Derby defeat exposes old weak points in Guardiolas Manchester City|Jonathan Wilson – The Guardian

It is one defeat. It does not alter the basic truth that Manchester City will win the league and look most likely as well-positioned to win a quadruple as any side has at this phase of a season. There comes a point at which the exact variety of wins in a row is unimportant– the run ended at 21, however whether it had actually been 18 or 24, it would be a lot, far a lot of for the majority of sides even to start to ponder. They stay a powerful group however they no longer appear invincible.

That occurs. All groups have video games when the breaks do not rather go their method– althoughUnited were deserved winners on Sunday All sides have bad days. After 3 months of excellent days, maybe City were merely due one. However still, the way of United’s triumph at the Etihad will trigger issue. We have actually seen this prior to: City rattled by a concession, susceptible to balls in behind them, taking a look at a wall that opposes them without any genuine idea of where the door might be. When Pep Guardiola groups lose video games, this is how they lose them.

When Genuine Madrid selected José Mourinho in 2010, it was with a particular short to stop Guardiola, to do whatever it required to end his reign of magnificence at Barcelona. The Portuguese attained it, after 2 grimly attritional seasons of eye-gouging and press-conference warfare, winning the league and requiringan exhausted Guardiola into resignation Yet it ends up that had they simply wished to challenge him on the pitch, the perfect prospect was the guy who prospered Mourinho at Old Trafford: Ole Gunnar Solskjær. There have actually been 68 supervisors who have actually dealt with Guardiola on 4 or more events; because City won at Anfield last month to level ball game versus Jürgen Klopp, Solskjær is the just one to have a favorable record versus him– 4 wins and a draw from 8 video games.

His football, sitting males deep and seeking to strike at speed on the counter, is not especially advanced. It stays too depending on dazzling people doing dazzling things at the best minute to bring continual success. It can labor versus well-organised and unambitious challengers (Crystal Palace, West Brom, Sheffield United). It will resist much better sides who choose likewise to sit off (after a 6-1 defeat, a 1-0 defeat and 5 0-0 draws, this was United’s very first win versus a “Huge 6” side this season). However it can injure groups who leave area in behind them.

Guardiola sides over current seasons have actually been susceptible to that. It’s how City lost two times to Wolves last season and to Norwich. For a while, that was how Guardiola groups lost in the Champions League, season after season. Then the reason for defeat ended up being the efforts to avoid that type of defeat: the strange group choices versus Liverpool in 2018, Tottenham in 2019 and Lyon in 2020.

It’s what Guardiola appeared to have actually solved this season. The 5-2 defeat at home to Leicester was an ideal example of how carefully refined his side are and the issues that can trigger: pulling among the advanced main midfielders much deeper to use extra defense to the back 4 left Kevin De Bruyne separated in journalism, enabling Youri Tielemans and Nampalys Mendy to select their method around him with relative ease. This is why the calls for Klopp to reduce back on his technique as Liverpool’s season collapses feel a little misdirected; when systems are as exactly adjusted and adjoined as contemporary pushing systems are, enacting anything more than a small tweak is extremely tough.

However by late December, City appeared to have actually got it best: not simply on their method to 21 straight wins, however just 8 objectives yielded throughout that run. The one doubt was whether City had actually truly been evaluated in those video games. That feels a somewhat outrageous quibble, which level of consistency is excellent practically regardless of the opposition, however the nature of contemporary football and its unreasonable financing structures are that groups can start long unbeaten runs without ever truly requiring to play that well, specifically if, as City did, they capture groups such as Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool at a low ebb.

And one minute in specific provoked a small frisson of doubt: Liverpool’s charge versus City was soft, however it originated from an easy ball in behind Rúben Dias. Was the old vulnerability still there? The response on Sunday was emphatic: yes.

It was another previous weak point that affected them at first, however, as they responded severely to going behind to a first-minute charge. The flipside of their generous combination, especially because the departure of Vincent Kompany, is an absence of on-pitch leaders to drag them through crises. It’s why, when things fail, Guardiola sides typically yield in batches– 2 or 3 in a 10-15-minute duration. Here they didn’t yield a 2nd however the cogs were practically noticeably sticking and it took up until the midpoint of the half prior to they found their typical rhythm. However even then, they were open to the counter. In truth, United had enough opportunities on the break to have actually won more easily.

It’s one video game. The last 3 months have actually been extremely excellent and this defeat does not alter that. No transformation is ever totally direct; there are constantly obstacles. However Sunday’s defeat does raise uncomfortable concerns about the degree to which City’s previous problems have actually truly been fixed.