Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FROM PASS MASTERS TO.. THEY SHALL NOT PASS
Signing ’Wonderwall’ Dias was a masterstroke... and Pep rebuilt and evolved another brilliant side
MUCH has changed in the three years since Pep Guardiola led Manchester City to their record-breaking 100-point Premier League title triumph.
As City clinched a third league title in four years, the personnel and style of Guardiola’s side has evolved considerably, although what has not changed is their relentless brilliance.
While many of their rivals have stood still or regressed, City have developed without losing their “passing carousel” style, as Sir Alex Ferguson famously coined it when Guardiola was in charge of Barcelona.
The high-pressing, highintensity, possession-based approach remains, but City this season are in many ways unrecognisable from the side that reached a century of points with a last-gasp 1-0 win at Southampton three years ago tomorrow.
For a start, this title triumph has been achieved without City’s all-time record scorer Sergio Aguero leading their attack and plundering 20-plus goals to propel them to glory.
Instead, with Aguero a hostage to injury and the aging process, Guardiola has opted to play with a ‘false nine’, with midfielder Kevin De Bruyne deployed there for the big games in the crucial season run-in.
The approach has suited City perfectly, with players able to interchange in midfield and across the forward line, making it hard for opponents to deal with them in the absence of a recognised striker like Aguero.
The Argentine’s enforced absence has meant the goals have been shared around the
City squad, with midfielder Ilkay Gundogan top scorer with 12 in the league, followed by Sterling on 10 and Riyad Mahrez on nine.
While Ederson remains between the posts – his reliability leading to 18 clean sheets and peerless distribution with his feet also yielding an assist – his defence has undergone a significant change of personnel in three years.
The £65million signing of Ruben Dias from Benfica was a masterstroke from City, the arrival of the centre-back nicknamed ‘The Wall’ filling the void left by former legendary skipper Vincent Kompany.
Dias has transformed the Blues back-line with his fearless and uncompromising defensive approach and he is in the running for the PFA Player of the Year and Footballer of the Year awards.
And the revival of John Stones
– and the partnership the pair have formed – has been key to City’s success. In midfield, Gundogan stepped up when De Bruyne was out for a month from mid-january to mid-february and missed five league games.
The German scored six goals in that spell, including two in an emphatic 4-1 win at champions and title rivals Liverpool, City’s first win at Anfield for 18 years. Rodri has matured as Guardiola’s go-to holding midfielder, while De Bruyne has been at his majestic best when
fit, with five goals and 11 assists in the league. Mahrez has taken his game to a new level this season, finding more goals and a greater level of consistency.
The same can be said of Phil Foden, who has made himself undroppable with a series of dazzling displays.
In short, it is hard to identify a weak link in Guardiola’s side, yet at the beginning of the season, few would have had them down as title winners after such a woeful start.
After suffering two defeats in their first eight games, City won 15 league games in a row between December and March, to open up an unassailable lead at the top of the table.
That formidable run meant they could afford to lose at home to local rivals Manchester
United, Leeds and Champions League final opponents Chelsea, without it damaging their hopes of lifting the trophy once again.
In a season like no other, with the pandemic having left City with no build-up to an already truncated fixture calendar, the energy, drive and desire shown by Guardiola and players marks out this title as arguably their greatest.