'Pep's unsurprising Down Fall'

Pep Guardiola. Perhaps one of the most decorated managers of recent times. He helped take Barcelona to the Champions League where they ended up winning 2-0 against Manchester United making them the first Spanish club to win the domestic cup, the league, and the European club titles, also known as the treble, in the same season. In saying that, he has arrived in England in a very anti-climactic way. Here's why...

He joins Manchester City in the summer of 2016. Manchester City fans are optimistic and Premier League fans are excited for the managers presence. He joined fantastic managers such as Jose Mourinho, Mauricio Pochettino and Antonio Conte to name a few. Due to his past achievements and the immense amount of trophies he's won, many believed that this was enough for Manchester City to go ahead and win the league. Of course this isn't a final result they may go ahead and still win it, but, this is why, in my opinion, they wont.

Loaning out Joe Hart

Now fair enough, he had a terrible campaign in the Euro 2016 competition in which England went out to a group, of which the majority of them are part time footballers, who played for the nation Iceland. However he is still England's number 1 goal keeper and arguably one of the Premier Leagues finest goal keepers having won the League with the team. Now we sit in January of 2016 and Bravo has conceded 14 of the 20 shots that have been on target. How can you possibly win the league when your goalie is practically transparent? He was very successful playing for a massive club in Spain called Barcelona, this will be a pattern as I progress. He had a defence with such players as Pique, Jordi Alba, Dani Alves and Mascherano ahead of him. Not to mention the attack of that team and the midfield... any goal keeper whether he be Jamal Blackman who currently plays for Wycombe Wanderers or Manuel Neuer of Bayern Munich is going to be successful with Barcelona's team ahead of them. They have Messi, Suarez and Neymar leading their attack... more often than not they would score more goals than they would concede. This in my opinion is because they are like Manchester City being in League 1.

Under-estimating the Premier League

The Premier League is the most competitive league in the world. It is literally a league where anyone can beat anyone. This has been proven over many years with many managers and many different tactics and play styles. Pep Guardiola came to the league thinking that this league would be the same as La Liga and the Bundesliga. Little did he know that this would be one of the most tactical errors of his career. Granted, at the start of the season his system, as predictable as it was, worked and it worked well but once he settled into the Premier League and sat at the top of the League for a short while he became complacent. The worst possible thing a manager can do! Chelsea, who are currently top of the league, have a great system because Conte adapted to the Premier League and realised that he needed a team a formation and the tactics to keep up. As soon as Pep started playing worse than he did at the start he did the opposite. He figured that it was a “spell” and it would all blow over... To this day the squad may have changed a bit but the tactics have not. Its still the same foreign style of football. Tiki taka, possession holding slow style of play which works great in Germany and Spain because that's how players are coached by default. In England however it is fast paced, physical counter attacking football. Football that Pep Guardiola isn't used to and football that the manager can not compete with. For example their match against Leicester City. Leicester are currently placed 15th in the Premier League. The reason they beat Manchester City and scored 4 goals against the side is because Leicester are renowned for their fast paced counter attacking football. As I mentioned Manchester City are struggling to deal with this as they under estimate their opponents.

The Easier Leagues

Right. Now allow me to explain why his downfall wasn't surprising, to me at least, in the slightest. He went from the prestigious success of FC Barcelona who are, realistically one of the 3 teams who stand a chance of winning La Liga, to Manchester City one of the newest big teams who are undoubtedly one of the biggest title contenders but still not in the same league as Barcelona or Bayern Munich. How I mean this is if you put Bournemouth in La Liga they would, in my opinion, finish top 5. This is not a slate on Bournemouth as I believe under Eddie Howe they are one of the dark horses in the Premier League. In saying this they are a bottom half of the table team. My point is that the Premier League is a complete contrast to other leagues. Linking back to Pep he went wrong in the sense that he saw this job as a “top of the league no problem” kind of job and felt the need to prove himself in England as most coaches and managers would agree that it is the hardest league to compete and stand out in. Due to this opinion Pep came to the Premier League under the assumption that he could play a recycled style of football in a league he is not used too. To me this is him trying to assert authority in the league by attempting to introduce a certain style of football. Even though this idea shouldn't be alienated and forgotten as it is not a bad idea if you're team is either used to playing that style or showing signs of potential change or adaptation. This is vital when setting out a team, choosing a formation or even selecting certain styles of play for during the game. It is also a good method for young coaches to establish their name on the coaching scene. It didn't work for Pep Guardiola because even though he was a fantastic educator for the younger players for a first team to go from fast paced counter attacking football to a slower more precise approach not only deems to be tedious but also may frustrate an individual causing them to play their own game. An example of this is when Thierry Henry was forced wide for FC Barcelona and was eventually substituted and dropped by the team for coming inside too often.

To conclude, in my opinion Pep Guardiola is overrated as one of the best managers in the world simply because he has been successful for clubs that any good manager could be successful in, however, I believe he could be on to something at City just, A, needs A LOT of time and, B, has to get the squad to adapt a lot quicker than they are to even still remain competitive for the title.