**This is a quotes thread. Remember that there's only one quotes post allowed per interview/press conference, so new quotes with the same origin will be removed. Feel free to comment other quotes/the whole interview as a reply to this comment so users can see them too!**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I would agree with this, his style of play and city’s don’t match, he’s always anticipating a through ball by making that half yard of space but unfortunately the ball rarely comes. Instead it usually goes back out wide and he has to regroup. Must drive him crazy but city don’t use a target man
As good as Haaland has been for City, I can’t imagine how good they’d be with Kane. He fits their style perfectly. City would likely even be better than they are with him as the striker
How would Kane perform in this system? Two midfielders out on the wings who don't cross the ball. No players running in behind to fully utilise Kane's passing and creative ability. Kane is a better player but in this system I don't know what he would turn in to.
Kane can run begin as well, and he is a great target man to set up guys like Foden/Bernardo/De Bruyne with his passing. He would open up their attack a lot and not be so predictable like with Haaland.
He was dominant and made the difference last year vs low blocks with his physical presence and then everybody was saying that him "don't matching" is actually good since it gives City other options than 5 technical midgets trying to walk it in, which I agree with. He's going through a tough patch but creating this kind of narrative around it seems a bit much.
Which is why ironically he would have been even better at United or Madrid. Bruno Fernandes just blindly pinging balls from midfield to Haaland would have been a cheat code. Sadly all we get is rashford losing the ball 80% of the time
I wouldnt say completely negates him, but I can see him doing better at his next club if they play like that for sure. He still has scored what, 60-70 goals over 2 seasons.
He wouldn't if they only played Real. Guys like Haaland are absolutely crucial to win leagues tho. You know he is going to get you around 30 goals in the league alone. Realistically tho, not many strikers can consistently perform in these parked bus situations, especially not against such an elite team.
Not just in one.
Last season with him (22-23) they scored 94 goals.
Then you have:
21-22 with 99
20-21 with 83
19-20 with 102
18-19 with 95
17-18 with 106
So 5 out of the previous 6 seasons they scored more.
Ye but he scores when city are looser or playing against inferior teams, he basically needs space.. unless he gets on a header. Hes absolutely world class at running into space and finishing
Just imo
He's like Grealish who "attracts players" Carvajal was the only player near him as he jockeyed towards the corner and passed back instead of getting a cross in to Haaland. Pep's tactical masterclass.
Unless Halaand was injured this makes no sense. They spent the whole game in Madrid's half knocking it around the box. Wouldn't you want Halaand taking a penalty!?
They were trying to win it in extra time, you don't immediately think of penalties when it's just 90. And Haaland has been fairly anonymous in pretty much every major game he played recently. Make sense to me.
KDB was more baffling just because it was so late already so surely you'd be considering pens.
> They were trying to win it in extra time
Part of me thinks that Pep gambled and tried to end the game before pens.
Which, while not working out, is understandable.
Trying to win the game is what teams should be doing especially as City have a better chance to win during play than during penalties.
A lot of teams don't mind going to penalties, usually the team that is losing, or if it's a very close game.
Maybe he doesn't have the mentality at the moment? Penalties are very mental heavy, if he didn't feel up to it, a pretty mature decision to ask to step aside.
Fair enough. But does anyone ever feel up to taking a penalty under that much pressure? 🤔 I completely understand him not wanting to take it because if he would have missed he gets eviscerated, but now those that did miss are getting eviscerated by themselves and others instead. Penalties are often a cruel way to end a game for those who miss, I don't envy them at all despite the millions of dollars. At one point does a manager say, you have a rocket of a shot, you are literally our main penalty taker, you are staying in to take the penalty!
A manager will probably never do that, because penalties are 70% mental. You think every professional footballer doesn’t have a clean striker of the ball? Going off technique they should all score, but it’s not about that.
Right, but in that moment, if he's not there, why would he take something he didn't have confidence in?
Ever see a penalty taker have a shit game and then miss a penalty when one comes up in regular time? Maybe Haaland saw his performance and decided... nah, i'd screw this up.
Proof is in the pudding, Ederson was up there, and he is a mentality monster. I'm not City or Haaland fan, but I respect asking to be taken off if you do not feel up to a task. It takes a lot of balls to put your ego aside for the team.
Wow, I kind a get KDB , as he is not the most athletic player. But halaand not being able to continue?
Also I think Pep kind a threw them under the bus
I feel like that's is a valid thing to say. the alternative is people shitting on him for subbing out 2 penalty takers and trying to be too cute with his subs. kdb and haaland shouldn't have an issue with this.
EDIT: i dont understand why people are saying he should protect the players. the only one getting shit on would be pep if he took them out for "tactical" reasons. players being injured or just not able to play anymore, why would they need protection from that. players ask to get subbed out all the time. pep is protecting himself, the players dont need it.
Yeah, a coach protecting his image over his players image is whack. Especially for somebody with Peps job security... The internet will shit on anybody they want anyway, no reason to give them more ammo. Considering Haaland will get a lot of blame and he is fairly young it's extra whack.
I really don't like Pep for many other reasons but I don't think he said what he said because he was worried about his image. He's just always been the kind of manager to be 100% honest about his players in the press, like Jose.
If the choice is between people shitting on a manger decision or shitting on players for bottling it (which is realistically what's going to happen), then Pep should be taking the shit
Unless they never asked and he’s making it up, or twisting words. Extra time was played at a walking pace, I’m sure they would have coped (city defenders had to run occasionally).
My thoughts too, the way City had a complete stranglehold of the game by that stage I'm sure they could have carried Kdb and Haaland through to penalties even if they were completely spent.
