Is the Premier League getting the better of Pep Guardiola?

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has already encountered two stick patches with the Citizens this season

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola arrived in England as one of the most highly rated bosses of his or any generation.

The Catalan was expected to lead City to domestic and European domination in the near future.

Though he may well still achieve those objectives, his City career has hit a second sticky patch after less than six months in charge.

The Citizens headed for champions Leicester on Saturday evening expecting to get back to winning ways after poor displays of late.

They had a rude awakening, though, as the out-of-form Foxes raced into a 3-0 lead after just 20 minutes. At one point in the second half, City were four goals down, but the game eventually finished 4-2 to the champions.

Players letting him down

Pep Guardiola is regarded by many as a tactical genius. He has shown new and innovative managerial ideas at the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich. However, sometimes a boss’s tactics are undermined by the poor displays of his players.

Guardiola revealed in an interview after the Leicester game that he “doesn’t train tackles”. The Catalan boss has always managed to get through to his players his ideas on the beautiful game. This has resulted in the creation of some very good teams.

However, maybe he is concentrating on the attacking side of the game too much and neglecting the defensive side of the game. The fact that City started with a back three of Aleksandar Kolarov, John Stones and Bacary Sagna was one of the main causes of City’s defensive struggles.

To play two full-backs and one centre-back in the back three was a risky strategy. Yes, Guardiola wants his centre-backs to split and go wide, but there needs to be a vocal presence in the back three.

There needs to be a leader of a centre-back and John Stones is definitely not that player. Both Sagna and Kolarov have played at centre-back previously in their career, but neither player looks comfortable in the position.

Argentinian centre-back Nicolas Otamendi was suspended for this clash and will be restored to the starting line-up for City’s next game at home against Watford. Belgian centre-back Vincent Kompany is a major loss for the Citizens and Guardiola may well sign a new centre-back in January.

Underestimated the league

Pep Guardiola has comfortably won titles in La Liga with Barcelona and Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich. It could be argued that neither of those leagues are as competitive as the Premier League. There is very rarely an easy game in the English top-flight.

Guardiola talked about winning second balls being typical in England. However, that is a crucial part of being successful in England. A team cannot play beautiful attacking football every game, as the opposition just will not let you.

Sometimes a team has to mix it up a bit, do the rough stuff and then earn the right to win. That is probably why Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is currently faring better than his Spanish counterpart in the English top-flight.

Guardiola needs to accept that sometimes the opposition will find a way around his tactics and systems to beat his team. Leicester were direct in the win, but Guardiola should have known that is how they play, they won the title with the same style last season.

Time for Guardiola to show his worth

City are now four points behind league leaders Arsenal and Chelsea, with the latter playing today against West Brom. The Blues could extend their lead over City to seven points, which is not definitive at this stage of the campaign.

However, if Chelsea keeps playing the way they have done in recent months, then they will be difficult to catch. City currently occupy fourth spot, the same position they finished last season under Manuel Pellegrini. The Citizens are now the third favourites to win the title this season at odds of 9/2.

The job at Manchester City was always going to be Pep Guardiola’s biggest challenge of his managerial career so far. At Barcelona, he inherited a squad that contained the likes of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi.

At Bayern Munich, he took over a team that had just won the treble, including the Champions League. He has taken over a team that has just finished fourth in the Premier League table at City. They needed an injection of bright ideas.

Guardiola will say he has nothing to prove in management after his achievements with his previous clubs. However, if he fails at to achievement big results at City, then it will be a major blot on his managerial record.

Is the Premier League getting the better of Pep Guardiola?