City feel Pep effect:
Guardiola is transforming his new team – and his players are revelling in it,
He has been ensconced in the manager’s dug-out only for a matter of weeks, but already Manchester City are beginning to feel like a Pep Guardiola team. Four games have yielded four victories; 12 goals have been plundered and just two conceded, and as he prepares for today’s visit of West Ham to the Etihad Stadium, there are already signs of the managerial chutzpah which help explain why City pushed so hard to recruit the Catalan in the first place.
Joe Hart has been ruthlessly dispatched on account of his lack of ease on the ball while full-backs Gaël Clichy and Bacary Sagna are being transformed into makeshift central midfielders. Yaya Touré has also been largely frozen out, although Guardiola says there are no plans to let him leave before the Wednesday’s transfer deadline.
“I spoke with him, he said he wants to stay,” Guardiola said. “OK, if he wants to stay, I am happy. There are a lot of games, everybody needs to play.”
The revolution is under way, but you will not find City’s players – with the possible exception of Hart and Touré – complaining. Take John Stones, the defender who was deemed worthy of a £47.5 million fee by Guardiola: the pair were caught by the cameras in earnest conversation barely seconds after the referee had blown for half-time during the midweek Champions League qualifier second leg at the Etihad Stadium.
“He is the ultimate professional, very detailed,” said Stones. “Some things happened in the first half, but we changed it and it was better in the second half – our passing lines, the system that we played. He is the best manager in the world. I’m over the moon to be here and learning from him.
“When I was coming off (on Wednesday) he was giving me little pointers, which is great because it is about understanding the game better and understanding myself better.
“Obviously I am going to make mistakes, and it is how I correct those, as I always try to do, and keep moving forward and becoming a winner, because that is what everyone wants.”
Clearly Stones, who was playing for Barnsley in 2013 but is already being seen as an England fixture under Sam Allardyce, expects to benefit greatly from the tutelage of Guardiola, who as one of the foremost defensive midfielders of his generation set great store on playing from the back.
Stones’s game has come in for some criticism on that front, particularly for often opting to play his way out of trouble rather than aim for the back of the stand, but his confident, ballplaying style fits perfectly with the vision Guardiola has for City, and he has been given licence to carry on.
“Definitely. That is what he [Guardiola] wants,” said Stones. “The gaffer knew how I played and it was just fine-tuning a few things and getting on the same page.”
The difference in approach is no less marked at the opposite end of the field, where even a player as gilded as Sergio Agüero – who has already scored six goals this season – is having to adapt his game to Guardiola’s exacting methodology.
“Pep has changed the way we have been playing in previous years,” the Argentina striker revealed.
“In my case, he’s very demanding of me. I need to be the player who starts the pressure. And with my pressure the rest of the team-mates will join me and keep up the pressure. I’m happy to do that. We have played just a few games, so I’m still getting used to it. I need to keep improving even more.
“Also, to me his arrival is great because with his way of play I will have more chances to score and hopefully we will be able to win more games. I always respect the style of play every manager has. I try to adapt myself about what the manager wants as fast as possible.
“He’s a very cheerful manager, he’s always talking to you, cheering you up and pushing you. You can tell he loves football, he loves his job and he tries to teach us his concepts and what he wants.”
‘He is the best coach in the world – the ultimate pro and so detailed ’