Manchester City: Why Pep Guardiola is being cautious

Manchester City are sitting alone atop the Premier League table, but manager Pep Guardiola doesn’t think they are quite ready yet.

In the Premier League, it seems every manager has his own “thing”. Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger is well-known for keeping his hawk-eyes ever on his players for the full duration of the 90 minutes, except, of course, for when they commit fouls. United’s Jose Mourinho spends more time watching the match officials, it would seem, always having a suitable critique available and ready to be voiced over the questionably suitable avenue of the post-match interview. All in the event of a loss, you know.

Then you have managers like Chelsea’s Antonio Conte and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp who, quite frankly, go to great lengths to compete over who can appear the most insane in their pitch-side theatrics. As for Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola? Well, he kinda just wins. A lot. Maybe if he had one notable personality feature we’ve seen so far, it’s his desire for success has made him ruthlessly sceptical that he will achieve it. Despite what the statistics say.

While Manchester City sit proudly, and solely, atop the English Premier League table, Pep has gone to lengths to assert that, in his opinion, much work needs to be done for City to be a contender. This may seem a touch strange given the Blues have yet to lose, or even be behind in, a game under Pep’s guidance.

Indeed, City have looked overwhelmingly dominant and increasingly more-so in every game so far. Last Saturday they put derby rivals United to the sword in a boys-against-men masterclass that left many pundits giving City the nod for the title.

Yet still Pep will not relent, not only are City, at present, not good enough to win the Champions League but likely they Premier League too, he insists. What gives? Surely even Pep must realise that his side are, pound for pound, the best in the country, never mind that he himself is arguably the best coach. Modesty and caution are to be commended, but it seems more and more likely Pep isn’t as convinced as the “experts” by Manchester City’s early domination.

It seems to me that, for all of the good Guardiola has accomplished at the Etihad in such a short space in time, he still views it as a work in progress. City have settled in to Pep’s tiki-taka, passing, possession style and overwhelmed opponents early in games, but a change to the dynamic in the second half often, alongside tiredness, usually results in a tougher finale. This is both predictable and easily exploitable, becoming increasingly more so if the status quo remains.

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Further, it’s debatable if Pep ever really envisaged the success he seems to have found himself with so early on. His Summer signings were, but for Nolito and Claudio Bravo, young talent that all will take years to reach their top potential under his guidance. Pep never promised instant success, only an attempt at entertaining football, and it’s obvious a long-term plan was put into place that may even forego it entirely in favour of ultimate dominance.

Either which way, with City looking red-hot domestically and abroad, Pep’s game needs to be adopted and internalized as soon as possible. It seems obvious that Guardiola is reminding us that this simply hasn’t happened yet, that poor performances and, perhaps losses, will come as a result.

Don’t judge him or the squad now, because they can be better and will be better, he wants you to know. Given what we’ve seen so far, that should be a most exciting prospect for any Manchester City fan indeed.

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