How English football changed Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City arrival in 2016 was greeted by many with a scepticism that the methods that made him so successful in Spain and Germany might not work in England.on Sunday, makes a mockery of that initial doubt. There is widespread acceptance now that his approach has changed football in the country dramatically.
The methods honed at Barcelona and Bayern Munich have evolved and will continue to do so following the signing of Erling Haaland. That deal alone says a lot about how Manchester City's manager has adapted his footballing vision over the past six years. His view on refereeing is also well known - he is firmly of the belief English referees are far more lenient than their continental counterparts. This has also affected his decision making, as he feels you need players who are physically bigger and stronger to cope with it. If you get knocked down, you'd better get up and be ready to go again as clashes do not get rewarded with fouls as often as they do anywhere else.
As a perfectionist, Guardiola has focused on eradicating flaws in Manchester City's game this season. For Guardiola, this is a risk worth taking and comes with the territory if you have so many players in front of the ball. He does set the team up to stop these counters and he has learned to do it well - City have the meanest defence in the Premier League.
This is one area where he knows things can be improved. Ruben Dias displays a calmness and clarity in his decision making in moments of stress and panic. He is an example to follow. And in signing the Norwegian, City have recruited a genuine superstar, with a force of personality to match his talent. Guardiola has long placed a lot of emphasis on his team working in the wide areas of the pitch, trying to establish numerical superiority before finishing things off with the arrival in the box of the midfielders. Often crosses are ignored as they do not have players to head those balls in.
Guardiola is a passionate advocate of an approach which destabilises the opposition by constantly moving the ball around before finding the killer pass. But he has come to accept there are more and more instances where playing a much quicker game is the best option, because that is when the opposition are at their most disorganised.
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