To show his worth, a world-class manager does not need to guide an ordinary team. We ‘ve seen world-class teams struggle under the guidance of world-class managers. In football, there are no promises that you can win titles if you run a strong side.
Guardiola has won plenty of titles to please those who judge managers based on the amount of trophies they have won. Trophies aren’t the only thing that comes to mind when talking about a good manager. The basis for how we can judge managers is how they affect their teams in every area, from team success to outcomes.
Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola won his 200th victory on Wednesday as manager of the Premier League side, after his side beat Swansea City in their FA Cup tie. The 3-1 victory, in which Kyle Walker, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus scored, led the club to the quarter-finals of the tournament. Guardiola arrived in Etihad in 2016 after highly successful spells in charge of Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Manchester City signed Guardiola to a three-year deal on February 1, 2016, for the start of the 2016–17 season. In the summer, Guardiola signed midfielders lkay Gündoan and Nolito from Borussia Dortmund and Celta Vigo, respectively, as well as winger Leroy Sané from Schalke 04 and fullback John Stones from Everton. He also controversially substituted long-serving City starting goalkeeper Joe Hart with Claudio Bravo from his former club Barcelona; after Hart struggled to impress Guardiola during pre-season, he was loaned to Torino until the transfer window closed and would never play for the club again.
For anybody, Pep is an example. I don’t think he gets credit for what he did for Barcelona. I applaud him for the game he produced. I loved the Pep Guardiola squad the most since I began watching football. He’s a gift for everyone, and for what he’s done to this sport we should all respect him. He has given the game something that makes football more appealing to look at, from enhancing football, to having perfect transfers, for that commending someone who has contributed to the sport is nothing wrong.
One of the most disappointing facets of Guardiola’s City is that they regularly win games but do not always score goals commensurate with their supremacy. City had 72% of the possession against Lyon. Yet they appeared powerless throughout the attack in the first half. The squad was going well and was playing smartly. But all came only from individual errors by two of their most trusted players.
Football must often be performed without the need to create detailed dossiers, heat maps and video evaluations. Often it’s okay to use a checked method. Guardiola’s tactics have been complex and comprehensive in many cases, but they have often backfired in major games on occasion. It’s humorous that Guardiola often prefers the major games to carry out his unorthodox tactics. His grandiose experiments are reserved for the major stage. When they backfire, he pays a high price as well.
For the first time in his managerial career he would have spent five years at the same club next season.
Many of Guardiola’s players’ contracts will need to be worked out as well. Fernandinho is no longer the player he was three years ago at the age of 35. He makes a habit of conceding needless fouls due to his slowness and lack of ideas.
Will Guardiola have the emotional endurance to restore the team from the ground up? Will he be able to root out the old and put in some young blood to his squad? Will he be able to invest money on players at this time? Will he be able to return for yet another extension, hoping that this will be their year in Europe?
Only time will tell if this is so.
For the time being, all he wants is a break and peace of mind before facing the next piece of his Manchester City puzzle, the Champions League. This time, though, he does not overthink everything. He has to lose his “tortured genius” persona to learn to love football in a more basic way.
4.5