Pep Guardiola saw his side score six and concede six across two legs of the Champions League last 16 but blamed his high-scoring attack, not his high-conceding defence, for failurePep Guardiola was hired to win the Champions League for Manchester City and on Wednesday night they crashed out in the last 16 at the hands of Monaco. This is the unpalatable truth Khaldoon al-Mubarak, the chairman, and the chief executive-sporting director axis of Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain have to digest with year one of their Get Guardiola master plan in tatters.If the Catalan was not required to win the competition in his first season the absolute minimum was to elevate style and offer clear evidence City are only fractions...
Gruelling festive fixture lists may not be good preparation for playing Champions League football in February but Tottenham were already out by ChristmasEnglish football may be about to plunge into one of its regular periods of introspection now that Leicester City are left as the only standard-bearers for the Premier League in the Champions League quarter-finals, though the rest of Europe will not find anything too surprising in this week’s developments. Related: Monaco’s Tiemoué Bakayoko condemns Manchester City to away-goal defeat Related: Arsène Wenger has been living on borrowed time at Arsenal for too long | Richard Williams Continue reading...
The frustrated manager faces a grilling after his cast of stars sleepwalk out of the Champions League at the hands of MonacoAttack is only the best form of defence if a side attack. This truism haunted the ultimate shock‑and‑awe manager, Pep Guardiola, as Manchester City sleepwalked out of the Champions League.Listless, confidence-shot, just not good enough: the list to describe City until they finally seemed to wake up before Leroy Sané’s 71st-minute goal is not pretty reading for them. Related: Monaco’s Tiemoué Bakayoko condemns Manchester City to away-goal defeat Related: Monaco 3-1 Manchester City (agg 6-6): Champions League last 16, second leg – as it happened Continue reading...
Arsène Wenger overcomes resistance to change, Aitor Karanka wants fighters more than Stewart Downing, and José Mourinho has more pressing concerns than getting revenge at ChelseaOne of the many criticisms routinely directed at Arsène Wenger concerns his tactical conservatism and it is fair to say that he has seldom deviated from his preferred and predictable 4-2-3-1 in recent years. But on the back of a crucial drop in form Wenger has actually started the last two games with a new plan, playing 4-3-3 against Bayern Munich and Lincoln to address the malfunctioning midfield by adding an extra man. He thinks some of his midfielders, namely Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, benefit from being in a three and perhaps it is...
The Catalan has not had the easiest start in England but the manner of his side’s dispatching of Middlesbrough suggests his ideology is starting to take holdPep Guardiola’s eyes sparkled with the evangelical glint of a conviction politician. Manchester City’s manager does not care much for consensus, compromise or pragmatism and his barely contained post-match excitement at Middlesbrough reflected the Catalan’s belief that his philosophy is, once again, being vindicated. Related: Manchester City and David Silva catch Middlesbrough cold to reach semi Continue reading...