Dimitar Berbatov Exclusive: City fans should lay off Pep + Follow
THÔNG TIN CHI TIẾT
Dimitar Berbatov Exclusive: City fans should lay off Pep
Fans are not coaches
Pep Guardiola faced criticism from some fans for his team selection against Tottenham this week, but the City boss has earned the right lớn make the decisions he wants, insists Dimitar Berbatov… You can follow lớn the free soccer daily tip page!
It was a very even game on Tuesday night at the new Spurs stadium, although Spurs probably just about deserved the win. Man City missing the penalty early on was a big help lớn Tottenham, it gave them momentum and impetus for the rest of the match.
I know there has been some controversy on that decision, but it was a penalty for me - Danny Rose's arm was up and the soccer tips goals was going towards the goal, so the referee was right to award it.
Pep Guardiola has received quite a bit of criticism from fans for his team selection on the night - particularly playing Riyad Mahrez and Fabian Delph and not starting Kevin de Bruyne - but supporters aren't coaches! We're talking about one of the best managers in Europe here and he's earned the right to make the decisions he wants.
Well. That’s as poor as I’ve seen us this season. Pretty dire. The starting XI was bizarre. The subs at 88 mins totally bizarre. Oh well. Back to the Etihad...but we can’t be that negative again this season. It’s just not us. Over-thinking tonight cost us. At least it was 1-0.
In the case of Mahrez and Delph, it shows that Pep has faith in his squad players which will give them confidence ahead of the important games in the run-in. Fans need lớn trust the manager; the decisions might seem strange on the outside but he will have done it for a reason.
Credit to Spurs - but it's only half-timeFor all the criticism of Guardiola, it wasn't a bad result in the end really. He probably had the Liverpool defeat last season in the back of his mind when he set the team up fairly conservatively, and City will more than fancy their chances of turning around a one-goal deficit back at the Etihad next Wednesday.
Losing Harry Kane to another injury is obviously a massive blow for Spurs, although in Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura, they have the attacking weapons lớn hurt City on the night.
A lead of 1-0 is nothing really - look at the Atletico Madrid v Juventus game in the last round. Atletico were 2-0 up but Juve absolutely blew them away in the home leg. An early goal for City on Wednesday will make life very difficult for Mauricio Pochettino's men although I don't expect them to just sit back and defend - that's a recipe for disaster against City.
I think City will have too much on the night and will end up qualifying but Spurs won't make it easy for them.
Barca did a professional job at Old TraffordIt was a pretty boring game at Old Trafford on Wednesday if I'm honest. Barcelona did what they needed to do lớn get the result, they are an experienced team who know how to control the tempo, when to press and how lớn take the sting out of the game.
The goal - which was Luis Suarez's all day long by the way - was one of the few moments of quality in the match, and it was all down lớn the vision and awareness of Lionel Messi. A superb pass.
0 Bình luận
Bình luận