Man City's frantic Champions League escape makes you wonder about frazzled Pep Guardiola
Man City's frantic Champions League escape makes you wonder about frazzled Pep Guardiola
Share:
When Pep Guardiola tried to hurry proceedings along midway through a tortuous first half, his efforts were in keeping with his team’s performance at that point. He dashed to fetch the ball and send it back into play but his throw only hit the backside of his opposite number, Nicky Hayen. A City man first to the ball but finding a Bruges man blocking a decisive pass?.
It was certainly the story of the first half, it certainly encapsulated Guardiola’s frazzled night. It would not have mattered which way this contest went, you would still have left wondering why Guardiola continues to put himself through this. He has won it all, Pep, and then some. On Saturday, it will be nine years to the day when Guardiola agreed to become Manchester City manager. And we all know how that has gone. He has swept all before him, confirming himself as one of the coaching greats.
Yet here he was, a painful picture of pure anxiety in the technical area, wondering when the first mistake - and then the next - would come against a side from, with the utmost respect, the Belgian league. That it took a whole minute for him to reach for his head in exasperation - prompted by a mix-up between Manuel Akanji and Matheus Nunes - was a surprise.
Pep looked nervous watching the warm-ups. And that is now the core issue at the Etihad - Guardiola, for all his protests to the contrary, does not trust his players to make the right decisions. He no longer has complete faith in them. It is probably why he could have anticipated the defensive lapse from Nunes that was instrumental in the Bruges opener from Raphael Onyedika. At least City fans know their manager cares.
