CITY Let’s praise Pep, not blame the opposition
THE secret to City’s winning style is that they smother the opposition.
Keeping the ball, winning it back early, thereby denying your opponents the chance to build pressure on your defence, is the plan for Pep Guardiola’s side. The plan is for defenders to deal with the opposition’s occasional breakaways, and it seems to be working well.
The better the system works, the worse the opposition are perceived to be, hence the recent comments by some people that Arsenal and Chelsea were simply poor and/or unambitious.
City’s successful implementation of their style has created that impression. Pep’s team overwhelms most opponents, simple as that.
My dad taught me to look at things from both perspectives. Let’s take Sunday’s win against Chelsea. If I were a Chelsea fan, I’d have been disappointed that my team didn’t attack more. I’d have hoped for a braver performance, and with a front three of Pedro, Hazzard and Willian I’d have wanted my team to be going toe-to-toe with the City team looking certain to take the Premier League title, which my team won last season.
Now let’s look at it from the perspective of the team I do support. I want my team to work together, playing high quality possession football, which would mean that Chelsea’s undoubted quality on the break would have little chance to cause any danger. I want my creative players to shine, to dazzle collectively, but to show individual brilliance when there is a chance to.
When losing possession, I’d demand that my team work together to win the ball back as quickly as possible, to hunt in packs with total confidence in each other’s ability and with no weak links.
What I saw at the Etihad Stadium was Guardiola’s masterplan operating at a level, I’d argue, that was close to perfection. Only a week earlier, Chelsea had operated their system in a way that earned them critical praise for a home draw with one of Europe’s finest teams, Barcelona. Against City, the same team and tactics were described by some as lacking ambition and weak, even ‘anti-football.’
I believe that City were brilliant against Chelsea and I saw moments of true inspiration. There were onetouch, intricate moves by the team, that left me feeling amazed.
After the game I heard some City fans, and a few from Stamford Bridge, suggesting Chelsea were simply poor. I heard Arsenal fans suggesting they were dreadful after both of City’s wins last week.
They’re probably right, when you look at it from their perspective, but the point that’s being missed here, is the work rate, togetherness, covering for each other, closing down, fitness, energy, will to win and sheer collective quality that Guardiola has created at City this season.
That’s why City are special and why this season, so many of their opponents have gone away wondering why they have performed so badly against the Blues. It’s because City have created a style of all-action football that other teams are overwhelmed by and are scared of.
There will be many who still insist that Chelsea and Arsenal simply underperformed in the last three games, but I’d argue that City have made them look poor because of how well we played in all three games!