PEP’S CITY ‘JUST LIKE BARCELONA’
BURNLEY BOSS COMPARES CITY TO PEP’S BARCELONA
SEAN Dyche compared City to Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona as he declared them a force to be reckoned with.
The Blues chalked up their 11th straight win in all competitions – equalling a club record – as they downed Burnley 3-0.
Goals from Sergio Aguero, Nicolas Otamendi and Leroy Sane ensured the team continues to be prolific going forward, but it is their work without the ball that has really impressed Dyche.
“They’re going to be a force to be reckoned with,” he said.
“You could argue if the pitch gets cut up but it’s marginal! Most of the pitches are decent. I’m talking tiny margins and they can be effective in different ways.
“They play longer passes, this keeper can kick it a mile so they leave one mile up the pitch and it forces you to back off and gives them more room to play. They didn’t really have that before but I think the way they collectively work without the ball has improved. They crunch the pitch better. “The backline is braver and it gets higher.
“If you look at Barcelona seven or eight years ago, they did that very effectively with [Carles] Puyol and [Gerard] Pique, they’d crunch as soon as they lost the ball really sharp which means the opposition has less room to play, and then when you win it back you’re higher up the pitch and now your technicians can go and work.
“I think that’s the biggest change. The play is more fluid but there were pockets of it last season. They won the first eight games of last season with some fantastic play.
“Maybe they’ve upped it again but I think it is the nitty-gritty side of the game that they’re doing even better with at the moment.” City special: Pages 46-48