I suspect he'll win stuff next season because he's got the money to bring in even more players to what's already a really strong squad. But I'm not sure if he'll ever come back down to earth and admit a degree of authentic self-reflection.

He's become a kind of alternative reality Pulis: one seeking an antidote to football, the other striving to transcend football, but neither actually embracing the true essence of what football is - namely, a sport.

What Guardiola seems to promote these days is certainly nice to watch, but is it actually football? I get the impression he'd be happier if the opposition could be phased out, the goals dismantled, and his players left to perfect his patterns of play. Somewhere down the line he's lost sight of why people set foot on the pitch and face each other.

He's great for the spectacle, but I'm not convinced he's good for the game.

 

[Mors]

I wonder if he'll get the push next season if he doesn't win the champs league or league. After spending half a billion or something over those 2 years.

 

[LarryHagman]

If I was a City fan I'd be gutted to hear my manager make a statement like that.
As said, Jesus and Sane aside, his signings have been shite. Nolito is as bad as Nunez.

 

[Hansern]

Gundogan was good. Injury prone but a very good player.

 

[Frogfish]

If I was a City fan I'd be gutted to hear my manager make a statement like that.
As said, Jesus and Sane aside, his signings have been shite. Nolito is as bad as Nunez.

It's his first season so, similar to Klopp, he is going to be judged now on what business he does this Summer and how they go next season. Both FBs need changing and I think he'll add another CB, CM, GK and a striker (looks like Iheanwhatever is out of favour) maybe two if Aguero leaves.

I think Nolito has been quite good for what he was bought as, relatively little money (wasn't it 15m) for a squad player. Sane, Gundagan and Jesus all quality buys.

As far as post-match statements go Klopp has made more than a few cringe-worthy comments recently as to why we lost/didn't win. I'm not sure that managers don't just find any reason possible to take the pressure off the players.