God this Guardiola , hasnt a clue, such overrated manager,

hopeless without the stars and a few injuries

effing useless

COYS.

I didn't have a bet in this and it's just as well.

City not being able to spend might just be the end for them anyway

This squad regardless needs 200m thrown at it in the summer , and City do seem to have tightened up in the transfer area

Pep says he's staying regardless, I really doubt that if they lose their transfer pulling power, and he certainly isn't staying around if they are relegated to the EFL

Sell by date

Barnard
Walker
Stones

Sonny

They've been well short of their best for most of the season. Golden opportunity now for Liverpool. Although, you wouldn't rule out some sort of a comeback in this game.

0-3 no comeback here surely

its Spurs. i wudnt be taking 1/14 at this stage

citeh look clueless

I would take 1.01 now! If only Spurs could play like this every week.

ok with messis, and superstars, not as good as the media and others make him out

Silva 30 and has gone
Gundagon 34 and has gone

Can no longer control the middle of the park there's a huge part of the problem right there.

Haaland 2 goals from 8 xG since the goal v Arsenal not helping either. He does literally nothing other than score.

He's a poor player in my opinion

He's lazy and all bulky muscle now

Kane is a much more rounded player

He was bound to score goals in that peak City team

Yes but if he'd scored at even a little below his usual rate, things wouldn't be so bad. It's a major factor, the chances are still being made for him. Can turn around again quickly.

i rate K Walker as a player but imho hes been terrible , and was shocking in the euros for england , should never have been picked at the time with all the shananigins  that was going on in his private life , and hes been poor this season as well

He seems to have lost a yard of pace. Maybe age is catching up with him.

Walker was playing in a winger position when City were attacking. He hasn't lost that much pace that quickly, just exhausted and maybe injured at that stage of the game. He was poor last season and at the euros too but that wasn't really a pace issue then.

He has a rep as a top RB in England but he is actually quite poor positionally, poor on the ball and going forward and switches off when defending the back post. He uses his pace to recover from bad positioning a lot of the time and to cover behind other defenders who aren't quick.

first time ever hes had a crisis, and cant cope, what an overated manager

How many red marks will appear on his head after this?

Looked like he'd stuck his head on a radiator the stupid prat

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Someone just give another billion £ god damn it, he's shopping in a ditch with that 100 million pennies

Let's see a docu from this season, let's see the team talks now, not the, for the cameras glory stuff.

This separates Pep from SAF, fergie knew he was in trouble in his last season and threw a dart for Van Persie, and then got out of dodge, pep didn't see his Dad's Army get old.

Players get old or just bored sadly

But I do think there's something else, you don't just go that bad that quickly

Pep Fraudiola

"you don't just go that bad that quickly"   Yes you do. You've clearly never played at the top level well over 30 SS.

It's something else Howard

They aren't even doing the basics now

They've literally gone over the edge within a month, it's worse than even Southampton currently

Got to be either the charges and they know its points deduction (possibly relegation) or Pep has actually lost the dressing room altogether which is ridiculous after the success

Gundo nothing like he was a couple of years ago. KDB way past his best. Nunes never good enough. Lewis not good enough for an aspiring title winning side and shouldn't be in same room as an England shirt.  Savinho not good enough. Doku not much better. Grealish a bit better but couldn't get in England squad. And Rodri out for season.

Mark Langdon said it in his RP piece. Bad recruitment.

Who knew playing keep ball was so hard?

The collapse of Manchester City has been spectacular

What's the deal with KDB?

Been back a few weeks so surely he'd be starting on a regular basis by now? Anyone know what's up with him?

No mention of POTY Foden?

It all coincides with the loss of Rodri against Arsenal. Arsenal equalised a minute later and were dominant up to the RC at HT. City have been largely shít since, with the late win at Wolves and Southampton 1-0 at home papering over the cracks before the run of losses started.

Even the likes of Dias and Akanji look like mugs without Rodri to protect them. Pep is behaving like a mental case the last few weeks. Hopefully the case goes badly for them and that's the end of them.

Even the first few weeks of the season were odd with Foden.  No real explanation of his absence, but a few comments implying he wasn't currently worthy of his place.

