Coach Guardiola increasingly makes fans frustrated - Photo: REUTERS
At 2:00 a.m. on May 21 (Vietnam time), Man City will host Bournemouth in the late match of round 37 of the Premier League.
The future is bleak
There is no need to say more about the importance of this match. Hosting Bournemouth in round 37 and visiting Fulham in the final round will be two matches that will decide the future of Man City. And also the future of coach Pep Guardiola.
With 65 points, Man City are currently ranked 6th, but they have a game in hand in round 37. A win would take Man City back to 3rd place, but they would only be 2 points ahead of 6th-placed Aston Villa. Beating Bournemouth, Man City could still fall out of the top 5 if they lose to Fulham in the final round.
A Champions League ticket is vital for all the big clubs, especially in the context of the increasingly heavy pressure of the Financial Fair Play Law. The difference between participating in the Champions League and not participating in the Champions League can be up to hundreds of millions of euros.
Take a simple example of Man City and Man United this season. Despite reaching the Europa League final, Man United only received a bonus of about 25 million euros, while Man City received three times as much (nearly 80 million euros) despite being eliminated from the Champions League play-off round.
Man City tightened their spending in the summer of 2024. But then the poor results forced Man City to once again pour money into the transfer market, spending up to 212 million euros on 4 players in January. Guardiola turned out to be not as stable as fans thought. If he failed in the campaign to qualify for the Champions League, Man City would be in real danger.
Coach Pep Guardiola is losing control? - Photo: REUTERS
The dark cloud over Pep
There was a time when Pep built up the belief that he had brought Man City through the crisis. That was the period from the end of February, after Man City was eliminated from the Champions League by Real Madrid. With only the Premier League left, coach Guardiola and his team focused on gradually reviving the domestic league.
The winter recruits gradually proved their worth with Marmoush scoring consistently, and Nico Gonzalez having a streak of starts from February to April. Even Khusanov, a young Uzbek centre-back, gradually showed his progress with a streak of 6 starts in a row immediately after joining the team.
But Guardiola once again made fans dizzy with his incomprehensible decisions. Khusanov was gradually adapting to English football when he suddenly "disappeared" from mid-March until now. The Uzbek midfielder has not been allowed to play a single minute in the past 2 months, despite John Stones being injured.
Nico Gonzalez also suddenly "disappeared" from the starting lineup since the end of April. Before that, the Argentine midfielder played very consistently, helping Man City have a series of consecutive wins in the Premier League. But at the crucial moment, Pep did not trust him.
In the FA Cup final, coach Guardiola chose to use De Bruyne - Silva as the central midfield pair. This was a decision that disappointed fans, because both names above are stars with an attacking orientation. On the contrary, Gonzalez was considered to be a suitable replacement for Rodri.
Marmoush hasn't lost his place, but the Egyptian striker has become a victim of Pep's confusing use of players. When Haaland suffered a serious injury in early April, Marmoush was given a start in his preferred centre-forward position.
And he scored in his first game against Leicester. But he was then moved back to the wing in the following games to make way for De Bruyne to play as a false striker. When Haaland returned, Marmoush was even pulled into the attacking midfield position, with De Bruyne playing... a defensive midfielder.
With confusing decisions, complaining, and noisy press conferences, Pep Guardiola is really losing the composure of a world-class strategist.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/pep-dang-mat-kiem-soat-20250520104716549.htm
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