PEP GUARDIOLA ARRIVED AT A CRUCIAL TIME WITH TEAM MANCHESTER CITY LAST YEAR. IT WAS A CROSSROADS HE’D NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
The Spaniard ran into trouble near the end of his time with the team Barcelona.
Barcelona has won 14 trophies in their four seasons as manager, making them the best team in the world. But he could feel the cracks appearing.
He approached Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafael Benitez for advice on how to handle such a situation. Should you rejoin the team or leave?
Both men took their advice without question. Maintain your beliefs and keep renewing the team.
Ferguson, an expert on the method, put it succinctly: “Reuse your team, or you’ll be reused before you know it.”
This isn’t the first time Guardiola has chosen to disregard advice.
The fourth in the club at the end of the 2011-12 season. Guardiola, exhausted and frustrated, realized he couldn’t get what he needed from players who had long hung their heads.
To say the least, everyone in Barcelona was taken aback. He went to the United States to recharge his batteries during a one-year Sabbath.
After being properly resurrected, he returned a year later to take over at Bayern Munich. Despite winning three Bundesliga titles and two German championships.
During his three-season stint, he felt that the players and strikers did not fully comprehend what he was attempting to accomplish. So far, so good in the city.
However, by the end of the corrupt 2019 Covid-19 season, Liverpool had won the Premier League title. Guardiola had a contract decision to make.
Benitez and Ferguson’s names made more sense at the time than they had nearly a decade before.
Guardiola considered leaving Manchester City?
Guardiola had just signed a new contract at the time of this incident. And the mutual trust between the two has resulted in his third Premier League title in five years with City.
The agreement could keep him in the City for seven years if he so desires. A clear indication that there was no sense in which Spain began to outperform its adoption.
He never imagined the distance from Paris St-Germain, in his opinion. And he won’t even go to a French club because the owners of Abu Dhabi City would consider it a transfer. To a club owned by Qatar, such as PSG.
He has never been forced by the City to accept a negotiated application in less than 24 hours. However, they have been on the table for a few months.
They suggested that if Guardiola decided to leave the club, he should be given plenty of notice.
Guardiola’s trip to the Maldives in October was a watershed moment at the time. To meet with City Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who assured him that he would leave.
“We must move on,” Guardiola was told. “We will now continue to win while also doing what is necessary to compete at this level.” You must remain.”
The consistency of his bosses’ messages, as well as the fact that he is at ease and surrounded by people he trusts, have done all of the work.
The team has been updated, but the style has been refreshed
His contract with the club compelled them to think about reviving the squad.
Change is required at the end of the previous season and the start of the current season.
With the additions of winger Ferran Torres and defender Ruben Dias, the team has moved quickly.
The Portuguese had a very positive impact on the pitch, encouraging others and seeking the majority of those in his vicinity. Defenders and his team’s attackers benefit from the lack of fan noise.
The first impression is that only four or five members of the “old guard” are practical. Despite the resurgence of players like Joao Cancelo and John Stones.
And the way the epidemic affected the market made it clear that the seller required it. To be more significant than previously thought.
While the team was refreshed, it was the methods that received the most significant change.
City, who are sixth in the table, forced a closer look at the situation after a 1-1 draw with West Brom on December 15.
The impression that the group was bored, uninterested, weak, and frequently lacking in the required enthusiasm.
The lack of adequate rest and new mental health both contributed to and exacerbated the situation.
Guardiola discusses his previous experiences in Barcelona. Bayern began to suspect that his students were sick of hearing his words.
And he opened the door for them to communicate with his coaches rather than with him directly.
Guardiola has decided to return to his team’s game context after a thorough analysis with his coaching staff and honest discussions about his second coach, Juan Manuel Lillo, a man who has become a great mentor than the general assistant coach.
Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling will be in wide positions in the future, creating more gaps within the squad.
Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, and Kevin de Bruyne, who are all back from injury, and Cancelo, who was discovered to be a wing midfielder, were all able to put up big numbers in the middle of the field.
Calmness became accustomed to attacking more patiently with the ground. Guardiola realized he couldn’t rely on Sergio Aguero’s tenacity any longer.
He became more concerned with finding a way to stuff more people into the box. He desired goal threats from wingers, midfielders, and even full-backs.
That’s how Gundogan began scoring regularly, and why Foden began bringing in reinforcements. That was better than what club champion David Silva produced in his first season in England.
The manager has decided that the players who provide the fluid, their touch, are the most important thing to him.
And the first position where the ball can move quickly. That was the deciding factor in his selection of important games.
Obsession with numbers
As a result of this new approach, there are many players in front of the ball. As a result, the question of how to reduce the threat of potential counter-attacks arose.
Guardiola’s first year at City saw them concede five goals on the card and look vulnerable when they lost the ball. This was one of Guardiola’s victims from then on.
This season, he has decided to play four full-backs after the ball, with two middle-halves, a full-back, usually Cancelo, and a midfielder in charge.
This season, they have allowed themselves a quick change after agreeing to hold on.
Guardiola has also stated that sometimes the results must be used down and well built. And City begins to play differently, less brightly than before but more consistently.
A crucial game in December, a 1-0 win over Southampton, did not produce good football but allowed City to compete with the big teams. At the end of that game, there was a lot of relief and joy.
If there was a ‘eureka’ moment, it came on January 3 when City, who were eight points ahead of Liverpool at the time, thrashed Chelsea 3-1.
With City trailing 3-0 in the 34th minute, Guardiola’s first-half masterclass included everything he had worked for.
A 4-1 win at Anfield in February, except the old number nine. It meant they had developed a successful formula for major games.
Guardiola used to do this in the same building a few weeks ago
A lack of rest on a busy calendar is part of the epidemic. And the need to shift the energy of a season that didn’t begin well.
Furthermore, this is an excellent example of the team-building Guardiola has produced throughout his career.
It would be best if you only considered how difficult some opponents have found it. To keep the harmony required to challenge the topic.
Guardiola coached the players and assisted in forming a fully formed team to meet his needs.
Even De Bruyne, who was signed before the arrival of the manager, was hired with his knowledge and permission.
He has emerged victorious with the Premier League title. The Carabao Cup and the Champions League final against Chelsea on May 29 could complete the treble.
Where will Guardiola add players next?
Guardiola arrived in City at a critical juncture. Dominate at home and make a typical appearance in the Champions League semi-finals.
Home dominance exists, as evidenced by three league titles in five years. This was his first Champions League final since arriving.
He took to the streets after defeating Paris St-Germain 4-1. Those who seek to limit his success argue that success is achieved.
By spending large sums of money to bring in some of the world’s best players, a statement that is as true as overemphasis.
The cost of their clubs varies little among the Premier League’s “money-spinners.”
City’s starting XI this season could end up costing £ 499.8 million, while Manchester United’s equivalent is £ 504.2 million.
The only real difference is that Guardiola has completely matured and developed himself. He receives the goods.
However, there is still room for more purchases.
With Aguero’s departure at the end of the season, Sterling and others appear to be putting their accuracy on the line. However, too many chances were squandered in front of the goal.
The city has been envious of other strikers, which the team plans to address during the summer transfer window.
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi remains the club’s last hope, but the most important thing is to sign a striker.
In the next five or six years, a high-level young man could convert a high percentage of his chances on the side.
Yes, City is one of 14 teams interested in Erling Braut Haaland. And they’re hoping to persuade him to join the club.
All of this is possible because Guardiola is still leading a significant team rebuilding effort in his career. A team built entirely around what he wants to see on the field.
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