Manchester City: Clock Ticking Against Pep Guardiola
18-year old Tom Davies slots the ball into the back of the net. Both John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi stare at each other momentarily. Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna, the Frenchmen hang their heads in shame as they look aimlessly to walk back. Manchester City have 10 minutes to play and they are trailing 3-0. Ronald Koeman is jubilant with his team. While the Dutchman speaks with Kevin Mirallas and Romelu Lukaku, despite them being 3-0 up on the night, there is Pep Guardiola in the opposite dugout. He has just seen his side be decimated by Everton, a side that City has had considerable success over in recent times.
Guardiola’s terrible predicament
While the players hang their head in disapproval of the scoreline and more importantly, their performance, there was a shot of Guardiola in the dugout. He did not have a disappointed look on his face. He would have been deep down, but there seemed to be somewhat of a hush around the dugout. Brian Kidd was staring into his papers and tactics. The shot of Guardiola however, took centre stage. His state into thin air seemingly was the shot for the papers the next day.
The caption in “The Sun” in particular was something that got most of the pundits questioning for the remainder of the January Transfer window. Coming into the Premier League, Guardiola has had perhaps his worst taste of football management. The 45-year old has an amazing CV when it comes to football management. However, at Manchester City, he finds himself where most managers find themselves after six months of the Premier League.
Of course, a few of them come a few months closer to this period. Bob Bradley, Steve Kean, and perhaps even Paulo di Canio are a few examples of the same. However, as opposed to the aforementioned managers, Guardiola has had a longer rope. He was announced as the manager well before Pellegrini had left. He had the entire summer transfer window, something that saw him recruit a massive bunch of players for an insane amount of money.
Manchester City and the massive depth of resources
So, for all those who are unsure on how Manchester City has spent its money. Approximately 150 million pounds have been spent thus far.
Ilkay Gundogan, the first signing of the season. The 20 million pound move from Borussia Dortmund eventually ensured that he is now sitting back in the haven of the Manchester City medical care unit. Nolito and Claudio Bravo were the Spanish recruits of sorts who came to fill in Guardiola’s more immediate needs. When 30-year old Nolito made his way into the club, he was viewed with much contempt among the fans. However, when it came to Pep’s team, they were (almost) certain that he promised goals.
When it has come to the UEFA Champions League, Nolito has been an absolute gem of a player. With Guardiola looking to give Raheem Sterling a break, it has indeed been somewhat of an impressive slot for the Spaniard. However, in the League, Nolito has been sub-par. Leroy Sane, the teenager who came in for 37 million while John Stones came in for a whopping 47.5 million. One can certainly see the kind of money spent on the ordeal, but the fact is that neither of these two have made much of an impact.
Poor recruitment costing City dear
While Stones continues to make mistakes and Sane continues to be deployed out of position, it would seem as though there are bigger problems on hand. Claudio Bravo’s recruitment seems to be one of those that is indeed baffling a lot of people. Especially, given the fact that Joe Hart’s position had been made available after the England keeper was loaned out to Torino. Now, this is a massive problem for Pep Guardiola. His first taste of the Premier League has seen him with no place to turn. Moreover, his playing style has seen his side slip out of the Champions League spots as well.
What is also surprising is that the January transfer window saw the lone addition of Gabriel Jesus, an attacker. While the 19-year old Brazilian has been in stupendous form and certainly will go a long way in terms of complementing Sergio Aguero. The fact is that they are incredibly shaky at the back. If one takes stock of the situation, one will certainly see that the sides that have gone on to win the league have had some amazing goalkeepers. Peter Schmeichel, Thibaut Courtois or going a little further back to Edwin van der Sar, Jens Lehmann and so on have all been amazing and part of league-winning squads.
However, despite his impact in the 2014 World Cup, Claudio Bravo has simply been poor. Of course, his distribution when the ball is at his feet has been amazing, but the fact is that he has let in goals that should have been comfortably stopped by a keeper of his reputation. Of course, Guardiola is protecting him. He is the manager, and he has the dubious honor of protecting his players, however, the performance needs to improve and soon.
Conclusion
City’s most recent result sees them with a 4-0 win over West Ham away. It also saw them come up 2-2 against Spurs at home, a match where they were clinical, only one where the result did not go their way. However, Claudio Bravo was certainly not at his best. And the way things are looking at the moment, it would seem as though there is very little to suggest that Guardiola’s ego would give way and he would indeed go ahead and rope Joe Hart back into the grand scheme of things.
However, should Manchester City have some hope of winning the title, they will need a team as good as one and perhaps even worthy of winning the title. An ageing squad and a poor goalkeeper are simply not the answers for the same.
Image Courtesy: The Sun, ManCity