Pep Guardiola, Manchester City manager (Photo by PETER POWELL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Manchester City’s boss admits to making a tactical mistake and that he corrected it.
It is a well-known fact that Guardiola overanalyzes many tactical situations. Typically, when he does this, he focuses on several themes repeatedly.
The issues that Pep delves into mentally in this manner come out in messages to his team, his opponents, and the world at large, even when he does not mean to.
At the start of the post-match video conference (I wonder if Pep prefers video calls rather than face to face as most introverts do), he offered his first message.
It was a mistake to have his wingers play too far inward in the first half.
It made sense for Manchester City to move wingers inward with the ball and put Phil Foden in the false nine position. This plan was not the reflective manager’s example of trying to out-think the room.
Real’s talisman on defense and their captain, Sergio Ramos, was sitting in an ill-fitted suit in the stands rather than anchoring the backline and doing everything (I mean, everything) possible to win the match.
Every manager would have tried to attack where Ramos would have been. My grandmother would have tried that tactic. My father, who thinks football is not a real sport, would have done it.
It did not work.
Pep realized this mistake at half-time and moved the wingers out where they were more comfortable. The result, as the MCFC coach pointed out, was many more chances to score goals.
The gaffer sent two messages at the press conference.
One, I am willing to be flexible when something is not working and make a subtle change. Pep brought up this idea twice.
Two, and stated more subtly, we need to convert our opportunities to win. We should have scored more goals.
Pep was not done.
post-match press conference</a>, Man City manager Pep Guardiola sat down, checked messages on his phone, then rubbed his eyes in a sign of weariness and a need for a quick recharge of his mental battery.</p>
<p>Then he looked up to face the public with the last of his reserves.</p>
<p>Pep is deeply reflective, analytical, and his mind is always processing. His brain is at work so much that the Catalan-born manager absorbs all the energy in the conference room.</p>
<p>City’s gaffer is an introvert.</p>
<p>As an introvert, Guardiola is quickly drained by any public setting. Since his brain is continuously analyzing his intrapsychic baggage and the external surroundings, Pep gets mentally exhausted rapidly.</p>
<p>After the energy and emotion of a huge match and the intense preparation before the game itself, the last thing that MCFC’s boss wants to do is face a room full of people. It’s almost too much to bear.</p>
<p>Guardiola rubbed his face to prep for the task ahead. The chore is a requirement and an emotional hurdle for the 49-year old.</p>
<p>Like many analytical, introverted football managers, Pep sends subtle messages through everything he does publically. These signals are posted in the clothes he wears and the paralanguage in press conferences.</p>
<p>Friday was no different.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/09/manchester-city-pep-guardiola-messages/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Pep Guardiola admits to an error </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-483687 size-full" src=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/09/manchester-city-pep-guardiola-messages/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_975,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1227955103.jpeg" alt="Pep Guardiola" width="1600" height="975" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1227955103.jpeg 1600w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1227955103-768x468.jpeg 768w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1227955103-268x162.jpeg 268w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Pep Guardiola, Manchester City manager (Photo by PETER POWELL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Manchester City’s boss admits to making a tactical mistake and that he corrected it.</h2>
<p>It is a well-known fact that Guardiola overanalyzes many tactical situations. Typically, when he does this, he focuses on several themes repeatedly.</p>
<p>The issues that Pep delves into mentally in this manner come out in messages to his team, his opponents, and the world at large, even when he does not mean to.</p>
<p>At the start of the post-match video conference (I wonder if Pep prefers video calls rather than face to face as most introverts do), he offered his first message.</p>
<p>It was a mistake to have his wingers play too far inward in the first half.</p>
<p>It made sense for Manchester City to move wingers inward with the ball and put <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/09/manchester-city-pep-guardiola-messages/2/"https://fbref.com/en/players/ed1e53f3/Phil-Foden">Phil Foden</a> in the false nine position. This plan was not the reflective manager’s example of trying to out-think the room.</p>
<p>Real’s talisman on defense and their captain, <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/09/manchester-city-pep-guardiola-messages/2/"https://fbref.com/en/players/08511d65/Sergio-Ramos">Sergio Ramos</a>, was sitting in an ill-fitted suit in the stands rather than anchoring the backline and doing everything (I mean, everything) possible to win the match.</p>
<p>Every manager would have tried to attack where Ramos would have been. My grandmother would have tried that tactic. My father, who thinks football is not a real sport, would have done it.</p>
<p>It did not work.</p>
<p>Pep realized this mistake at half-time and moved the wingers out where they were more comfortable. The result, as the MCFC coach pointed out, was many more chances to score goals.</p>
<p>The gaffer sent two messages at the press conference.</p>
<p>One, I am willing to be flexible when something is not working and make a subtle change. Pep brought up this idea twice.</p>
