It took a while but the Manchester City manager has conquered England with a football that is not merely beautiful but also dominant. The question for 2018 is: can he now do it in Europe?The year ends with Pep Guardiola ascendant, his juego de posición, evolved over time and amended and slightly repackaged for England, cutting a swathe through the Premier League, just as it overwhelmed all in La Liga and the Bundesliga. There will be the usual complaints about how much money has been spent and, more pertinently, about the origin of that money, but English football has never seen anything quite like this.When Guardiola was winning two Champions Leagues in three seasons at Barcelona, their style became hegemonic. There...
After finishing 15 points behind the champions last season, manager decided to become more open to advice from the likes of Mikel Arteta and Brian KiddPep Guardiola’s transformation of Manchester City this season was sparked by his own shock at failing to master the Premier League in his debut campaign. In finishing third last May – a yawning 15 points behind the champions Chelsea – Guardiola was forced to accept he had underestimated English football. And so the 46-year-old manager, determined to make City successful in his second term in the Premier League, decided he should become more open to advice. From first-team scouts to his inner circle, Guardiola was desperate for any nugget of information that might rocket his...
Manchester United have pressed aggressively in recent matches and Pep Guardiola’s Premier League leaders could find the seams in their defence coming apart in Sunday’s Old Trafford derbyIt may go right, it may go wrong. But this is the one – this is the one we’ve waited for. And not before time either. A year and a half into the most dizzily trailed clash of managerial personalities since the brown-suited white heat of Don Revie versus Brian Clough, Sunday’s Manchester derby may finally dish up a contest to justify the extended trails.When Pep Guardiola arrived in Manchester two summers ago the level of expectation was understandable. In a league already obsessed with the José Mourinho toxic personality cult and hooked...
The recently appointed Hammers boss won’t have to play Manchester City every week, but he will have to start somewhereDecember was the month that found Manchester City out last year and, though history does not look like repeating itself with Pep Guardiola’s side on the verge of equalling a Premier League record for consecutive wins within a season, the runaway league leaders need to be wary of a seven-game month that includes a derby.Twelve months ago it was Chelsea, on their own record-equalling 13 match winning run, who came to the Etihad and inflicted the first home defeat of the season with a 3-1 win. City were still shell-shocked a week later when they turned up at Leicester in some...
Huddersfield provide spirited test but Manchester City display strength of character, exemplified by Raheem Sterling’s relentless running, to win 2-1After Manchester City won 3-2 at West Bromwich Albion four weeks ago, the home team’s then-manager, Tony Pulis, was asked whether he thought Pep Guardiola’s fearsome side could go through the whole season unbeaten. “They’ve got to be fortunate with injuries and the bounce of the ball,” Pulis replied before adding that it would be interesting to see how City’s away form holds up as winter rolls in. “You saw what happened to Manchester United when they went to Huddersfield and it was wet and windy,” he warned. Related: Pep Guardiola says it’s important for Manchester City to suffer … and...