What is wrong with Pep Guardiola? Analysis of Guardiola’s “Writer’s block”
This is an honest opinion of a Man City fan. The title may be provocative and verging on a click-bait, but they are words I have held back ever since that Tottenham defeat.
I know we just got through a major heartbreak, and feelings of anger and despair are bubbling to the surface, but I kid you not, that’s not what is going on here. It has been more than two years ever since that heartbreak, and Lyon came in and added salt to the wound. And today has just twisted the dagger.
It amazes me how someone that proved his brilliance in tactics can fail this often in big games with players undisputedly world-class. Don’t take this as an all-out attack on Pep as it is a genuine curiosity of what may be going on here. Because no matter how we’re going to hide it and for how long, there’s something wrong.
Recruiting with a narrow perspective
Technically
Our rooster is filled with amazing players that I passionately love. Yet, they are not enough. Pep has managed to recruit players who fit a certain persona technically. If you take a closer look, most of our players are really good with the ball at their feet. They are not comfortable with the idea of run in behind or playing at the shoulders of last defenders.
You know what I missed most in today’s game? Leroy Sane. He added versatility and quickness that we severely lack. He, with the tactics that were in place then, balanced that tiki-taka concepts that added Guardiola’s signature to his team. Also, Dzeko. Having a towering old-school striker is crucial, even on the bench. You don’t know when you’re gonna need your Giroud.
Mentally
You know why I believe deep down that we’re not in the race of Haaland? Pep likes his players with a certain personality. Good kids who are family men and real professionals. I can’t help but remember his fights with Eto’o at Barcelona, early disputes with Aguero when he came in, and Sancho leaving to becoming a world-class winger just one season after.
Pep doesn’t like big-personality “wankers”. But you know what’s special about wankers on a field? Competitiveness and self-esteem. Sure, you can find a unicorn like Dias and De Bruyne where you get a tailor-made mentality every once in a while, but that doesn’t happen often, especially at the prices we bought those two in.
Haaland is a big-personality player. Something that I believe Pep is disgusted with. We’re closer to Kane, but Levy is putting a price tag so high that Sheikh Mansour may have to sell his yacht. Sheikh Mansour loves his yacht.
Overthink, worry, underthink, then confuse. Rinse and repeat.
Ah, the Guardiola special. Pep loves proving doubters wrong. He is, after all, a genius. You must be when you say that Gundo can replace Aguero then Mr. Whippy goes on to become the lead goalscorer of the season. But brilliance comes in with a price, especially for a good guy like Pep.
First, you have to have really smart players to even know what you’re talking about, let alone execute it. See above. Secondly, and I know that I don’t know the guy, but he is a romanticizer. He is in his head way too often, and you can see it in his eyes.
If the opponent isn’t good enough or the stakes aren’t high enough, then we’re in luck. There may be a 5–0 win incoming because Pep is out of his head. Confident with signaling what he wants his players to do, and just overall charming.
But when the stakes are this high, he literally turns to your local Football Manager with merits good enough to not save scum. He sticks to his mid-season winning streak custom tactics, gets hit by an April drop, then changes tactics fanatically for a Carabao Cup final. Players are confusing, he starts to doubt himself, and mid-game changes are useless. Best to do is to spam “Demand more”.
(I honestly sympathize with the guy as I consider myself a casual romanticizer with varying degrees of success, but my fails are limited to a subpar third-year anniversary, not this)
In those final ten plus seven minutes of this final, I wished that Pep leave Man City for good. I couldn’t help but be angry with him, especially angry for Aguero. I would’ve loved to see him lift this cup with the team he loves that most. I told you, I’m a romanticizer.
But, Pep is inevitable. Pep learns just as much as your persistent local Football Manager. That’s what being a genius and a serial winner is all about. I’d like to believe that Pep will get over himself and know his weaknesses. Those may be included here or not.
The scenario I’d like to see is tactical versatility. Get us that exciting tiki-taka, casual 7–2 thrashings again. Get us Haaland and Sane-esque players. Players who do not tickle the romantic in Pep, but the realist. This amazing team can play it both ways, then do it. Stick to a shortlist of options but make it concrete. Overthink the season, not the game.
But, if he can’t do that, then we have to break up. It is gut-wrenching to see Pep leave this club without a UCL, but this may turn toxic. We may become Arsenal before we even realize.
