Pep Guardiola's 5 biggest mistakes
A career spanning 7 and a half seasons adorned with 6 league titles, 2 Champions league titles and numerous other trophies, Pep Guardiola has already won as many trophies as most managers would dream of winning in their whole career. It’s not just about the trophies, Pep boasts of an unmatched win percentage and the style of football that’s often considered as football at it’s purest.
Like any manager, Pep has made mistakes throughout his career. Although fewer than most, his mistakes have had far-reaching effects in the footballing fraternity. His man management skills have often been questioned and his failure to win a Champions League with Bayern Munich meant even after winning the league title every year, his tenure at Bayern wasn’t really a success.
Also read: 5 big name players who were axed by Pep Guardiola
Here, we look at the top 5 mistakes Pep Guardiola has made throughout his career:
#5 Selling Joe Hart and signing Claudio Bravo
Joe Hart was termed as the next captain of Man City as well as England. Having already captained Man City before, he was one of the few players in the club whose position was unchallenged for the last half a decade. Often the only English player in the side, Hart was one of the few leaders in the team who was also responsible for vocally commanding the often error prone City backline.
A few weeks in and without really giving the 29-year-old a chance to prove himself, Pep Guardiola had decided that he wasn’t good enough. With Valdes at Barcelona and Neuer at Bayern, Pep was used to having a sweeper keeper who was also a great distributor. This rigidness in his system left no place for Hart and he was replaced with Willy Caballero.
Within a few weeks, Pep realised Caballero was not good enough to be the first choice. Pep decided that Claudio Bravo from Barcelona was his man. By the end of the transfer window, Hart had made a shocking loan move to Torino FC and Bravo was the new first choice goalkeeper for Man City having arrived for €18 million.
This move has backfired sensationally as Bravo has been Man City’s worst performer this season. Beginning with an incredibly shaky performance against Manchester United in his debut match when he almost let the opposition score more than a couple of times all by himself, his performances have only gone downhill. He has been the biggest reason why City are part of the chasing pack instead of leading the League themselves.
Another couple of mistakes against Chelsea at Etihad last week has just gone on to show that Guardiola’s adamance and his persistent faith in Bravo may lead to his downfall at Man City.