The Rodri miss is huge (the stats tell you that if your own eyes don't), but it does feel like Pep is a complete passenger at present, totally devoid of any real ideas of how to put any of it right.

I thought Foden came back after the Euros ill.

I always think +ve drug test when healthy young athletes are ill but Foden doesn't strike me as a party boy.

De Bruyne will just be injures again within a fortnight anyway

Pep is one more bad day away from killing someone , he looks like he wants to kill the next journalist who asks a question

It's the old debate we have about managing a struggling side to test greatness, he's just not used to it, he doesn't know how to deal with this situation, he's never had too!!!

Pep needs to go back to basics, deep & narrow to lock out the opposition.

Use Haaland as a counter attacker.

He was proper rolling his spit in his recent presser

I really hope we get something tomorrow and he starts what I like to call entering the dark mind, it's that almost about to mentally accept your cr@p and then quit but you haven't quite accepted it and you ramming your own head through a door

If they lose tomorrow I'm expecting him to come out for his press conference with bits of wood splinters in his head

"I fell into a door, and whishh I hit my head on the door *chuckle*"

i have said from day 1 that he has been a very priveleged manager and his real test wd be when he manages a not so good team.

looks like that time has arrived so lets see how he does. so far not so good.

Far be it from me to tell Pep what to do (but anyway), but he should think about dropping Haaland to the bench and going back to a false nine and flooding the midfield. Erling's a passenger without KDB and doesn't get involved in play. Meanwhile he has a midfield full of pensioners who are getting out-passed and out-run every game. Make Foden your most attacking midfielder, and get another pair of legs in there to help out and do what City have been so good at for the last decade or so.

I am chuckling at that idiot Micah Richards stirring the pot stating there has been a fall out between KDB and Pep.

KDB has been a total bust since they won the CL. (Him going off injured after 5mins) He now looks overweight and well past it. It would matter if KDB was 5 years younger but the idea he matters to City anymore is laughable. He will be gone come the summer.

Does anyone know (or can point me towards) the current FFP rules on spending etc?

We know City have bottomless riches but how much leeway do they have within the rules? Cos it looks like they need to spend a lot and quite quickly. The keeper looks like he's on his way out, the right back is done, most of the other defenders (and they're already light there) are around 30. KDB, Gundogan and Silva all look close to the end too. That's a big rebuild and - even ignoring the huge threat they're under - looks like a £300M job to fill.

A bit similar to Utd. We know they're rich (well we did till they started sacking all the working class staff and raising ticket prices, so maybe not) but it seems like them spunking millions on worthless dross in the last few years might stop them from spunking yet more millions on new dross to replace them.


Anyone know what the rules are?

I dont thinks its the FFP rules holding them back PoP its the 115 charges
They cant go out and spend £100m on a player whilst there is a risk that the punishment might be relegation
They've been inactive in the transfer market recently becuase of this and I doubt they would took Gundogen on a free if they had the choice of going out and getting a younger and better model
If they get relegated they will need to move on most of their first team squad presumably at a cut price

I think they would have been fairly tight on FFP a couple of years ago when they signed Haaland. They got rid of a few players that summer, Chelsea signing Sterling really helped them out there as he was on big wages. Haaland's fee was low but the wages are huge. I think they had to offload some wages to make way for his.

Then they won the CL and spent big the next summer but the sales of Palmer and Laporte prob covered all of it for that period. Last summer they spent small and sold Alvarez and Delap for a big profit, so I doubt they are in much FFP trouble. They won't be getting big fees in for the players they need to offload unless the Saudis help them out, so they would be restricted in terms of adequately replacing them with similar quality.

I'd say it's more to do with the case pending. Seeing the likes of Pep and Foden boasting about all the titles they've won as some sort of comeback for being shíte for weeks could signify that they know a big sanction is coming imo. It has shades of Lance Armstrong about it.

Maybe they are in negotiations with the PL to accept a sanction rather than have the case heard. Or it could just be people who don't know how to deal with a loss of form, but they were 11 points behind after 14 games the year Liverpool won it and weren't going on like they are now.

