How Pep Guardiola plans to reshape Manchester City after his first year in the Premier League

Former Prime Minister, Harold Wilson once claimed: “A week is a long time in politics.” Pep Guardiola knows better than many that in football it can seem like a lifetime.

Having hit the floor running with six league wins on the bounce following his arrival into the bear pit that is the Premier League there were some pundits claiming that this was a Manchester City side that was going to go the whole season without tasting defeat.

Bizarre but true, and with that kind of pressure on players and coaches alike a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham on week seven must have almost come as a relief.

In truth, despite the great start, Pep always knew that he was never going to be able to achieve what he wanted with the squad he had inherited from Manuel Pellegrini. The great start flattered to deceive, papered over the cracks, disguised a side coming to the end of its cycle. Pep was aware of all that.

Back to ‘that week’ from the 3rd to the 10th December that saw them slip to fourth in the table losing 1-3 at home to Chelsea and then 4-2 away to a Leicester side who up to then looked like they would have struggled to beat an egg, never mind a side earlier predicted by some to go the season unbeaten.

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If they deserved better against Chelsea when they really didn’t get the refereeing rub of the green, then they got exactly what they deserved at Leicester when mistakes cost them dear.

Individual mistakes the likes of which Guardiola has never experienced in his managerial career, error strewn performances, not just from the defence but also from the frontline.

Sir Alex Ferguson told me recently that when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, the two most important things for any side are at either end of the pitch namely a goalkeeper and a striker. Someone to bang them in, someone to keep them out. Guardiola will look back at his first season in the Premier League and know better than anyone else that he has been let down badly on both fronts.

Problems at the Etihad

Claudio Bravo was bought with the best of intentions but for whatever reason, be it homesickness, crisis of confidence, or any number of other destabilising factors, he has not stepped up to the plate. It has surprised everybody at the club.

He came to City with all the right credentials and the perfect CV and then proceeded to let in every one in two shots fired at him.

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But it would be wrong to pin all the blame on him. Up front numerous one on one chances have been squandered with Sergio Aguero not reaching the level of the superstar he can be.

The main trouble with that is that if you fail to kill the game at one end then you stand far more of a chance losing it at the other because of the extra pressure put on your defence.

The injury to Gabriel Jesus that saw him sidelined shortly after he had made it in the starting line up was proof of the old maxim that it never rains but it pours.

Most worrying was the problem identified by Guardiola and his coaching staff as early as October last year, namely the defensive performances particularly from the full backs that guaranteed that it was going to be a long and arduous campaign.

Wholesale changes were needed; the problem was there was nothing there to put in its place.

Either the importance of the full back’s role was grossly underestimated (which knowing Guardiola a little bit, I doubt very much) or more likely the quality of those available grossly over estimated.

If you really want to see the importance of the full back in this day and age you are spoilt for choice. The departure of Dani Alves and the injury to Jordi Alba means that without these two players Barcelona are a shadow of the side they were.

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The importance to the balance of your team of the full backs will not be lost on Pep not least because he was one of the main instigators of the type of football that made them absolutely crucial to the set up and rhythm of any side. The announcement of the departure of Pablo Zabaleta comes us no surprise whatsoever. Others will surely follow.

Necessity may well be the mother of invention but the assumption that anyone can play in a particular position merely because there is a vacancy there was a serious mistake. That didn’t stop him from trying every conceivable option including playing both Fernando and Jesus Navas in the right back berth.

The lack of quality and/or expertise on their defensive flanks meant they moved to a three man central defence and was effectively damage limitation and was never fully going to work.

There were of course other issues that radically affected City’s quest for the title. Injuries meant that for the second half of the season Pep had to play with nine players from the Pellegrini days and even six from the Roberto Mancini era.

When looked at in that light the achievements of City seem more impressive. Players like Kolarov have had to be given a new lease of life, re-motivated. Likewise Yaya Touré who had developed an irritating habit of strolling through matches almost as if they were testimonials and who – to his credit – somehow regained an element of the fire in his belly.

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Pep saw the writing on the wall even when his side were winning in those first weeks and realised that he had no choice other than to take chances and change things around.

But by and large the words blood and stone, and the inability to get one from the other spring to mind.

Champions League exit

Their defensive frailties were there for all to see when they managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the second leg of their last 16 match against Monaco when following a free kick just two defenders were on duty against three attackers, one of whom was Tiemoué Bakayoko who headed home.

In fairness, however, it is once again worth mentioning that had their frontmen taken their chances earlier on, then City would almost certainly have already been home and hosed by the time the third goal had been scored.

Sandwiched either side of the Champions league exit a miserly four points out of a possible 12 culminating in a 2-1 defeat at the champions in waiting, Chelsea, effectively killed any slim hopes they might have still harboured about winning the title.

The best – or more likely worst – example of poor defending could be seen in City’s 2-2 home draw with a Spurs side that never looked in the early stages as if they would get anything from the game.

Two nil to the good thanks to an extremely rare bad day at the office from Hugo Lloris in the Spurs goal the fightback that would eventually earn them a point began when Eriksen released Walker who put a swerving cross into the six yard box that was met by Dele Alli.

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While commentators and Spurs fans alike waxed lyrical about the magnificence of the goal it’s safe to assume that it had Guardiola spitting feathers.

It was a typical Spurs move and Guardiola knows it, and I find it inconceivable that he would not have specifically told Clichy not to go to Eriksen as he did but rather keep tabs on Walker to prevent the cross.

Likewise he would have told Otamendi to watch for the run from Dele Alli. Neither player did as they were – almost certainly – told and from a dominant 2-0 position City now found themselves on the ropes. Son’s equaliser completed the misery.

Such defensive ‘amnesia’ is indicative of a lack of consistency, quality, and mental strength and perhaps even worse what seems like an unwillingness to learn or to listen. Football is not just about what you can do with the ball but also how you apply what you have been taught.

Whether you are attacking, defending, or creating, the simple rule of football is that the best players make the fewest errors; the best apply themselves to the job in hand and over and above anything, listen, and then do as they are told. That’s how it is in the world of Pep Guardiola and quite a number of them will find to their cost at the end of the season what happens when you don’t.

Transfer Window Plans

So who do they need? Where to begin?

Two full backs obviously, one central defender, a powerful forward and another midfielder. They will also be looking for a new goalkeeper but will also be aware that however good a goalkeeper might have been with a former club, the case of Claudio Bravo shows that they do not come with guarantees.

Guardiola will probably remain loyal to Bravo but also look for an alternative number one, hopefully to try to create a similar situation to the one that existed at Barcelona where Bravo and Ter Stegen were one and two and vied for top billing.

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They also feel that they need a striker in the Alexis Sanchez mould, strong, pro-active with and without the ball, and a deadly finisher, while there are high hopes, and many reasons to believe, that next season Gabriel Jesus could be one of the real goalscoring superstars.

The difference between him and Aguero is that while Aguero is a fine individual player, Jesus is the type of player in the collective game that Guardiola wants to play, that can make those around him better.

What they need more than anything is more goals and then everything else would start to make more sense.

In terms of preparation, methodology and style there will be no change at the Etihad. He will need to analyse why he has had the least successful season of his career but that is a million miles away from saying that he will betray his ethos and his footballing principles.

For the time being however he does not have the players at his disposal that can make the difference for him and make up for certain shortcomings.

He has always maintained wherever he has been that success is determined by the quality of the players. But be assured of one thing. He will find these players and he will make them into a side that will win trophies.