Guardiola: The main man in a league of kings

By Boluwatife Ezekiel Olaleye

He’s been called a fraud, labelled as fake and incompetent but after going 15 points clear at the top of the Premier League standings, way ahead of the chasing pack with half-season to go, Pep Guardiola’s team is now the team to beat.

Despite racking up 22 trophies since the start of his managerial career; an achievement that has placed him in the ranks of the most successful managers in world football, it was not enough to prevent the heavy criticisms that were aimed at him after ending his first season in the Premier League as manager of Manchester City without any trophy-A season he branded as a “disaster”.

It was the first time Guardiola would not win a single trophy in his first season in charge of a club judging from the fact that his first season in charge of Barcelona saw him win a treble (The La Liga, the Copa Del Rey and the Champions League). In doing so, Guardiola became the youngest manager to ever win the Champions League.

After four successful seasons as manager of Barcelona in which he won 14 trophies out of a possible 19, he left for German Giants, Bayern Munich. During his first stint with Bayern Munich, he won the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup and the most fascinating of all, he led Bayern to their 23rd Bundesliga title by beating Hertha BSC 3-1 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin with seven matches remaining in the season.

It was the earliest the championship had been won in Bundesliga history, breaking the record Heynckes’ Bayern set in the previous season. Guardiola also broke Karl-Heinz Feldkam’s record for the longest winning streak to start his tenure at a Bundesliga club.

Having enjoyed success galore both in Spain and Germany (14 titles with Barca, 8 with Bayern), reports emanated that he was headed for the Premier League, English top-flight football.

Football pundits and fans across the world believed Guardiola was going to dominate English football like he did in the Spanish La Liga and German Bundesliga. However, the going got tougher and contrary to expectations, Guardiola ended the season trophyless ranking 3rd in the Premier League standings and giving room for criticisms to set in.

Guardiola’s was called a fraud by some sports columnist, notably Ronan Murphy who believed that Guardiola was so successful in Barcelona and Bayern Munich because of the quality of players they had in the club. In Barcelona, the likes of Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Eto’o and many other great players were already regular starters and becoming world stars even before Guardiola came. Also in Bayern, talented players like Robben, Ribery, Manuel Neuer were well-established in the club already and were also regarded as footballing superstars before he came. “Guardiola was lucky enough to ‘inherit’ quality players in the clubs he managed which led to his immense success but since he couldn’t enjoy the same luxury in England, his true abilities has been exposed. Guardiola might not be as good as everyone thinks”.

“Guardiola’s style of play cannot survive in English football”, said Ryan Giggs, Manchester United’s Legend while comparing Guardiola’s first season to that of his greatest rival, Jose Mourinho at Manchester United who won three trophies including the Europa League during the 2016/17 season; though excluding the Premier League title itself as both Manchester clubs lost out to Chelsea.

Guardiola himself admitted, “the Premier League is not like the Spanish La Liga or the Bundesliga in Spain, teams are more tactical, less aggressive and mostly play the ball on the ground but in England, the game is faster, with increased tempo. Everyone is always on the move and mostly the ball is always on the air and making it difficult for me to implement my tactics” but come the 2017/18 season, his second season in charge, it is a different story entirely.

The typical Guardiola team everyone was expecting finally manifested itself. Guardiola always needed time to build his own team and now he has that team.

Manchester City defeated their neighbours Manchester United to continue their unerring march to a third premier league title on Sunday. The victory was City’s 14th straight win, breaking the Premier League record, previously held by Arsenal for the longest winning streak in a single season.

No team in Premier League history has ever made as strong a start to a season as Pep Guardiola’s current squad. Manchester City have picked up all three points came all the way back in August in a 1-1 draw.

With a frontline boasting the likes of Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus, it’s come as no surprise that Man City have made such short work of unpicking Premier League defences.

According to Mr Chukwuneye Victor, a recharge card distributor and a die-hard Arsenal fan,”Guardiola is better than Mourinho and to me, he is the best manager in history. He is very good at his tactics. I don’t watch Man City’s game before but now I do because they play entertaining and purposeful football all thanks to Guardiola”.

Going into the break, Manchester City now stand 15 points clear at the top of the English Premier League. This mesmerizing form has left many questions to be asked including if Guardiola’s troops can break the record of Arsenal’s 2004 invincibles and go the whole season unbeaten.

Speaking on that topic, Oladeji Ayomide, a student of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism  affirmed, “there is no doubt about it. Manchester City has won the league. I don’t see anyone defeating them judging from the way things are going. They have beaten all the top teams including Chelsea and Manchester United. I don’t think anyone will be able to stop them next season either”.

Guardiola recently professed that it was not possible that Manchester City win all four trophies this season which includes a domestic treble plus the Champions League.However, after last season’s result, there is no questioning the fact that the Champions League is one major trophy he would love to win, having last won since 2011 with Barcelona.

With 18 wins out of a possible 19 and standing 15 points clear of 2nd-placed Manchester United, Guardiola’s Manchester City has finished the first half of the season in the best way possible and of course is the team to beat come the return of footballing action in 2018.