Masterclass means Pep now has
NO EXCUSES
THIS was not a contest, this was an exhibition. This was not a match, this was a mismatch.
And this is why the pressure is on Pep Guardiola like it is on no other.
Fail to win the Premier League title with this startling array of attacking talent and it will be an underachievement. Simple as that. Guardiola has had his foundation year, his learning curve – this season holds no excuses.
How can it when he has assembled a collection of the quickest-passing, sharpes tthinking individuals the Premier League, possibly, has ever seen?
When Guardiola decided that Nicolas Otamendi’s header for the fourth, just after the hour mark, had put a formal end to this brutally lopsided affair, he gave a run-out to Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane. Be- cause he can. Three world-class talents getting a few minutes in the final throes of a walkover.
There you have City’s astonishing, forward-thinking depth.
Watford worked honestly, created the odd chance, but, essentially, were little more than cones in a practice session.
Do not let anyone tell you there are no easy matches in the Premier League and this, remember, was against a team unbeaten in their first four fixtures.
Brilliantly, some Watford players ended their afternoon of pursuing shadows by haranguing referee Anthony Taylor.
What for? Blowing the first whistle? Playing added time? Or because he was the only person they could keep up with? Marco Silva was correct to point out goals one and three had more than a suspicion of offside about them. Taylor and his assistants did not have great days. But no flag or whistle would have made a difference to the outcome. It was Playstation stuff, a hammering of the highest order. If this is what Pep preaches, his gospel is welcome. It was hallelujah football. Again, the modern truth is that passing pyrotechnics such as these will mean nothing if defensive