Yeah KDB past his best but last night shows how good he was. Made a massive difference which is a big worry for City.

Thought the same thing myself RQ. (KDB has been a total bust since they won the CL. (Him going off injured after 5mins)

Clown Pep has been leaving Bruyne on the bench since he came back from injury until last night, Bruyne showed again last night why Pep should have been playing him. Pep also married himself to the chaotic idiot Doku earlier this season which was another huge mistake. Pep has won plenty but he been in charge of some of the best playerts in the world, cant be too hard with a squad like his but he has seriously messed up this season.

Rodri has been a huge loss in all fairness.

He has been a loss but it may well be the drop off would have happened anyway and if one player causes this then that's a problem in itself and shouldn't happen, I just think there are too many older players who've all fallen off at the same time, Gundogan, Walker and Silva, combined with too many injuries, KDB and Stones for instance are always getting injured, you can bung in players like Foden who are just currently unable to pick up the slack.

He may end up doing a Mason Verger if this carries on

Turning up to pressers with scratches on his face and head

"That's Entertainment!!!... it felt like a good idea at the time"

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Can someone think of the restraints he's under

1 CL in 10 years

He's becoming box office with his press interviews

Can't wait to see his meltdown should they actually lose to United on Sunday

Pep has done a great job at City.

They have a core of genuine world class players (Ruben Dias, Rodri & Silva). The rest are good but not world class. I cringe when I hear people saying they are one of the all time best club teams. A Juventus of the 90s would demolish them imho. KDB was decent but plenty of times couldn't get that club over the line in big games. Sterling was similar (Flat track bully). Foden the same.

Some of the signings have not been great. Doku is average and Gvardiol is massively over rated imho. Nunes a total bust.

The biggest waste of space though is Jack Grealish. That lad if he had a brain could have been the best English player in last 20/30 years. Technically the best English player I have seen in a long time. The only year he even vaguely approached reaching that potential was the year they won the CL.

He is a total waste of space. I saw him blaming Southgate for not enjoying being in an England Jersey. Couldn't even get in the City team ffs.

Kyle Walker is an obvious one. He has always been a pretty average defender who has gotten out of trouble time and time again by his pace. Pep dropped him for the CL final and that should have been his time at City done. His pace is waining now and his actual defensive positioning is being shown up. He nearly single handedly cost England the Euro finals against Spain.

I think Pep's signings have generally been the weakest part of his armour. If you think back to the "great" City team with the likes of Kompamy, Fernandinho, David Silva, De Bruyne and Aguero at the heart of it, then generally he inherited most of those players and simply improved them and turned them into a world class team. Similar at Barcelona, where his skill was in getting rid of the trouble makers and giving space for the young starlets to move into. But his signings have often been patchy.



Wouldn't surprise me if he walks before the season's out. Doesn't seem to be enjoying it at all. Possibly thinking he just doesn't have the answers to the current problem (needs a huge overhaul of the squad and with PSR rules and the possible demotion, they could be out of the top bracket for a while) and it might suit him better to walk away and let someone knew get the blame for not fixing everything.

Citeh are the proverbial house built on sand.
A rich man's Blackburn.

The main reason why City have suffered is because they no longer have Rodri committing as many tactical fouls without getting booked as possible, apparently that's Baloon Door winning stuff, he has nobody to replace that skillset with to allow the ballers to do what they do, instead City are now easy to play against and can be counter attacked quickly and easily, didn't have to worry too much beforehand as Rodri often stopped so many of the attacks. Luckily for them they have an equally disheveled United coming to town this week. Kind Regards.

He could do with Kalvin Philips but he loaned him to Ipswich and there's no recall clause.

I doubt he'll walk unless the case goes badly. He just signed an extension. I don't think Walker has lost much pace either. He was coming back from a knee injury against Bournemouth and had only trained once in about 3 weeks. You don't lose that much pace that quickly. He hasn't looked that slow since from what I've seen.

