Liverpool and Manchester City will square off at the Etihad come Tuesday in a game that’ll either be remembered as one where City’s comeback stunned the world or Liverpool’s ability to turn it on against the big sides. Saturday’s tie against Manchester United showed City are far from the finished article and all it took was around 30 minutes of pressure from United who were abject in the first half.
Some 10 days ago, it was supposed to be City’s week of joy; fast forward a few days and suddenly, the mood around Etihad is pretty sombre even though the club will lift the league title come May and finish with a double.
So what exactly has changed and why is there so much media attention on Pep Guardiola? We try and take a look…
A lean patch that took forever to come
Let’s face this, this isn’t the first time we’ve had runaway leaders. Chelsea, did it last season and before the season Leicester City surprisingly won it as well. The only difference is City looked so good that even during supposed bad phases, they somehow found a way and eked out wins instead of draws.
City have always bounced back from a loss or a draw with a win which means their longest winless streak is just a single game. It’s unlikely we’ll see such a dominant performance from any other team in the coming years.
The lean patch has come in all competitions and it’s about what opposition teams have done when City have the ball. Liverpool showed that the best way to play against City is to press their centre-backs who aren’t the best while playing the ball under pressure. Manchester United did the same in the second half when their attacking players and Paul Pogba didn’t allow City any time on the ball.
Guardiola’s side have played some breath-taking football, but the stubbornness of trying to play the ball out of the back could cost them a place in the Champions League semifinals.
Experience
As cliched as it may sound, the team isn’t the most experienced. While they have quite a few players who have won silverware, the team’s key players – Kyle Walker, Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus and John Stones – are still pretty young.
Credit to Guardiola for making them play like they’ve been together for years, but when the going gets tough, youth and exuberance alone won’t get you out of jail.