‘The officials really favoured them, that’s why they have mouth to talk today’: Pep Guardiola blame refree forr poor officiating that cost Man city the trophy and send strong message to Mikel Arteta as premier league draws near
The Prem hasn’t even kicked off and already the FA are being bullied by one of their managers.
One of the rule changes this season will be the English game following on from what FIFA introduced at the World Cup, adding on every second where the ball is out of play.
That’s after studies showed that on average a game only actually gets just over an hour of actual play. Which if nothing else means the customer are not getting value for money
Another aspect officials have been ordered to crack down on is dissent from coaches on the sidelines
Arteta is not innocent when it comes to verbal abuse from the dugout.
Part of why that is being identified is the rise in abuse (some physical, some online) that referees are now subjected to even at grass roots level.
Football is the national sport in the UK, right or wrong, the likes of Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp are role models.
I’m a fan of both and spent last season preaching to many Gooners how they were not giving Man City enough respect for the work ethic it takes to set the standards they have.
Yet I get tired of them being passive aggressive when they don’t get things their own way.
The law makers have no doubt decided to have zero tolerance towards officials being sworn at to clean up the image of the game.
So, it sets a bad president that Pep was already complaining through sarcasm based on how he lost what essentially is a friendly.
The irony being that Sunday was built as a curtain raiser for the new campaign. I hope not because we can’t have added time being an issue every week.
The Spaniard is a smart man, every word is said for a meaning. ‘It’s a question for big brain guys who decide these things,” said Guardiola.
The Spaniard added: “It’s a lot of games and every time you add eight or 10 minutes it’s a… but listen, they never consult our opinions, the people in world football, managers or players.
“Now, every game we’re going to play for 100 minutes. Wasting time, from my point of view, it is not going to be solved by extending 10 more minutes,” he said
“It’s more tiring for the players. It’s too much.
He won’t care too much about missing out on the Community Shield, he lost the other two and it didn’t exactly stop him winning everything else.
This was the 52-year-old putting pressure on for those who take charge of future fixtures and him letting the governing bodies know he has every intention of making a noise.
For all his many qualities, that’s a dark side of his personality
Because the original 8 minutes of added time at Wembley had been warned beforehand and was evident would happen based on the amount of time being added to games in the Football League the day before.
Every summer, senior figures from each club are sat down and explained any rule changes.
So why Pep sat in his press conference acting dumbfounded that he wasn’t part of the conversation simply isn’t true.
He doesn’t agree with the change in policy, but that’s different to a lack of communication.
As much as he has helped change how Football is played in England, he’s not the king. He’s no different to his peers in that he must follow the criteria set out by those who make the rules.
The irony being that he has been one of the most vocal protestors towards opponents who time waste – and has been right to do s
We have had this with VAR. For years, managers wanted to find a way for the sport to be devoid of human error, yet now complain when technology dissects every last detail in a goal.
You can’t have it both ways
The same applies to time wasting.
You either want teams encouraged to play or you are happy with the way things were.
In our 1-1 draw, 8 mins were put on the board which was warned would now be standard. The majority of that time was taken up by Kyle Walker and Partey being treated for head injuries. The Gunners equalised not due to a favour from the officials, but City’s inability to convert chances to kill off the match and their defending.
Pep’s argument is that this means that players will now be playing even more football in what is already a hectic schedule, sarcastically pointing to a week where he plays on Friday night, then flies to Greece for the Super Cup, arrives back early on the Friday morning to then be asked to play on the Saturday
Pep and Klopp are often doing this when it suits their own agenda, flying the flag for player welfare. That’s why they preach for more rest at Christmas and changes to the domestic cups.
In reality, if rest was crucial to Pep, the Champions wouldn’t have just had a tour of the Far East.
Pep’s got enough clout at the Etihad to insist that his squad had stayed in Manchester this summer if he truly was worried about physical and mental fatigue.
He didn’t because of the revenue clubs make from playing prestige friendlies abroad.
As for his complaints of days and the times City are ordered to play?
Man, City are one of 20 teams to share a contract from overseas broadcasters worth billions. It’s an income that helps make him rich.
If you’re a company paying that much to televise a product, I think you then have the right to pick when you want to maximise your viewership?
Again, why doesn’t Pep walk into his employers office and ask them to turn down this deal out of fear of his players burning out
Don’t get me wrong, Pep being a bad loser makes him the winner he is.
Yet this weekend he was wrong on so many levels.