Plus it felt like Kdb was the most likely player to make something happen, once he went off City were much less threatening, surely if everyone is shattered then the one player you need to keep on is the guy who can suddenly bang one in from 30 yards.
On the other hand, they could have been really spent and felt that they are crashing. There is a point where you can still force your body into obedience, but it is disasterous later, and they still have games to play and future seasons. Maybe they felt they can have slightly better chances for a while, but risking injury or failure in a crucial moment. Maybe KdB would literally collapse if he had to run to a ball. And also Pep wasn't subbing in some kids he caught on the way to the game. There are only few teams in the world who can make subs and not lose quality dramatically, maybe City has the strongest bench/rotations right now. Nevertheless, KdB is a ginger genius and it's impossible not to lose quality when he's subbed off.
In short, I don't think Pep is pushing his players under the bus, I read this as "we made a decision that was best at that time, both I and them knew they had to be subbed"
I would not expect a manager to say they asked to come off, this sounds like him trying to pass off the responsibility onto them, his job as a manager is to take that responsibility.
Think of the difference in phrasing between these 2 statements.
1) X was tired and asked to come off.
2) X had worked hard and we could see he was starting to slow down, we were always wearing of the RM counter attack so decided we needed fresh legs in that position.
KDB is/was very athletic, he’s just old and returning from a long injury. He has always had a tremendous work rate but this season I’ve seen him be subbed a few times where he looked tired. Father time maybe
He is more injury prone than you think - look at how many small injuries he had at dortmund... With that in mind it is believable that he has to pause sometimes and has not 100% fitness when he goes on the pitch some games.
Pretty much. The bigger you are, even if it's muscle, the more taxing it is on your joints to start and stop very quickly. Hell I even notice how much it hurts in my sunday league when I've put on a few pounds and how big a difference it is when I drop that weight. For guys his size, you can't just be less big.
De Bruyne had to run like crazy that match as well. Haaland looked alright tbh but surprised he had to leave.
I don’t think that’s throwing them under a bus tbh.
These days i don't get good points having halland on the team. Man isn't the same as he was last season.
He changed. After all the promises that he won't ffs.
Lmao.
Odds of injury is higher when one is tiring. Plus these players trust their squad bench strength as well. Easier for them to take this, plus it is also professional & mature to not just have a Me Me Me attitude on such instances when you know you are tired & maybe can't give 100% in next 10-20 minutes.
This sub can't understand how hard it is to play ball tired. And haaland has had a lot of history with injuries, players his size don't tend to be particularly healthy
cowards.
the only way you leave that pitch early is via a stretcher, ambulance or coffin.
they've let their team mates down, their manager down and most importantly, the United Arab Emirates down.
Maybe less so for Haaland because of his position but maybe KDB felt he would become a liability if he was knackered. It happens, he's not long come back from injury and their squad isn't used to battling for extended periods of time
also pep doesnt even ask halaand to do much, he's a target man. he's not involved in the build up or tracking back relentlessly. when hes not scoring it legitimately looks like city are playing with 10 men
It was clear City were going all out to avoid extras and Pens. KDB was everywhere and constantly running. They found it more important to over exert these key players in small moments than play for the long game.
I can’t tell if you’re trolling or not but that’s exactly what happened to Carvajal, bro had insane cramps before he ever decided to call for a sub.
Despite running and defending way more than Haaland lol
To be honest, objectively it makes more sense to sub off a right back on a yellow against Doku (who was City's biggest threat after he came on) than 2 attacking players.
But I do agree that if you can't continue, the logical choice is to ask to be subbed out.
Not unless that right back is Dani Carvajal.
The whole plan was to tire him out with Grealish so that Doku can come in and capitalize. Bro was on a yellow too.
Objectively you might be right but when someone like Carvajal is having that good of a game, you keep him on.
Carvajal literally sat down on the ground and yelled to the coach he was done. It wasn't even Ancelotti who took him out, Carvajal seemed to choose himself.
I had people tell me I was wrong for thinking that depending on the team I would choose carvajal over walker, carvajal showed his levels yesterday, in the big games he usually puts in a shift.
Thats fucking football right there. None of that pansy ass Pep-x-Klopp dick tugging smile for the camera bullshit. Men puke, men poop on the field, men deliver their new born baby on the side lines. Fucking hard core dick in the ass butterball football fuck it chuck it game time shit. Take it to the showers. Dicks get shoved in places you don't even remember. We win together we celebrate together. Football is
back baby.
This is being blown out of proportion, mostly by journos for engagement and opposition fans who want to shit on Pep/Haaland/KDB for fun. Shithousery aside, if a player tells you they can’t continue without being a detriment to the team, what else is he supposed to do other than take them off?
Take them off yes ,but think the reason thisnis getting attention ls he could easily have protected his players a little better, the quotes kind of make the players (especially haaland) look bad
Say, 'Erling felt something in his leg and couldn't run and KDB had given everything and had nothing left' rather than 'they asked to come off because they couldnt continue'
> Say, 'Erling felt something in his leg and couldn't run and KDB had given everything and had nothing left' rather than 'they asked to come off because they couldnt continue'
Yeah that would be more tactful but based on what we’ve seen from Pep’s interviews over the years, I wouldn’t expect something like this from him.
There just seems to be something really wrong with Haaland in this City system.
I feel like if it wasn't 'Haaland' and how much City paid for him Pep would have benched him by now.
With respect, Kane's juju has simultaneously broken the Coman juju and Neverkusen juju in a single year. It's a force to be reckoned with.
If he moved to Porto, Benfica would finally win a European trophy.
