Anybody who regularly reads this daily outpouring of common sense and logic interspersed with nonsensical and, occasionally, difficult-to-believe hyperbole, will be aware that we have provided the solution to combatting Pep Guardiola’s total football at The Etihad.
We have already gone to great lengths in past articles explaining to the likes of José Mourinho, Antonio Conte, (if he’s still there next season), Arséne Wenger, (if he’s still there next season), Maurico Pochettino and Jürgen Klopp what they need to do to keep pace with the Spaniard.
We cannot be held responsible for their failings if they choose not to read our articles or take our advice!
So we won’t bother going over it all again. If anybody, including the aforementioned managers, missed our masterclasses on the subject of how to beat Pep, then here is one of them.
Suffice to say, having spent a few million on new players in positions where it was needed and a few million on new players in positions where it wasn’t needed, Guardiola will, in the not-too-distant future, make history by winning the Premier League to add to the Carabao Cup. He may also have to find a place in the cup cupboard for the Champion’s League trophy, who knows?
City have already won the season’s first big trophy!
Next season, judging by this season, Liverpool could very well be City’s closest competitors. Jürgen Klopp likes his team to play out from the back and doesn’t play with a big target man up front whereby the temptation becomes one of lumping high balls in the general direction of said giant, in the vain hope he will a) be good enough to control it, b) be good enough to hold on to it and c) be good enough to pass it to one of his team mates. The likes of Romelu Lukaku and Álvaro Morata are lucky if they can manage one out of the three!
What Klopp has is a very mobile and fast front three in Mané, Firmino and Salah who are similar to the front three of Sané, Bernardo Silva or Raheem Sterling and Sergio Agüero at City.
He just needs to increase his possession stats so that, like City, the opposition don’t have the ball often enough to pose a major threat.
Harry Kane, at Tottenham, is somewhere between what they have at the other five of the top six. He is tall and can control and hold the ball up, yet he is also mobile and would fit into the style of play at both City and Liverpool. He can play in the style of Lukaku or Morata if required but he can also play in the style of Salah or Agüero if that is what is needed.
Harry Kane – The main man at Tottenham yet again!
Unfortunately for Spurs they don’t have a deep enough squad or enough quality players to mount a serious title challenge and, as long as Daniel Levy maintains strict control over the wage structure, their challenge will always be for the top four.
Manchester United, under José Mourinho, will probably never attempt to copy the Guardiola style, despite it’s proven success. The Portuguese prefers big players up front and in midfield because his game is usually about power.
This is what made the signing of Alexis Sánchez such a surprise because, despite what the manager said to the press, he is not a Mourinho-type of player and this is why he was widely expected to go to City.
No, Mourinho will definitely ignore our advice and go about catching City in his own inimitable way. We wish him every success!
Alexis Sánchez – an un-Mourinho-type player?
Arsenal will probably have a new manager and that alone should be enough to get them nearer to the top than when Stubborn Old Man is in charge. However, if they don’t change manager at the end of this season then they will not challenge for anything next season as Arséne Wenger is now at the stage where he is incapable of changing.
Currently, Arsenal can’t defend and are struggling to score and everybody, except the manager, seems to be aware of this and knows what needs to be done about it.
Chelsea are also unsure of their manager for next season so, like Arsenal, it is a little unfair to offer advice to a new coach who may not need it.
Should Antonio Conte remain in the hot seat he just needs to get the best out of Álvaro Morata and the rest of the team because, as he proved last season, they can win the Premier League albeit when not having the distraction of the Champion’s League.
So, in a nutshell, the other top five teams need to show a marked improvement if they are to get anywhere near Manchester City next season. They also have to hope that City don’t!
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WHY SAY ANYTHING? 