Pep Guardiola sack: ‘Man City players tired of manager after Real Madrid loss’
Man City may have to consider moving on from Pep Guardiola after their 6-3 aggregate loss to Real Madrid, according to Adrian Durham.
The Premier League champions found themselves heading to the Estadio Bernabeu needing to overturn a 3-2 deficit, in order to progress to the last 16 of the Champions League.
However, Guardiola’s team selection left several pundits reeling, with Kevin De Bruyne and the highest paid player in Europe Erling Haaland on the bench.
Omar Marmoush was fresh off a hat-trick against Newcastle, but the Egyptian was played out wide in another strange move by the former Barcelona manager.
Man City players look tired after difficult start to season
Durham appeared on talkSPORT (20 February, 9.14am) to speak about City’s performance against Real Madrid, and the English journalist was scathing in his review, saying that other elite-club bosses would be in trouble at this point:
“I ask about the tactics, and the game-plan, from Pep Guardiola. He knows they’re 3-2 down, so what game-plan has he got?
“He knows they need goals, Haaland’s there, but he’s on the bench.
“They go 2-0 down, we still see no Haaland, it made no sense to me, and I think Pep Guardiola’s had a tough time personally. We know this, it’s all been made public, and I feel for him, and he looks very tired, seems very tired, the players look tired of him.
“I’m just wondering what the next step is for Manchester City because, at most elite European clubs, this kind of season would be unacceptable, and a manager wouldn’t keep his job.
“I’m left asking the question of Man City, what do they do next?”
January saw Man City shell-out as they looked to revitalise an ailing squad, but with the club now out of Europe, and the Premier League title race, it looks unlikely that the Sky Blues will see a return on their investments this season.
Pep Guardiola needs to find a way to alleviate the pressure on his squad
Football Insider Verdict
City have quickly gone from looking like they have the perfect squad, to a panicked mid-season rebuild.
Abdukodir Khusanov was signed from Lens in January, alongside Vitor Reis from Palmeiras. Whilst both are extremely promising defenders, it feels almost irresponsible to use them in the way that Guardiola is right now, Khusanov especially.
Rather than alleviating the weight of expectation on his young signings, and giving them a pre-season to get used to a new team, country, and language, he has thrown his young signings into the firing line, and it is clearly having a negative impact.
| 2024/25 Premier League standing | Games played | Points |
| 1. Liverpool | 26 | 61 |
| 2. Arsenal | 25 | 53 |
| 3. Nottingham Forest | 25 | 47 |
| 4. Man City | 25 | 44 |
| 5. Bournemouth | 25 | 43 |
Khusanov struggled mightily on his debut for City against Chelsea, gifting a goal to the Blues, and the Uzbek defender was played out of position against Real Madrid.
If Guardiola can make any kind of a success from this season, it will come from developing his young signings, and to do so, he must alleviate the pressure on them, rather than putting them in the firing line.