‘For arguably the first time in his career Guardiola has to rebuild side’
PEP Guardiola has written the manual when it comes to management over the previous dozen years. He’s revolutionised the game, built three incredible teams at three very different clubs and won everything there is to win.
But as he begins to consider how to topple Liverpool next season and reclaim the Premier League title for City, he will have no reference point in his extensive back catalogue to look back on. This section of the manual is yet to be written.
In his first three years as Barcelona manager Guardiola guided them to three successive La Liga titles, but as Real Madrid and Jose Mourinho finally broke the hegemony in 2011/12, the Catalan left, worn down by the demands he placed on himself and his squad, and an increasingly toxic rivalry with Real and their confrontational coach.
In the Bundesliga the domestic dominance was total. Three years, three titles. Success in Europe eluded Guardiola but Bayern Munich were far and away the best team in the Bundesliga every season. Then came City, a season of adaptation and building a squad he could work with, followed by two successive, record-breaking title campaigns. But all of a sudden the Blues have been dethroned and for arguably the first time in a managerial career spanning 672 games Guardiola has to try and rebuild a team, rather than build one. There’s nothing to say he won’t turn out to be extremely good at that too, but the fact we’re 13 years in to a managerial career that began in 2007 with a season with Barcelona B and we’re now considering this to be a new challenge for Guardiola, will certainly make this summer and next season a fascinating watch. The defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge showed the work Guardiola has to do to regain the title. There have been eight defeats in 31 league games this season, so many of them familiar. Defensive failings, a midfield that has lost some of its control and an attack that, while still plundering goals at a remarkable rate, has had more off days than usual this season.
Fixing all of those problems in the midst of football’s financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic will task Guardiola and City. There will be money to spend this summer but there is unlikely to be a revolution in that squad.
But David Silva will depart, another of City’s stalwarts exiting stage left, while Fernandinho and Sergio Aguero have another year under their legs, a year closer to their own end-of-an-era departure. Leroy Sane looks almost certain to leave this summer and the defence is clearly in need of reinforcements. The to-do list isn’t a short one.
Perhaps some of the improvement City need to rediscover to make the title their own once again will come on the training ground.
This season could yet be viewed very differently if City lift the Champions League
Tyrone Marshall
The appointment of Juanma Lillo is intriguing and one can only imagine the depth of tactical discussions that will take place at the Etihad Campus over the coming months.
Whether it’s through new signings, tactical developments or fresh motivation, Guardiola must find a way to get City firing on all cylinders once again.
Some of those defeats this season have had an end-of-an-era feel to them, but the Catalan hasn’t earned his reputation as the finest coaching mind of his generation for admitting defeat.
The outcome of City’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over their two-year ban from European competition will inevitably have an effect on next season in terms of transfers, the squad and City’s priorities, while this season could yet be viewed very differently if Guardiola and his players lift the Champions League in Lisbon in August.
But after eight top-tier domestic titles, Guardiola must now find a way to reclaim the crown for the first time. How he goes about that will be one of the stories of the summer and of 2020/21.