Rodri should be booked but ala they let his fould go unpunished, its a type of match fixing ? By letting him get away with it they are setting games up in favour of City , the majority are blindsided by cr@p like booking fixes ffs ,

Now they want penalties foemr time-wasting at goal kicks , they don't even enforce the back pass indirect free kick rule ffs, they have to ENFORCE the rules, its no good playing to the crowd with new rules , start enforcing the current and old laws and rules for a start. We know they won't though.

lurka 12 Dec 24 18:58 
He could do with Kalvin Philips but he loaned him to Ipswich and there's no recall clause.


Nobody needs Kalvin Phillips. Even odds-on-to-go-down Ipswich seem to have finally figured that out - quite what prompted them to sign him in the first place is a mystery - they surely couldn't have watched him play a single game last season.

Is Phillips the luckiest player ever? For such mediocre talent he's made himself quite a career , England International and signed by multiple prem clubs including the oil club themselves

Phillips is totally gone at the game

he was decent at the time City signed him...no better than that but barely play for a couple of seasons and then shifting between teams probably largely done now in the top flight..

Weight issues as well ?

not sure I buy that one sonts' but maybe..

Needs to see
Mystic MEG

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Cheer up Pep

I think Man City has had a curse put on them. I think the club may need to use an unorthodox method to dislodge this man-made curse. This is akin to exorcising a ghost.

Try this Man City and Mr Guardiola.

I didn't mean Phillips would make up for Rodri's absence, just that they need that type and don't have it. He'd be better than that mug Nunes.

WTF was Gvardiol doing for the second too? An awful finish from Amad which your granny could have stopped. Trying to be all stylish backheeling it, when he could have just stopped it with his instep. Cretin.

Yeah the winner was bad, almost like he let through his legs ffs

Waiting for Peps presser

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bloody no clue, when the going gets tough, vastly overated and shame on other managers trying to copy his boring  tactics

Be has at least seen the light with Kyle Walker, albeit too late.  He has been abysmal for a long time now.  Such an over-after full back.  Simply can't defend properly.

so overated , not really very good is he

Man City need young legs. The geriatrics cannot sustain the same tempo esp in the Champions League. It's 3-0 to Madrid. I think another one or two goals possibly; Madrid were unlucky not to be ahead at half-time in the 1st leg.

he's a great coach but has looked far far greater than he actually is thanks to circumstances, the way people go on about his Barca team, they never won the CL twice in a row, they were not that dominant, should never have made one of the finals but the Norwegian ref turned down 4 stonewall penalties for Chelsea in the semi, and he was never seen again. Barca had won the CL/league double just 2 years before he took over and walked into a side with Messi coming into prominence, along with Xavi, Iniesta, Eto'o etc. It's hardly comparable to Fergie taking over United and having to rebuild them from the bootstraps. Then took over the treble winning Bayern side and took them backwards, didn't make a CL final, didn't match Heynecks points totals record in the league, then took over another oven ready, state run football club that already had the wheels set in motion to win in Europe a few years earlier, even then it took him the best part of 10 years to get there.

And his impact on the league is also not comparable to Wenger's initial impact who really did change things, what Pep did change, was to convinced all these young mug managers they could play out from the back lol, he encouraged it and praised managers that did so knowing full well every time he came up against them it'd be easier to play against them doing the same thing but with far inferior players, he hates playing against bus parkers.

Overrated and past his sell by date, but good luck against Liverpool.

Kind Regards.

He needs to rebuild his team fast. Most of his present players are aging, and on the decline. I think it will take at least 2/3 seasons to be able to challenge for The European Cup again. With the deep pocket of the club owner I'm fairly sure the successful times will beckon again.

Pep has had a much greater influence on the PL than Wenger did imo.

I can agree with that. Pep has had more financial resources and a better infrastructure too; Wenger had a much lesser financial resource and a stiffer managerial competition.

He didn't encourage playing it out, he imposed it upon teams by playing a high press and high line and other teams copying that. You couldn't play against it unless you could play out from the back. You lost the ball in your own half and were totally suffocated. They had to change the kick out rule because of it. Nearly every team ended up parking the bus against him anyway and his City team was the best ever in the PL at playing against park the bus.

You don't have to play out against a high press..even City have gone more direct against presses they deem very effective..

choosing to is a poor decision by a number of sides not good enough to do it..

oh my word

GOAT