“Pep never learns”, “I’ve had enough” - Manchester City fans want club to sell 2 players after watching them in action during 4-3 loss to Al-Hilal

Manchester City fans have urged the club to part ways with a pair of midfield stars after their dismal performance in a 4-3 loss to Al-Hilal in the Round of 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup (June 30). City supporters lambasted Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan on social media, claiming that younger players with long-term futures at the club should start instead.

Portugal international Silva has racked up 72 goals and 73 assists in 407 appearances for the Cityzens across all competitions. Meanwhile, German veteran Gundogan has bagged 65 goals and 47 assists in 358 games for the club.

Despite being club legends, many supporters called for the pair to be dropped from the squad after their performance against Al-Hilal. Although Gundogan assisted Silva for Manchester City's opening goal as early as the ninth minute, they had a pretty ordinary game overall.

While the 30-year-old Portuguese playmaker completed just seven of his 17 crosses (41%) and failed to make a successful dribble, the 34-year-old German made no tackles and lost all of his duels.

After the full-time whistle blew, Manchester City fans took to X to vent their frustrations at the midfield duo. @ThatchersElbow wrote:

"Almost like this is the exact same bulls**t we dealt with all season. Nunes, Bernardo and Gundogan are BEYOND S**T. Pep never learns."

@Tim_Citeh wrote:

"Turkish teams need to speed up Gundogan's transfer, I've had enough."

Here is a selection of reactions from Manchester City fans (via X):

"Gundogan, (Manuel) Akanji, Ederson, Bernardo Silva, (John) Stones, (Jack) Grealish, (Nathan) Ake, Savinho and Pep Guardiola we need to have a conversation about these frauds," @jhonte_ lashed out at half the City squad. "Baldy fraud started Gundogan in this high intensity game btw," @Tim_Citeh sighed. "I absolutely love Bernardo and Gundogan but it’s 2025 and they shouldn’t be starting over Nico Gonzalez, (Rayan) Cherki or (Phil) Foden. Pep needs to let go, it’s time to move on, we need to evolve," @thecityshack claimed. "Pep needs to stop this Gundogan and Bernardo Silva midfield gimmick," @a_fawaz1 wrote. "Pep still using Gundogan and Bernardo Silva will be the end of him at City," @femochy01 asserted. "We need to sell Bernardo and Gundogan! pep is obsessed with them," @Dag_Cty wrote. "Pep got Nico and Cherki for £100m, academy produced Bobb and Foden, and none of these guys are guaranteed a start in his midfield ahead of Bernardo, Kovacic and Gundogan for the upcoming season. A season later we will be asking if City made a mistake selling (Divine) Mukasa (academy player) to Chelsea," @_syvy_ claimed.

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"A bit more concentration" - Bernardo Silva reacts after Manchester City's 3-4 loss to Al-Hilal

Manchester City star Bernardo Silva has claimed that his side needed a 'bit more concentration' after their 3-4 loss to Al-Hilal in the last 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup.

It seemed like Phil Foden's 104th-minute equalizer would take the game to a penalty shootout. However, a 112th-minute strike from Marcos Leonardo stunned Pep Guardiola's side and knocked them out of the competition.

After the game, Silva, who scored the opening goal of the game in the ninth minute, lamented the lack of focus from Manchester City. He said (via Manchester Evening News):

"What lacked was from our side; a bit more concentration, a bit more organisation when we lost the ball to control, especially the transitions. The ball we had again, the chances we had again. After all, we scored three and could've scored five, six." "It was all about controlling when we lost the ball, controlling the transitions, don't let them run, and they ran away too many times. With one, two passes, there was always a feeling of danger coming from them. When we allow teams to run like this we always suffer a lot, and today was the case," Silva added.

Manchester City's first competitive fixture of the 2025-26 campaign will be against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on August 16.

Edited by Nived Zenith