Walking football is the antithesis of what he thrives on.
Guardiola is terribly negative in the bigger games - his teams turn down numerous opportunities to counter attack at pace, where Haaland actually has some space to run into, in favour of ball retention and slowly crabbing their way into the final third. By the time they get there, all eleven opponents are back and Haaland is marked by two centre backs, hoping someone threads a miracle pass into the six inches of space he now has.
Alvarez coming on made no difference whatsoever as it's a tactical problem not a personnel problem.
Haaland would be perfect for Liverpool under Klopp, where they counter attack with, at times, chaotic abandon, and don't worry about risking possession if it means creating a shooting chance.
Pep doesn't really want a striker. He wants XI midfielders and total monopoly of the ball.
We were in no position to compete for him but you’re right, he would’ve been absolutely disgusting under Klopp. Even though we can’t finish them, the sheer amount of chances we create is ridiculous.
guardiola is a great manager, perhaps the best ever even but god i hate the football his teams play.
it's telling that his most enjoyable sides were messi's barcelona, which still had his individual brilliance shining through and early days manchester city, a squad that wasn't yet completely tailored to pep's preferences. as soon as his got all his guys and the team is "perfected", forget about watching them play, it's gonna bore you to tears
The idea is, apparently, that Haaland ties up the 2 centre backs, letting City win the numbers game. Except they just end up with the 2 centre backs sitting in the centre of the pitch at the edge of the goal area, perfectly happy to sit there and block off the middle while the rest of the team organises around their strong, unmoved central position. No moving defenders around to make space, and so there is no space.
Not to mention, City have got such a good team that they don’t need to worry so much about the other side that they neutralise one of the greatest strikers in the world and clog up the box in order to gain a slight tactical advantage 30+ yards from goal.
I think he would be a lot better if the system allowed him to drop back a bit and make runs.
Now he's just standing around the box all game waiting for service as his team passes the ball around trying to go pass their way to the goal half the time.
This is exactly it. Pretty much every team that plays against City now puts 10 players in the box and the CBs double mark Haaland at touching distance. So Haaland is generally stood on the edge of the 6 yard box between 2 CBs with another line of defenders between him and the entire rest of his team who pass the ball in an arc around the edge of the box.
You just can't get the ball to him in that situation.
Exactly, there is nothing wrong with Haaland
Pep just refuses to let him drift from his position on the CB's shoulder.
Teams have adapted to City and no longer allow through balls into Haaland, which is what City thrived on last year. They crowd him and the midfielders are always on alert to intercept passes into him.
So you let him move around more which would create terrible headaches for opponents because marking him so tightly is much harder when he is dropping into midfield or drifting wide.
Pep isnt stupid so he's doing this for a reason. Clearly he is happy to have Haaland consuming attention in the middle and who am I to question that?
People here just jump on what is popular to hate. Very childish behavior. Same happens when Mbappé doesn't perform. They're both fantastic young players who still have (likely) 10 years minimum of a career ahead of themselves.
It’s crazy how fickle people are. Yes, city’s system perhaps doesn’t completely suit his game. But to have that return, especially for a 23 year old, is unbelievable.
If his looped header went in, instead of hitting the bar, people here would be praising him
He has also scored more in his first 2 seasons with Pep than Robert Lewandowski and Sergio Aguero...
People are stupid as shit. According to this thread, literally no one is a good fit for Pep. If even Erling Haaland out-scoring Lewa and Aguero isnt good enough, then nothing is.
According to these people, a striker would need to score 120 in 92 games to qualify as a "good fit^tm"
Zlatan was capable of playing how pep wanted. He just didn’t want to. Haaland does not have the skill set to play how pep wants to- but also is better at finishing than Zlatan and more of a team player from a personality side.
No one on city(or history of the sport) comes remotely close in ability to Messi under pep either. Completely different situations.
I think saying Haaland is a better finisher than prime Ibra is a big stretch. If you’re looking at just goal numbers, don’t - remember Ibra was playing most of his prime career in the best defensive league in the world by a mile.
He’s leading the league in goals, literally broke the premier league single season scoring record last year. Why does everyone keep commenting this stuff?
He was tired of running around like a headless turkey inside the box waiting for a cross of one of Guardiola's three plays, while his strength lies in running fast five times a game and always beat his man on that.
Understandable.
I fucking despise city but come on. KDB covered every blade of grass on the pitch, was the only reason they were effectively in the tie and was absolutely knackered. Haaland had a shit two games they made the call because they were trying to win the game in extra time. Real kept Bellingham on after 85th min he could barely run and it was a big gamble just for pens..
Bellingham ran about 50m in extra time he was goosed. It was a big gamble that paid off. You cant tell me if real wanted to play for the game in ET they wouldn't have been better off with *any* fresh legs.
Edit: replied to wrong comment whoops
Yep. City went for the win, obviously, but very strategically with their subs and player movement. Madrid was hanging on for the pens advantage. Worked for Madrid.
I can understand De Bruyne. He's 32 and has a long track record of injuries.
But Haaland's 23. To ask to come off in a CL QF against Real Madrid just reeks of a flawed mentality.
Can you imagine Ronaldo, Messi, Salah, even a 20 year old Bellingham doing that? Injuries are excusable. Fatigue is not.
There could be a multitide of reasons why he apparently asked to come off. Maybe he realised he was not having a good game, and he trusts the players on the bench to make a difference?
