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Pep Guardiola: a footballing genius or a financially backed tactician?

The final whistle from the Etihad on Sunday saw Manchester City, in their second season under manager Pep Guardiola, amass an 18 point lead at the summit of the Premier League, as they condemned Antonio Conte’s Chelsea to a fourth defeat in their last five league games.

City under Guardiola in the 2017/18 campaign have been nothing short of mesmerising, and whilst the title has long been expected to reside in East Manchester come May, one senses Sunday’s result was all but confirmation as the Citizens navigated their way around the antepenultimate hurdle of Guardiola’s likely maiden Premier League title (with games against Manchester United (H) and Tottenham (A) to come).

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After a debut season in English football that by the standards of both Guardiola and Manchester City’s hierarchy was extremely disappointing, finishing third in the league and with no silverware, the 2017/18 campaign arrived with expectation as opposed to aspiration. The 2017 summer window saw vast transfer expenditure in excess of £200m, with the likes of Kyle Walker, (£52m) Benjamin Mendy, (£53m) Ederson, (£30m) Danilo (£26m) and Bernardo Silva (£43m) all arriving to contribute to the cause of City regaining the Premier League title, with the hope of winning their third title in the last seven seasons. Manchester City were expectant, and after Guardiola’s trophy-less debut season coupled with transfer spending bordering on the realms of non-FFP compliant, it was down to their Spanish mastermind to deliver.

Though to say Pep Guardiola has ‘delivered’ in the 2017/18 campaign would be nothing short of a considerable injustice. Yes, Guardiola received considerable if not unprecedented financial backing, but the results and performances from City in 2017/18 speak for themselves. 18 consecutive league victories between August and December is a representative return of City’s mammoth spending, though whilst City’s attacking and defensive prowess has been notable, it is perhaps Guardiola’s ability and flexibility to manoeuvre his squad in the instance of injury that is most impressive.

Where club-record signing Benjamin Mendy fell by the wayside with a knee ligament injury, £9m central-midfield signing Fabian Delph was crafted into the most efficient and effective of wing-backs. The likes of Gabriel Jesus, Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling have all spent time on the sidelines in the current campaign, though their replacements have seemingly slotted into Guardiola’s tactical systems. This Manchester City side are bordering on the realms of perfect functionality, and with the EFL Cup under their belt and Guardiola’s maiden Premier League title within eyeshot on the horizon, it begs the question of not if this City side will write history in English football, but just how much history they will write under Guardiola.

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Criticism has arrived in considerable quantities towards the Spaniard, with many suggesting that ‘any’ manager financially backed into oblivion could deliver the same calibre of results both domestically and from further afield in Europe. It is inevitable that City, a club who just 12 seasons ago had finished 15th in the 2005/06 campaign, will attract natural criticisms for their deemed ‘purchasing’ of success, though they are simply a club setting the precedent of financial flexibility in the modern era.

Guardiola’s track-record spoke for himself prior to his arrival in English football, though taking the reigns at City was considered to be his greatest footballing challenge to date. The challenges offered by previous league winners including the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea were considered to be Guardiola’s biggest obstacles, though his City side have looked incomparable to their fellow title-challengers – they are simply in a league of their own.

As a club, their previous title-winning managers, Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini, did not fit the bill of what City dreamt of as the forward-facing representative of their football club. The plan to attract Guardiola to City started many years ago, when the club first brought Txiki Begiristain in as Director of Football at the Etihad in October 2012, the man who had worked in the same role with Guardiola at Barcelona. The foundations began to be laid over half a decade ago, and the 2017/18 campaign in which City have strolled to the Premier League title is merely the pinnacle and culmination of years of planning.

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There are no doubts that Guardiola has received huge backing from City’s owner Sheikh Mansour, but he has delivered astonishing returns on Mansour’s investment. There is a possibility City could end the 2017/18 campaign with a domestic and European treble of the Premier League, EFL Cup and Champions League, and there is no doubt Mansour’s pre-season expectations would have been surpassed should Guardiola achieve this feat. City are a club in a stage of extraordinarily exciting development, and with Mansour’s appetite for success and consequent investment not seeming to be seizing anytime soon coupled with their managerial maestro in Guardiola at the helm, it would appear City are set for a period of considerable success, both on and off the field.

Written by Tom Newman.

Tom Newman

Founder and Editor at 90MAAT.

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