We’ll need lots of energy to beat Pep’s City slickers

WHEN people talk about a team managed by Pep Guardiola, the first thing that comes to mind is the passing — or what many have called tiki-taka.

The main characteristic of his teams, though, is energy — especially when they lose the ball. That is the first thing he addresses at a club.

There was certainly evidence of that when Manchester City played Steaua Bucharest in Romania, where Steaua were very open.

I haven’t seen the whole of City’s matches against Sunderland and Stoke yet, because we were busy with the match against Astra, but I plan to watch the videos of both.

Of course, because of Guardiola’s reputation, some people expected those games to be one-sided. But from the highlights I saw, they weren’t, despite the 4-1 scoreline at Stoke.

To be fair, it wasn’t always a cruise for him at Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga either. It certainly wasn’t a jolly-up.

I was wrong about Manchester City when I said halfway through last season that I thought they would go on and win the title. I thought they would do it for Manuel Pelligrini.

Now is a good time for Guardiola to be at the club because City didn’t win the title last year. Now the players’ attitude is: “We have to win it this season.” It is also a good time for Manchester United, another club to have invested heavily.

In fact, three things have happened to both those clubs to make people think it will be their year.

Firstly, they both have new managers, both massive names who have attracted top players. Secondly, City and United are not afraid to spend fortunes. And finally, both clubs have dipped in form recently, so it is time to wake up and go again.

Add history and tradition, either long term or recent, and you can see why, for me, they are the top contenders this season, together with Chelsea.

That opinion is not based on the first two games of the season — I would have said the same before it began. Last season, though, we took four points off both United and City and we take confidence from that. I remember all the games well and particularly the away match against City, where the second half was like the Alamo but we held out.

At home we played very well but that little man Sergio Aguero scored twice against us, while Enner Valencia got both the goals for us.

If we had limitless funds and could buy any player, I would say that it would be Aguero without a doubt. When you look at him, you start with 25 goals against his name and add at least five more if he stays fit for the whole season. All clubs are hoping, looking and praying to find a player like him — and he does it with such style and ease.

Is it a good time to play City this Sunday? From the point of view that we played last night and we still have players out injured, no, it isn’t.

On the other hand, their players are still getting used to the way Guardiola wants them to play — their team is not yet the finished article.