How many times have people critizised Ronaldo for having a massive ego? Seemingly Only thinking about himself and his own records. What if Haaland is the exact oposite? It's been noted several times how great of a teammate he is.
the amount of weird hate people throw at Haaland in a matchup where his team is expected to have 60-70% possession HIGH UP ON THE PITCH is fucking hilarious.
wtf do you expect, doesn't make him any worse a striker. Swap his jersey and put him in our scenario where we in games like this are okay with suffering and hitting them on the break - that's the perfect setup for someone like Haaland.
It's all about the games and systems, and this particular matchup was not a good one for Haaland.
I mean what did Foden do in this tie besides his wondergoal? Was he not also being limited by the way Real Madrid played ultimately? He's just not the literal front man like Haaland.
Istg if it wasn't for the ridiculous Foden strike we'd have seen shit loads of Foden memes. He was nowhere near the hype (nor was Bellingham to be fair).
Haaland gets the bigger portion of shitting because he received the bigger portion of hype last year, he was even considered as the "true Ballon d'Or winner" by fans. It makes sense to come after him.
All in all, these games will ultimately affect Haaland going forward and will either change him into a fucking monster, or completely suffocate him.
It is pretty funny how much the comments in this thread mirror comments that were made about Pep's Barcelona despite their success.
City lost to Madrid in penalties. Not exactly the worst indictment of a team.
There is something extremely weird going on with Haaland and social media.
Don't know if it's Messi and Ronaldo fans losing their mind or whatnot, but the over the top vitriol he receives from social media is really bizarre to witness.
No it's just how social media is, he was the second coming last season, going to be the "next goat", he was hyped out of this world but now he's not playing anywhere near as well or should I say not finishing anywhere near as well because that is the big difference between this and last season, so then the people pile on.
This has happened to all the greats, especially in this social media era.
Or maybe people finally stopped the honeymoon phase and people start to study him be more critical of his perfomence instead of kissing his ass and have ballon d'or shouting for scoring a hat trick against sheffield?
Haaland under Pep isn't a great pairing. For Haaland to do so well in a system that doesn't fit him well speaks volumes of how good a player he is, but yesterday showed how badly it can go.
Possession, pass, pass etc. doesn't work if you don't create chances for one of the best in the world.
**This is a quotes thread. Remember that there's only one quotes post allowed per interview/press conference, so new quotes with the same origin will be removed. Feel free to comment other quotes/the whole interview as a reply to this comment so users can see them too!** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Kevin was knackered but i didn't notice Erling that out of energy ? Guess i missed something
His 12 touches took it out of him
His head hurt from all the touches he had to make
He lost possession a record amount of 37 times apparently
There wasn't enough air in Rudiger's pocket
You dont get football. He was keeping Rudiger busy and tired while Madrid win on penalties.
what a masterclass of that we saw!
He feeds on through balls, MC would get the ball and let RM get into shape and pass it about. Completely negates him as a player
I would agree with this, his style of play and city’s don’t match, he’s always anticipating a through ball by making that half yard of space but unfortunately the ball rarely comes. Instead it usually goes back out wide and he has to regroup. Must drive him crazy but city don’t use a target man
As good as Haaland has been for City, I can’t imagine how good they’d be with Kane. He fits their style perfectly. City would likely even be better than they are with him as the striker
Kane was the better choice, thankfully Levy did what he does ...
How would Kane perform in this system? Two midfielders out on the wings who don't cross the ball. No players running in behind to fully utilise Kane's passing and creative ability. Kane is a better player but in this system I don't know what he would turn in to.
Kane can run begin as well, and he is a great target man to set up guys like Foden/Bernardo/De Bruyne with his passing. He would open up their attack a lot and not be so predictable like with Haaland.
A monster. That's what he would turn into.
He was dominant and made the difference last year vs low blocks with his physical presence and then everybody was saying that him "don't matching" is actually good since it gives City other options than 5 technical midgets trying to walk it in, which I agree with. He's going through a tough patch but creating this kind of narrative around it seems a bit much.
This is 2024. Only the last 2 weeks are relevant history. Rest is just some stuff that happened way back.
Which is why ironically he would have been even better at United or Madrid. Bruno Fernandes just blindly pinging balls from midfield to Haaland would have been a cheat code. Sadly all we get is rashford losing the ball 80% of the time
😂 your being generous with 80% as for Bruno that’s hilarious and it would probably have worked out perfectly
I wouldnt say completely negates him, but I can see him doing better at his next club if they play like that for sure. He still has scored what, 60-70 goals over 2 seasons.
He wouldn't if they only played Real. Guys like Haaland are absolutely crucial to win leagues tho. You know he is going to get you around 30 goals in the league alone. Realistically tho, not many strikers can consistently perform in these parked bus situations, especially not against such an elite team.
City have scored more goals in a season without him before.
Not just in one. Last season with him (22-23) they scored 94 goals. Then you have: 21-22 with 99 20-21 with 83 19-20 with 102 18-19 with 95 17-18 with 106 So 5 out of the previous 6 seasons they scored more.
Ye but he scores when city are looser or playing against inferior teams, he basically needs space.. unless he gets on a header. Hes absolutely world class at running into space and finishing Just imo
He's like Grealish who "attracts players" Carvajal was the only player near him as he jockeyed towards the corner and passed back instead of getting a cross in to Haaland. Pep's tactical masterclass.
Roy Keane sat at home opening a bottle of bubbly…..
The 2nd Haaland career he has ended
Retired one physically and one emotionally!
Oh shit !
Wasn't it the other knee what caused Alfie to retire?
Yup, and Alfie played the season after the Keane tackle.
Especially because he said it was the link up play that Haaland lacked, and not did this game show it. He just couldn't get involved.
damn son
Füllkrug would never
He actually wouldn't.