<p>Two, and stated more subtly, we need to convert our opportunities to win. We should have scored more goals.</p>
<p>Pep was not done.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/09/manchester-city-pep-guardiola-messages/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Pep sends a message to Gabriel Jesus </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-483685 size-full" src=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/09/manchester-city-pep-guardiola-messages/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1264555545.jpeg" alt="Manchester City" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1264555545.jpeg 3200w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1264555545-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Gabriel Jesus of Manchester City (Photo by Nick Potts/Pool via Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Guardiola sends a message to a struggling striker.</h2>
<p>Much has been said about the two mistakes that <em>Los Blancos</em> center-back <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/09/manchester-city-pep-guardiola-messages/2/"https://fbref.com/en/players/9f8e9423/Raphael-Varane">Raphaël Varane</a> made that led to both Manchester City’s goals.</p>
<p>It was likely the 26-year old Frenchman’s worst game of his career.</p>
<p>Pep sent another couple of messages when asked about Varane’s mistakes to his forward <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/09/manchester-city-pep-guardiola-messages/2/"https://fbref.com/en/players/b66315ae/Gabriel-Jesus">Gabriel Jesus</a>.</p>
<p>The analytical manager stated that Jesus was the “man of the two matches” and that “big players have to show in big games.”</p>
<p>These are true statements.</p>
<p>Gabriel Jesus, who was one of the worst finishers in the Premier League with a goal chance conversion rate of -3.7, drew a penalty in the first leg in Madrid, forced Varane into two crucial mistakes, assisted in the primary goal, and converted the last to clinch the victory.</p>
<p>It was Jesus’ work rate that generated those mistakes. It may surprise readers to know that Varane committed zero errors with the ball in the regular season and led the club in clearances.</p>
<p>Manchester City’s managers’ messages were clear. He threw it out like a boomerang twice in the video call.</p>
<p>One, Gabriel, you were the man of the match for us. Bravo!</p>
<p>Two, with <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/09/manchester-city-pep-guardiola-messages/2/"https://fbref.com/en/players/4d034881/Sergio-Aguero">Sergio Agüero</a> out, I need you to step it up and convert like the lethal striker you can be.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/09/manchester-city-pep-guardiola-messages/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Guardiola reminds the world that his team fights alone </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-483688 size-full" src=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/09/manchester-city-pep-guardiola-messages/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1227955571.jpeg" alt="Manchester City" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1227955571.jpeg 3200w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1227955571-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">A display at the Etihad (Photo by NICK POTTS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Guardiola sent two more critical messages to his club and everyone sitting at home.</h2>
<p>On two occasions, Pep stated that in Champions League matches, that you will be punished for making mistakes.</p>
<p>The first time this was mentioned was in response to a question about the<em> La Liga</em> champion’s defensive mistakes.</p>
<p>The second time he brought it up was in praise for the fact that in this critical match-up against a quality opponent, Manchester City’s defense did not make any fatal errors.</p>
<p>The <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/09/manchester-city-pep-guardiola-messages/2/"https://fbref.com/en/players/70d74ece/Karim-Benzema">Karim Benzema</a> goal in the first half was more about the quality of the goal chance rather than a defensive error. It was an excellent cross to a lethal forward who headed the ball in. It was a near-perfect execution.</p>
<p>The City boss’s message to his club here was important:</p>
<p>We can’t make the same mistakes as we did during the league season if we hope to lift the Champions League trophy.</p>
<p>Guardiola’s last message was to the rest of the footie world.</p>
<p>When he was asked about Manchester City’s chances at winning the Champions League in the upcoming one-off format, Pep furrowed his brow, looked aside, scoffed, and stated:</p>
<blockquote><p>“And you speak with all the teams that will be there, they will think the same. Why are we so special, so different to win the Champions League than the other ones? I don’t see one reason why.” —<a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/08/09/manchester-city-pep-guardiola-messages/2/"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmtFkwIxjqE%22>Pep Guardiola, post match press conference, August 7, 2020.</a></p></blockquote>
<p>Many times, introverts have no patience for what they perceive as incompetence.</p>
<p>The Manchester City manager, disliked the question, one he has been asked repeatedly for years, so much that to him it signaled in flashing lights: Incompetent.</p>
<p>Yet, it was another opportunity to send one last message.</p>
<p>We are not as good as everyone thinks we are, including our players. We are going to Portugal, and it’s us against them.</p>
<p>If there was a <em>The Wire</em>-like opening credit quote for City’s season so far, it is: Everyone hates us for being good. It’s us against the world.</p>
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<p>The post-match conference after a “satisfying” victory exhausted the introverted Catalan born manager. Still, in less than ten minutes, Pep sent messages that will linger for the days to come.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
