Manchester City manager has been uber-serene of late but his clash with Ángel Correa on Tuesday night was instructiveThere was a glaring reveal towards the end of Manchester City’s deserved victory against Atlético Madrid on Tuesday. With Jack Grealish on the floor, Ángel Correa smashed the ball into the No 10’s face. It was on the touchline. It was right by Pep Guardiola. And City’s manager did not like it at all.So: he entered the pitch and shoved Correa. He stuck up for his player. Bravo. He might also have been booked or even sent off. But Istvan Kovacs ignored the seething 51-year-old and booked Correa. Continue reading...
Foden started on the bench but after little more than a minute on the pitch his dribble and pass led to Manchester City’s goalKevin De Bruyne scored the only goal of the game, and Manchester City’s players gathered by the corner flag in front of their fans. “Celebrated” would probably be pushing it a bit. For the curious thing about City’s winning goal was how deeply unimpressed they all seemed about it. De Bruyne’s features were contorted into a growl. Bernardo Silva bellowed defiantly into the stands. Nathan Aké, to be honest, just looked buzzing to be there.On the touchline Pep Guardiola angrily hurled a water bottle to the ground, furious at himself for feeling such relief. Continue reading...
Scarred by an elimination as Bayern’s coach, the manager’s urge to take chance out of last-four ties undermines City’s chancesThe biggest obstacle to Pep Guardiola winning another Champions League, it is widely accepted, is Pep Guardiola. There cannot be a Manchester City knockout tie in the Champions League without talk of his tendency to overthink.The most dramatic moment of last season’s final came when the lineups were released an hour before kick-off and neither Rodri nor Fernandinho were included. It’s what elevates Guardiola above the throng: he is not merely a great manager, but also a flawed hero: he is Faustus, he is Oedipus, he is Charles Foster Kane. Continue reading...
Harry Maguire can build on England display, N’Golo Kanté plays against the league’s best ball-winner and Everton face a character testWith Trent Alexander-Arnold injured, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané still physically and emotionally recuperating from Tuesday’s World Cup qualifying playoff in Dakar – complete with extra time, penalties and laser beams – various South Americans making late returns from distant internationals and the first leg of a Champions League quarter-final to come on Tuesday, there could hardly be a better time for a plucky underdog to turn up at Anfield. But even allowing for the massive advantages the division’s leading clubs hold over the upstarts, Watford’s record at their grounds is abysmal: in all competitions since 1990 the Hornets have...
Lack of future certainty in Ralf Rangnick’s side is resulting in failure not only defensively but also in their nerve and will If there is good news for Manchester United on a bleak afternoon it is that their performance was good in parts. Admittedly those parts were few and far between and confined almost entirely to the first half, but that is still better than the derby at Old Trafford in November.The use of Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba as central attacking players, to the extent it caused Manchester City problems, worked, at least before half-time. But the problem is that none of that much matters if you’re going to defend like the visitors did. Continue reading...