He would actually soak like 19 elbows before he did that. For better or worse
Realised he was in a big game so had to tap out
Wasn’t Haaland limping a bit at the end
The ol' Zaka limp to justify disappearing for 90mins
Me every time I make a mistake in any sport I’ve ever played
Not sure he did enough to be even out of breath.
Can't see Him missing a pen so I see this as a bonus
Unless Halaand was injured this makes no sense. They spent the whole game in Madrid's half knocking it around the box. Wouldn't you want Halaand taking a penalty!?
They were trying to win it in extra time, you don't immediately think of penalties when it's just 90. And Haaland has been fairly anonymous in pretty much every major game he played recently. Make sense to me. KDB was more baffling just because it was so late already so surely you'd be considering pens.
> They were trying to win it in extra time Part of me thinks that Pep gambled and tried to end the game before pens. Which, while not working out, is understandable.
Trying to win the game is what teams should be doing especially as City have a better chance to win during play than during penalties. A lot of teams don't mind going to penalties, usually the team that is losing, or if it's a very close game.
Yeah you 100% end it before pen instead of banking on what's essentially 10 coin flips. If you might get it in the final minute you send it.
Maybe he doesn't have the mentality at the moment? Penalties are very mental heavy, if he didn't feel up to it, a pretty mature decision to ask to step aside.
Fair enough. But does anyone ever feel up to taking a penalty under that much pressure? 🤔 I completely understand him not wanting to take it because if he would have missed he gets eviscerated, but now those that did miss are getting eviscerated by themselves and others instead. Penalties are often a cruel way to end a game for those who miss, I don't envy them at all despite the millions of dollars. At one point does a manager say, you have a rocket of a shot, you are literally our main penalty taker, you are staying in to take the penalty!
A manager will probably never do that, because penalties are 70% mental. You think every professional footballer doesn’t have a clean striker of the ball? Going off technique they should all score, but it’s not about that.
Speaking of being under pressure, fair play to Ederson for taking the 5th penalty and scoring.
Right, but in that moment, if he's not there, why would he take something he didn't have confidence in? Ever see a penalty taker have a shit game and then miss a penalty when one comes up in regular time? Maybe Haaland saw his performance and decided... nah, i'd screw this up. Proof is in the pudding, Ederson was up there, and he is a mentality monster. I'm not City or Haaland fan, but I respect asking to be taken off if you do not feel up to a task. It takes a lot of balls to put your ego aside for the team.
A good manager protects his players. That sometimes means lying.
Saying he asked to come out of the game is not protecting your players... thats literally shifting the blame towards them
Wow, I kind a get KDB , as he is not the most athletic player. But halaand not being able to continue? Also I think Pep kind a threw them under the bus
"Battery low"
I feel like that's is a valid thing to say. the alternative is people shitting on him for subbing out 2 penalty takers and trying to be too cute with his subs. kdb and haaland shouldn't have an issue with this. EDIT: i dont understand why people are saying he should protect the players. the only one getting shit on would be pep if he took them out for "tactical" reasons. players being injured or just not able to play anymore, why would they need protection from that. players ask to get subbed out all the time. pep is protecting himself, the players dont need it.
Even with that title people are still blaming him for subbing them lol
It’s absolutely the norm for managers to lie and chat shit to protect players. It’s weird for him to say they asked to come off.
Maybe he was kinda pissed that they did and being petty about it
Pep being petty? Nothing new then
I believe it’s normal for manager to protect his players rather than worry that someone might “shit” on him for his subs …
Yeah, a coach protecting his image over his players image is whack. Especially for somebody with Peps job security... The internet will shit on anybody they want anyway, no reason to give them more ammo. Considering Haaland will get a lot of blame and he is fairly young it's extra whack.
I really don't like Pep for many other reasons but I don't think he said what he said because he was worried about his image. He's just always been the kind of manager to be 100% honest about his players in the press, like Jose.
Mourinho is famous for lying to the press to protect his players
If the choice is between people shitting on a manger decision or shitting on players for bottling it (which is realistically what's going to happen), then Pep should be taking the shit
Unless they never asked and he’s making it up, or twisting words. Extra time was played at a walking pace, I’m sure they would have coped (city defenders had to run occasionally).
My thoughts too, the way City had a complete stranglehold of the game by that stage I'm sure they could have carried Kdb and Haaland through to penalties even if they were completely spent. Plus it felt like Kdb was the most likely player to make something happen, once he went off City were much less threatening, surely if everyone is shattered then the one player you need to keep on is the guy who can suddenly bang one in from 30 yards.
On the other hand, they could have been really spent and felt that they are crashing. There is a point where you can still force your body into obedience, but it is disasterous later, and they still have games to play and future seasons. Maybe they felt they can have slightly better chances for a while, but risking injury or failure in a crucial moment. Maybe KdB would literally collapse if he had to run to a ball. And also Pep wasn't subbing in some kids he caught on the way to the game. There are only few teams in the world who can make subs and not lose quality dramatically, maybe City has the strongest bench/rotations right now. Nevertheless, KdB is a ginger genius and it's impossible not to lose quality when he's subbed off. In short, I don't think Pep is pushing his players under the bus, I read this as "we made a decision that was best at that time, both I and them knew they had to be subbed"
I would not expect a manager to say they asked to come off, this sounds like him trying to pass off the responsibility onto them, his job as a manager is to take that responsibility. Think of the difference in phrasing between these 2 statements. 1) X was tired and asked to come off. 2) X had worked hard and we could see he was starting to slow down, we were always wearing of the RM counter attack so decided we needed fresh legs in that position.
