Champions of England, and not done yet
How Pep tweaked Man City’s starting blues, took them to an easy EPL title, and has put them in line for European glory
KOLKATA: Club coaches aren’t at their sunniest when players are called for international duty but sometimes such breaks help. Son Heung-min benefited from one Fifa window in September 2016 when South Korea didn’t have a game and Mauricio Pochettino spent most of his extra time with him. It was during another international break last November that Pep Guardiola began plotting a turnaround that fetched Manchester City a third Premier League trophy in four seasons—their 17th title overall since the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008 was sealed after Manchester United lost 1-2 to Leicester City on Tuesday. And City are in the Champions League final.
It didn’t look like this in November 2020. City were stodgy. Ruben Dias had helped shore up a struggling defence but they lacked fluidity going forward. City were looking to Kevin de Bruyne to inspire the attack, and like it is with Karim Benzema at Real Madrid, it was proving too much for the gifted Belgian.
While this was happening, City renewed their faith in Guardiola with a two-year deal. Two days later, on November 21, Spurs beat City 2-0 to lead the league standings. City were 13th. Jose Mourinho, not Guardiola, was the flavour of the month.
“Everything was heavy, it was not natural. We adjusted something, especially to put more players in front of the box. It was the day after the draw with West Brom (1-1). We could have won but after the game, I went to my staff and friends and said, ‘I don’t like the team, I don’t like the way we play,’” Guardiola said in December.
He also mentioned something reminiscent of a Michel Platini comment. That the ball runs faster than the players was something a young Platini, whose languid grace lit up football in the 1980s, was told by his father. Looking at what was wrong with City early in the season, Guardiola had said: “We ran too much… without knowing exactly what we have to do with the ball.”
In what seems like the ultimate irony in modern football, City were moving too fast.
They needed to slow down, wait for the right moment to spring a surprise. While doing that they also got a fiery attacking plan figured out: allow Ilkay Guendogan and Joao Cancelo to move into advanced positions. Then, there was Raheem Sterling on the right and Riyad Mahrez on the left. No longer was it left on de Bruyne to do it all.
“I was marking Raheem Sterling… and then they’re bringing Mahrez on the pitch and you’re like Jesus Christ,” Swansea City’s centre-back Joel Latibeaudiere, a member of England’s 2017 under-17 World Cup winning squad, was quoted as saying by the City website after an FA Cup match. It’s a comment that highlights City’s strength in depth in a season with less pause, but this title wasn’t just about that.
And it wasn’t all about attack either. Dias—he is to City what Virgil van Dijk was to Liverpool last term—oleksandr Zinchenko, John Stones, Kyle Walker and Rodri protected Ederson’s goal. Crucial to City bagging the league with three games to spare was the defensive solidity which had them winning 22 of their 27 games since that loss to Spurs. City have conceded 26 goals, the least in the league.
In Fernandinho, 35, they have a captain who is a worthy successor to the armband worn by David Silva and Vincent Kompany. “He helps me do the job I cannot do,” Guardiola has said. It was the Brazilian midfielder who got Zinchenko to pipe down when PSG players were losing their shirt in the return leg of the Champions League semi-final.
All this meant City became more clinical, controlled games even when they didn’t have the ball and, as they showed in the Champions League, did not get flustered when trailing. An article in ‘The Athletic’ has pointed out that City were the slowest among all Premiership teams to move the ball forward.
They also had more than one way of lining up in front. Guardiola’s team seamlessly moved from playing a false nine—it began at Chelsea last January— to starting Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero as strikers. Not many teams are this effective playing in different formations, Michael Owen, the television pundit and former England forward, said on air on Sunday when Chelsea prolonged City’s wait with a 2-1 win. With 16 players scoring, City scored 72 goals, the most this season.
“This has been a season and a Premier League title like no other. This was the hardest one,” said Guardiola. “I am so proud to be the manager here and of this group of players. To come through this season, with all the restrictions and difficulties we’ve faced, and show the consistency we have is remarkable. It is relentless.”
Guardiola’s mantra of running less did not come in the way of City hitting on the counter against Paris St Germain. That brings us to Phil Foden who was excellent over both legs of the semi-final and is part of a new generation of City players. Emblematic of City’s progress this season has been how Foden has grown into the player with the highest expected assists (xa)—the likelihood of providing the final pass for a goal—since Christmas. In 963 minutes of football—mahrez, Cancelo, Sterling, Guendogan, Bernardo Silva and Jesus have all clocked more time on the pitch—yet Foden has the best xa of 0.31 per 90. From the time Sterling lost his place after the 2-0 defeat to United in March, which ended a 21-game winning run, Foden has been Guardiola’s wide forward on the right.
And, as it happens when winning becomes a habit, a sense of the collective now coursed through the team. “No matter what you do, I’ll be there for you’. You’ll always have a guy next to you, ready to help you, ready to fight for you.” Dias has said.