Manchester City has a foul season, there isn’t a doubt about that. But there may be a difference in opinion in terms of deciding why that is the case.
Your more casual observer could add an extended -term knee injury to Rodri's absence, and naturally there may be a variety of truth.
Maybe you set it up somewhere in the center and nod with several aspects. Yes, Rodri's injury was the primary domino that fell, nevertheless it revealed an “old” midfield – in Pep Guardiola's words – and a defense that was completely decorated by injuries.
But there may be one other school of pondering that goes beyond the bounds of town. What if Guardiola's overall type of play is outdated?
This is a theory that has turn into the mainstream up to now few months guarantee a discussion The overlap and one show on popular debates Incoming article On the BBC Sport website.
“Today, modern football is the way Bournemouth Play, Newcastle Play, Brighton Play, Liverpool, always as we were,” said Guardiola in an interview with TNT at the top of last 12 months. “It's modern football. Modern football is just not so positioned. “
Positional, of course, describes the entire approach of Guardiola – “Juego de Posicion”, as it is known in Spanish – and this comment was the one who was taken up for the conversation about the overlap: Here, Guardiola is suggested that modern football will remove from its style.
This was the topic of the BBC article according to the lukewarm performance of City in Santiago Bernabeu, where it was assumed that their problems – injured, agreed, age, below -average stars, low self -confidence – were symptoms and not causes.
During the online discussion on this topic, it was emphasized that the city's style of play was very different for the rest of the league. And it is. But here is the thing: it has always been.
In earlier seasons, her completely different approach than the rest of the league was held as the reason for her dominance. Her slower style was seen as part of the reason why they control games. As the table above shows, City's style is certainly not a outlier in the Guardiola era this season.
So it feels a little reductive to say that the style no longer works because City is not doing well. In view of the fact that so many obvious factors – injuries, low self -confidence, Stalwarts such as Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan, who play well below his best, are it not reasonable to say that these things have made the style less effective, just like a team that plays any style?
And this was Guardiola's point in this TNT interview, not that the league comes away from the city.
“We should rise incredibly into the rhythm,” he said too, “and we couldn't, just not because we didn't have the players.”
He continues to refer to the number of injuries in clubs across Europe and finally offers a solution to the problems with which he is faced with his side this year.
“I believe we have now to have an extended squad in the long run,” he said. “I at all times believed (it needs to be done) with a number of players, however the team cannot survive.”
It was only last season that he actually said that he would rather be “no manager” than to have a big squad, but that changed this season, and although he discussed the changing face of the Premier League in this interview, he believes that the solution is not to tear his style, but first bring his players fit to ensure that they remain fit with more options.
The message is clear: take out the injuries from the equation and his style would still work.
Oscar Bobb was an enormous loss for Guardiola (Stu Forster/Getty Images) this season)
He could also be incorrect with regard to the continued effectiveness of his own style, and he would probably not admit it even when he felt, nevertheless it could be incorrect to suggest what he said at the top of last 12 months that he believes that City could be left behind.
The discussion has apparently disregarded town's own development lately, about which Guardiola spoke on this interview.
When he gave examples of the direct approach of other teams, he also concluded town: “How we were”.
He was recently asked and spoke intimately in regards to the changes within the league and the identical two points: that the injuries undermined town's season and that they’ve developed with the Times anyway.
“I personally saw that more teams like to play more men to man, more aggressive in their structure, some of them play like that,” he said. “In terms of being more direct, English football was more direct (forever):” Do not play much in the center and play long balls “.
“But many teams have been playing from behind lately, Tottenham is an example and plenty of other teams.”
He then emphasized a process that the city went through 2022-23; First of all this season, when they fought against teams who pressed them from man to man, but they gradually became more effective because they described long balls to Erling Haaland. Something was seen this season, especially against Chelsea in January.
Guardiola is confident that his team can return to the highest (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
“Usually it is completely different if you play a position game against MAN-to-man game, but we treated ourselves really well against teams who play man-to-man, we are not concerned about it,” he continued, after which he got here to the largest problem with this season.
“It is more … We always regret this season, I said many times:” What would occur to (only) one, two or three muscle injuries throughout the season, three or 4 weeks? “But we have central defenders (who are eight or 10 weeks, we don't have Rodri for six or seven months, Oscar (Bobb) is five or six months.
“I can imagine that we would have been more competitive than we, but if we have the squad, we can play in this way. We can do it.
“While I am the manager, depending on the quality of the players or the problems that the opponents (pose), we will adapt, but I think we will try to play as the team defined for many years.
“The only difference is that there are more teams that are more aggressive in our goal kick. Before they were more careful. Now teams are so brave, it's a little different. I would say that is the only one, the rest … if you had your team, you could compete and you could play as we have played in the past. “
Rodris long -term absence continues to throw a shadow over town's season (Michael Regan/Getty Images).
It is something that town has adapted, even for those who maintain your more patient and slower approach in most games. The change cannot bring them closer to the opposite teams within the graphic, since nearly all of the opponents are still deep against town. If you try this, Guardiola instructs his players to “drink coffee”, make more passports and be more patient to avoid counterattacks.
This approach was sufficient to win the title within the last 4 seasons. So why would he have stopped suddenly? Is it since it isn’t any longer effective or since the players – for countless reasons – weren’t capable of implement it properly?
image credit : www.nytimes.com