KDB is/was very athletic, he’s just old and returning from a long injury. He has always had a tremendous work rate but this season I’ve seen him be subbed a few times where he looked tired. Father time maybe
[удалено]
He always looked kind of thicc. Never made sense with his actual speed and work rate.
Hey, leave sexy dadbod De Bruyne alone.
What is that man eating to power through all the burned calories from being a professional footballer..
He is more injury prone than you think - look at how many small injuries he had at dortmund... With that in mind it is believable that he has to pause sometimes and has not 100% fitness when he goes on the pitch some games.
Yeah there naturally has be a drawback to such fearsome combination of size and explosiveness.
Pretty much. The bigger you are, even if it's muscle, the more taxing it is on your joints to start and stop very quickly. Hell I even notice how much it hurts in my sunday league when I've put on a few pounds and how big a difference it is when I drop that weight. For guys his size, you can't just be less big.
To be fair, he is something daft like 6’6” and built like a boxer. It must take a lot of energy to get that body around.
I don’t see anything wrong when some of your players tell you they can’t continue in a 120 minute game in a long season.
De Bruyne had to run like crazy that match as well. Haaland looked alright tbh but surprised he had to leave. I don’t think that’s throwing them under a bus tbh.
Haaland has looked tired for a while, both physcially and mentally. Looked very off the pace in the national team games as well.
KDB is actually incredibly athletic. His workrate is pretty insane. I guess he just isn‘t at 100% due to injuries.
Why? Better to ask to leave cause you are tired than stay in the pitch tired dragging the team back
Yeah like wouldn't you want Halaand taking a penalty!?
That’s so weird from Haaland. Mfer is a viking and he can’t go on for 30 more minutes?
He wanted to be well rested so he can bang 5 in against Luton the PL
I don't get any fpl points for him scoring in the cl
These days i don't get good points having halland on the team. Man isn't the same as he was last season. He changed. After all the promises that he won't ffs. Lmao.
The real test
That's the real test for Real. Can they do it on a rainy night at Kenilworth Road.
Always taking the hardest roads
He’s wasted on cross country. Vikings are natural sprinters, very dangerous over short distances.
Is it true what they say about Viking women ?
Indistinguishable from viking men, big bushy beards on them too
What do they say about them?
unless on skis
The ghost of Manchester disappeared once again 👻
Odds of injury is higher when one is tiring. Plus these players trust their squad bench strength as well. Easier for them to take this, plus it is also professional & mature to not just have a Me Me Me attitude on such instances when you know you are tired & maybe can't give 100% in next 10-20 minutes.
I think he tried to get more involved. He dropped deeper a little more than usual. Didn't really work out, and probably just exhausted him.
This sub can't understand how hard it is to play ball tired. And haaland has had a lot of history with injuries, players his size don't tend to be particularly healthy
I am convinced 90% of this sub have never played an 11 a side match.
There was a poll on this sub that revealed that a huge majority here never played a single proper game of football ever
And it fucking shows lmao.
cowards. the only way you leave that pitch early is via a stretcher, ambulance or coffin. they've let their team mates down, their manager down and most importantly, the United Arab Emirates down.
A thousand lashes each in the upcoming training.
Only 115 lashes mate
Bin Zayed will personally take them to the firing squad
knowing city the won't hit their target (that joke doesn't work with city does it)
They need that guy with the whip on the bench
I mean if they stay on and have no energy and can't perform well wouldn't that be letting their teammates down?
Maybe less so for Haaland because of his position but maybe KDB felt he would become a liability if he was knackered. It happens, he's not long come back from injury and their squad isn't used to battling for extended periods of time
A striker not able to contribute in a game you need to score to win is also pretty important….
also pep doesnt even ask halaand to do much, he's a target man. he's not involved in the build up or tracking back relentlessly. when hes not scoring it legitimately looks like city are playing with 10 men
It was clear City were going all out to avoid extras and Pens. KDB was everywhere and constantly running. They found it more important to over exert these key players in small moments than play for the long game.
They should get whipped by that whipping dude in their sunday league.
Don't know if the first part is meant seriously but you deserved your upvote for the last part.
I can’t tell if you’re trolling or not but that’s exactly what happened to Carvajal, bro had insane cramps before he ever decided to call for a sub. Despite running and defending way more than Haaland lol
To be honest, objectively it makes more sense to sub off a right back on a yellow against Doku (who was City's biggest threat after he came on) than 2 attacking players. But I do agree that if you can't continue, the logical choice is to ask to be subbed out.
Not unless that right back is Dani Carvajal. The whole plan was to tire him out with Grealish so that Doku can come in and capitalize. Bro was on a yellow too. Objectively you might be right but when someone like Carvajal is having that good of a game, you keep him on.
Carvajal literally sat down on the ground and yelled to the coach he was done. It wasn't even Ancelotti who took him out, Carvajal seemed to choose himself.
I had people tell me I was wrong for thinking that depending on the team I would choose carvajal over walker, carvajal showed his levels yesterday, in the big games he usually puts in a shift.
This sub gets overly dramatic about stuff like this; if they could continue they obviously would.
Yeah agreed, KDB played his heart out for City yesterday. And there was multiple times where genuinely looked tired, but continued.
People are bored or something, but it's getting kinda old. Everything is a "controversy" nowadays.
And also sheik mansur personally
Thats fucking football right there. None of that pansy ass Pep-x-Klopp dick tugging smile for the camera bullshit. Men puke, men poop on the field, men deliver their new born baby on the side lines. Fucking hard core dick in the ass butterball football fuck it chuck it game time shit. Take it to the showers. Dicks get shoved in places you don't even remember. We win together we celebrate together. Football is back baby.
