People are overreacting about Manchester City
As I’m sure you’re aware, Liverpool knocked out Manchester City from the Champions League. Liverpool have made it to the semi-finals, for the first time since 2008. At Anfield, Guardiola’s side looked off the beat and sluggish. Liverpool ran riot in the first 30 minutes, going 3–0 up.
In the second leg City came out fast and dangerous, scoring a goal in the 2rd minute. Excitement built in Manchester City fans and neutrals as the possibility of an amazing comeback was on the cards.
This dream was killed by Salah and Firmino who both scored their eighth goals in the Champions League this season. Liverpool eventually winning 5–1 on aggregate.
I’ve seen some people discredit Manchester City. Claiming that this result causes this season to mean nothing. And of course, thousands of people calling Guardiola a ‘fraud’ on twitter. Duncan Castles wrote that ‘Pep Guardiola has burned through more than £1billion in two years, yet Manchester City are no closer to Champions League success than under Manuel Pellegrini’.
Manchester City have had an amazing season. They are a great club side that look unplayable at times. They have world class players who play an enjoyable, fast style of play. All under the guidance of the best manager in the world.
Yes, they spent a lot to be where they are. There’s no denying that. But, you can’t argue against the side that Guardiola has built.
This side has won the Premier League comfortably. With 6 matches to go they are 13 points ahead of rivals and second placed Manchester United. They went the first 22 matches without losing. And only drawing two. Gaining 62 out of a possible 66. Liverpool eventually broke their undefeated run in January.
Alongside this they also won the Carabao Cup early on this season, earning them a double. Two trophies in a season isn’t something to look down upon.
Tournaments are not good measures of success. Tournament competitions are unpredictable and exciting. Constantly full of surprises. But, anything can happen. A side’s success and prestige cannot be measured by looking at a few matches. Matches where teams may rotate, have travelled a lot and played matches a few days before and have another in a couple of days.
A league season is a larger sample size. Teams tend to end up where they should. Teams can still over or under perform over a season and that’s 38 games in the Premier League’s case. Hence why you hear ‘the magic of the cup’ every year, and not about the league.
I’m taking nothing away from Liverpool. Klopp set up his side against City in the first leg perfectly. They shook up Manchester City who weren’t up to their usual standard. They took advantage and scored three goals. Klopp’s side were then able to seal the win.
Klopp has a great record against Pep Guardiola. He has been referred to as Pep’s nemesis. Their sides have clashed 14 times. Klopp has come out on top 8 times. Klopp’s gegenpressing system is perfectly designed to ruin Guardiola’s possession-based system which involves a lot of passing between defenders. Liverpool displayed the ‘5 second rule’ in the first leg extremely well and City seemed to not be able to cope with the pressure.
They deserve to go through. But, it does not take away the prestige of Manchester City’s season. Their season remains remarkable, but not quite the end result they’d hoped for.
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