Things are a bit tense at Manchester City right now. Pep’s comments about the lack of support for City have left fans unimpressed. After the team’s thrilling 6-3 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League last Wednesday, City manager Pep Guardiola called out the large number of empty seats at the game.
Thousands of Empty Seats During Manchester City Win
A mere 38,000 supporters turned up to watch the Champions League match. Man City’s stadium, the Etihad, is capable of holding 54,000. However, the controversy comes from whether Pep’s comments following the victory were justified or not.
Placing any form of blame on the fans is never a good look. Having the manager call out the lack of fans is certainly an embarrassing look for the club. However, there should be concern among higher-ups at City that there were around 16,000 empty seats for the nine-goal Champions League thriller.
Pep Guardiola will go down as one of the greatest managers in football history. He turned Manchester City around and the club’s fans will not forget it. However, supporters were far from pleased with Pep’s words about the empty seats and hit back, telling him to “stick to coaching” following their manager’s comments.
Supporters of rival clubs have been having a blast on social media sharing memes about how City “have no fans” and this new episode only serves to fuel even more of them.
Jack Grealish struggling to spot fans inside of the Etihad! pic.twitter.com/cF68UKDS75
— CFCArmz (@CFCArmz) September 18, 2021
Pep Guardiola had a further message for the City support regarding their next match in the Premier League.
Pep’s Plea to Manchester City Fans
Following the drama of the Champions League victory, Pep Guardiola urged Manchester City supporters to come support the team in their next home match against Southampton on Saturday. Here’s how that turned out:
Credit to Man City fans for listening to Pep, never seen the Etihad so full. pic.twitter.com/yPi9DKyPGb
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) September 18, 2021
Just kidding. The stadium filled up once the game actually kicked off. However, I’d imagine there were quite a few fans who left wishing they hadn’t bought tickets to this one, as the match ended in a dull 0-0 draw.
Oh boy. Pep addressed this in his post-match interview, admitting he felt guilty about how the team performed in front of a nearly full Etihad.
This is quite a messy situation at City right now, and the dropped points in the league will not be improving it anytime soon. The best way for Pep to make amends with the Man City faithful? Keep winning games and stop criticizing the ones who save up to watch your team play.
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