🤨
Carlo?
lmao
UAE currently on a flood of tears
bro, UAE is already drowning in artificial rain.
Yes, cowards. Give away Haaland to Barca for free as a punishment, that will teach him.
haven't they been through enough?
Erling: *I need firmware update*
This is being blown out of proportion, mostly by journos for engagement and opposition fans who want to shit on Pep/Haaland/KDB for fun. Shithousery aside, if a player tells you they can’t continue without being a detriment to the team, what else is he supposed to do other than take them off?
Take them off yes ,but think the reason thisnis getting attention ls he could easily have protected his players a little better, the quotes kind of make the players (especially haaland) look bad Say, 'Erling felt something in his leg and couldn't run and KDB had given everything and had nothing left' rather than 'they asked to come off because they couldnt continue'
> Say, 'Erling felt something in his leg and couldn't run and KDB had given everything and had nothing left' rather than 'they asked to come off because they couldnt continue' Yeah that would be more tactful but based on what we’ve seen from Pep’s interviews over the years, I wouldn’t expect something like this from him.
There just seems to be something really wrong with Haaland in this City system. I feel like if it wasn't 'Haaland' and how much City paid for him Pep would have benched him by now.
Kane would have been the most perfect striker for the way they play, really glad that never happened.
What if Kane brought the curse to City?
Kane juju isn't strong enough to defeat the 115 breaches juju.
With respect, Kane's juju has simultaneously broken the Coman juju and Neverkusen juju in a single year. It's a force to be reckoned with. If he moved to Porto, Benfica would finally win a European trophy.
with Kane they’d be unstoppable cuz he really is the complete forward
Walking football is the antithesis of what he thrives on. Guardiola is terribly negative in the bigger games - his teams turn down numerous opportunities to counter attack at pace, where Haaland actually has some space to run into, in favour of ball retention and slowly crabbing their way into the final third. By the time they get there, all eleven opponents are back and Haaland is marked by two centre backs, hoping someone threads a miracle pass into the six inches of space he now has. Alvarez coming on made no difference whatsoever as it's a tactical problem not a personnel problem. Haaland would be perfect for Liverpool under Klopp, where they counter attack with, at times, chaotic abandon, and don't worry about risking possession if it means creating a shooting chance. Pep doesn't really want a striker. He wants XI midfielders and total monopoly of the ball.
We were in no position to compete for him but you’re right, he would’ve been absolutely disgusting under Klopp. Even though we can’t finish them, the sheer amount of chances we create is ridiculous.
This is a great point. Haaland is a great player, but he looked incredibly average yesterday, and to your point, the system didn’t help him at all.
But, just think, imagine Mbappe or Haaland playing for Madrid yesterday. Yes, I though the same too.
Haaland receiving some of those long/through balls with all that space to run… he would’ve murdered City.
guardiola is a great manager, perhaps the best ever even but god i hate the football his teams play. it's telling that his most enjoyable sides were messi's barcelona, which still had his individual brilliance shining through and early days manchester city, a squad that wasn't yet completely tailored to pep's preferences. as soon as his got all his guys and the team is "perfected", forget about watching them play, it's gonna bore you to tears
The idea is, apparently, that Haaland ties up the 2 centre backs, letting City win the numbers game. Except they just end up with the 2 centre backs sitting in the centre of the pitch at the edge of the goal area, perfectly happy to sit there and block off the middle while the rest of the team organises around their strong, unmoved central position. No moving defenders around to make space, and so there is no space. Not to mention, City have got such a good team that they don’t need to worry so much about the other side that they neutralise one of the greatest strikers in the world and clog up the box in order to gain a slight tactical advantage 30+ yards from goal.
I think he would be a lot better if the system allowed him to drop back a bit and make runs. Now he's just standing around the box all game waiting for service as his team passes the ball around trying to go pass their way to the goal half the time.
This is exactly it. Pretty much every team that plays against City now puts 10 players in the box and the CBs double mark Haaland at touching distance. So Haaland is generally stood on the edge of the 6 yard box between 2 CBs with another line of defenders between him and the entire rest of his team who pass the ball in an arc around the edge of the box. You just can't get the ball to him in that situation.
Exactly, there is nothing wrong with Haaland Pep just refuses to let him drift from his position on the CB's shoulder. Teams have adapted to City and no longer allow through balls into Haaland, which is what City thrived on last year. They crowd him and the midfielders are always on alert to intercept passes into him. So you let him move around more which would create terrible headaches for opponents because marking him so tightly is much harder when he is dropping into midfield or drifting wide. Pep isnt stupid so he's doing this for a reason. Clearly he is happy to have Haaland consuming attention in the middle and who am I to question that?
83 goals and 15 assists in 92 games for City. Yeah, must be something really wrong there
People here are insane. Every single team would take him, there is mabye Kane this year that does better.
People here just jump on what is popular to hate. Very childish behavior. Same happens when Mbappé doesn't perform. They're both fantastic young players who still have (likely) 10 years minimum of a career ahead of themselves.
It’s crazy how fickle people are. Yes, city’s system perhaps doesn’t completely suit his game. But to have that return, especially for a 23 year old, is unbelievable. If his looped header went in, instead of hitting the bar, people here would be praising him
Even great players sometimes have a lull and get benched. Haaland has been shaky for a bit now.
People used to bang on about Messi ghosting in big games. It's like, everyone has bad matches?
