Pep Guardiola uses a few different techniques to keep things fresh at Manchester City. One is an “us against the world” attitude that has really developed in the second half of his eight years on these shores.
On Friday, ahead of what has traditionally become their biggest game of a given season, the discourse was dominated by the Merseysiders, but not Liverpool.
Everton, the ten-point deduction and what that means – or, more specifically, doesn’t mean for City – were high on the agenda and Guardiola relishes that kind of talk.
Without hesitation he suggested that an army of critics would be ashamed of their relegation to the divisions over 115 financial burdens. It’s hard to disagree with him on that point. That stuff really translates to the players. What excites the manager year after year is the public perception of their performance.
Guardiola is frustrated by the idea that City simply turn up and win, that it is all embarrassingly simple, and baffled that they are expected to produce cricket scores every week.
Pep Guardiola loves banter that echoes Manchester City’s ‘us against the world’ mantra
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“Just because your name is Guardiola, everyone thinks you will win 6-0,” a source said recently.
Certainly not on Saturday. Guardiola was as usual effusive about Jurgen Klopp, joking that City might as well be blamed for the early kick-off given their record as villains. Not 6-0, but a match without goals and incidents is difficult to imagine.
There’s a lot of psychology involved in keeping them all hungry for more success, but the other part is just as important. He changes their style every year – and this one is no different.
“Teams decide how we defend,” captain Kyle Walker said. ‘That’s Pep being Pep.’
In recent months, Guardiola has generally turned away from his more pragmatic tendencies, his more cautious side, and worried about the consequences of tactics.
The stats don’t bear that out – City have scored 32 times so far, only a higher figure than three of Guardiola’s campaigns – but they feel things are a little freer.
They attack in a more direct manner and buy midfielders who regularly carry the ball rather than recycle it.
And then there’s Jeremy Doku, with his explosive running and stardust. No team in the division has carried the ball more than City, not the data you’d expect to see at the top.
Everton were hit with the biggest points deduction in Premier League history
Guardiola (right) was quizzed about Everton as he prepared to face Jurgen Klopp’s (left) Liverpool
The visit of Liverpool on Saturday afternoon will challenge that change. Only really at Arsenal has Guardiola chosen to really ‘keep the ball in the fridge’, as he says, while without the suspended Rodri he was afraid of transitions.
‘We have been each other’s best rivals for the past ten years. We are still here, which is a great addition to Liverpool and City,” Guardiola said.
“We’ve faced each other a thousand million times.”
Klopp will be aware of Guardiola’s mentality when the team sheets are exchanged in the Etihad tunnel at around 11.30am; Doku or Jack Grealish is a selection dilemma that will tell a lot.
Grealish started winning at Manchester United, while Doku did so for years at Chelsea. Those who operate on the broad left have a significant influence on the game plan.
The centre-half still slots into midfield, which is, in Guardiola’s words, ‘quite similar’ to last season, but the general way in which they try to break through the opposition actually seems more likely to thrive in a game where transitions at the be the order of the day. day.
Not since Leroy Sane on one wing and Raheem Sterling on the other wing have they had that.
“The fundamentals are the same,” he added. ‘Last season we played the most important part of the season mainly with John (Stones), (Ilkay) Gundogan, Kevin (De Bruyne) and Rodri. Those players could play blindfolded.
It’s intriguing to see how Jack Grealish (left) and Jeremy Doku (right) are used against Liverpool
‘Now three are not involved and we have to adapt. That’s why I’m surprised by the position we have in the league and the Champions League. So far we have been better than the others.’
De Bruyne is expected back in training in the next fortnight, although there is pessimism he will feature before Christmas as the Belgian recovers from hamstring surgery.
However, he will be licking his lips watching this latest version of Guardiola’s City; to the untrained eye it appears made for their talisman.
Erling Haaland wants him back ASAP, no one telegraphs him as quickly as De Bruyne, and you wonder what happens when he returns with the crosshairs chasing those blonde locks.