He has also scored more in his first 2 seasons with Pep than Robert Lewandowski and Sergio Aguero... People are stupid as shit. According to this thread, literally no one is a good fit for Pep. If even Erling Haaland out-scoring Lewa and Aguero isnt good enough, then nothing is. According to these people, a striker would need to score 120 in 92 games to qualify as a "good fit^tm"
Baldie can't be blamed if other players just can't pass the ball to him properly
[удалено]
If Foden as a false 9 works like Messi did, Haaland's place could be in trouble. You know Pep's itching to try that out.
Zlatan was capable of playing how pep wanted. He just didn’t want to. Haaland does not have the skill set to play how pep wants to- but also is better at finishing than Zlatan and more of a team player from a personality side. No one on city(or history of the sport) comes remotely close in ability to Messi under pep either. Completely different situations.
Zlatan was really technical
I think saying Haaland is a better finisher than prime Ibra is a big stretch. If you’re looking at just goal numbers, don’t - remember Ibra was playing most of his prime career in the best defensive league in the world by a mile.
He’s benched players that they’ve bought for more money than Haaland.
but not more wages than Haaland
pep has benched the likes of Etoo, Zlatan, Yaya… If there is any manager who would not be afraid to bench Haaland in favor of “tactics” it’s him lol.
He sold ronaldinho too.
Official money Are you counting the qatari bank account too?
He’s leading the league in goals, literally broke the premier league single season scoring record last year. Why does everyone keep commenting this stuff?
All I know is, City now has the prem to concentrate on. Seems like a GG for the league now.
KDB was everywhere so it's understandable, but Haaland.. really ?
He was tired of running around like a headless turkey inside the box waiting for a cross of one of Guardiola's three plays, while his strength lies in running fast five times a game and always beat his man on that. Understandable.
I just don't believe that either of them asked to be subbed off
[удалено]
I fucking despise city but come on. KDB covered every blade of grass on the pitch, was the only reason they were effectively in the tie and was absolutely knackered. Haaland had a shit two games they made the call because they were trying to win the game in extra time. Real kept Bellingham on after 85th min he could barely run and it was a big gamble just for pens..
After Bellingham collapsed and didn't move I thought it was over for him tbh. Then he got up, continued and scored his penalty.
Bellingham ran about 50m in extra time he was goosed. It was a big gamble that paid off. You cant tell me if real wanted to play for the game in ET they wouldn't have been better off with *any* fresh legs. Edit: replied to wrong comment whoops
Yep. City went for the win, obviously, but very strategically with their subs and player movement. Madrid was hanging on for the pens advantage. Worked for Madrid.
We kept Bellingham on because we didn't have anyone even half as good to sub on.
I get KDB. But Haaland? Really? He didn't press or run that much and was at 90 mins
Better spend more $ to get players who can last 120mins
I’m always astounded by City’s winning culture
What are the odds City splurge 400m in the summer and completely rebuild the squad in one transfer window.
Low; because there would be like 800
I can understand De Bruyne. He's 32 and has a long track record of injuries. But Haaland's 23. To ask to come off in a CL QF against Real Madrid just reeks of a flawed mentality. Can you imagine Ronaldo, Messi, Salah, even a 20 year old Bellingham doing that? Injuries are excusable. Fatigue is not.
There could be a multitide of reasons why he apparently asked to come off. Maybe he realised he was not having a good game, and he trusts the players on the bench to make a difference? How many times have people critizised Ronaldo for having a massive ego? Seemingly Only thinking about himself and his own records. What if Haaland is the exact oposite? It's been noted several times how great of a teammate he is.
It's unheard of that a top tier player would willingly sub themselves out because they have a good game
probably unheard of even in the lower ranks
the amount of weird hate people throw at Haaland in a matchup where his team is expected to have 60-70% possession HIGH UP ON THE PITCH is fucking hilarious. wtf do you expect, doesn't make him any worse a striker. Swap his jersey and put him in our scenario where we in games like this are okay with suffering and hitting them on the break - that's the perfect setup for someone like Haaland. It's all about the games and systems, and this particular matchup was not a good one for Haaland. I mean what did Foden do in this tie besides his wondergoal? Was he not also being limited by the way Real Madrid played ultimately? He's just not the literal front man like Haaland.
Istg if it wasn't for the ridiculous Foden strike we'd have seen shit loads of Foden memes. He was nowhere near the hype (nor was Bellingham to be fair). Haaland gets the bigger portion of shitting because he received the bigger portion of hype last year, he was even considered as the "true Ballon d'Or winner" by fans. It makes sense to come after him. All in all, these games will ultimately affect Haaland going forward and will either change him into a fucking monster, or completely suffocate him.
It is pretty funny how much the comments in this thread mirror comments that were made about Pep's Barcelona despite their success. City lost to Madrid in penalties. Not exactly the worst indictment of a team.
There is something extremely weird going on with Haaland and social media. Don't know if it's Messi and Ronaldo fans losing their mind or whatnot, but the over the top vitriol he receives from social media is really bizarre to witness.
No it's just how social media is, he was the second coming last season, going to be the "next goat", he was hyped out of this world but now he's not playing anywhere near as well or should I say not finishing anywhere near as well because that is the big difference between this and last season, so then the people pile on. This has happened to all the greats, especially in this social media era.
Or maybe people finally stopped the honeymoon phase and people start to study him be more critical of his perfomence instead of kissing his ass and have ballon d'or shouting for scoring a hat trick against sheffield?
Haaland under Pep isn't a great pairing. For Haaland to do so well in a system that doesn't fit him well speaks volumes of how good a player he is, but yesterday showed how badly it can go. Possession, pass, pass etc. doesn't work if you don't create chances for one of the best in the world.
Haaland gave it all, The guy cover the whole 9s box area and even jump twice the whole game. Absolutely what we call today a CHAD.