The Premier League title race is greatly changed by Pep Guardiola taking over at Manchester City
Pep Guardiola won’t take over at Manchester City until this season is over, but his impending arrival will influence this year’s Premier League title race
The biggest piece of news on Deadline Day didn’t involve a big name player changing clubs. Instead, it was the confirmation that Pep Guardiola would be taking over for Manuel Pellegrini at Manchester City once this season ends.
The news wasn’t a shock to anyone, but the timing of the announcement caught quite a few off guard. Pellegrini himself announced that he wouldn’t be returning next season to City on Monday afternoon per The Daily News. His announcement was quickly followed by City’s confirmation that Guardiola would indeed be their next manager.
While it’s almost universally agreed that Guardiola will strengthen Manchester City in the future. Questions certainly remain on how the news of his arrival will influence the rest of this season for the club many believe should be the favorites for the Premier League title.
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The news could impact City’s roster in one of two ways. On one hand, it could free the club up to play more expressive football after being freed from speculation over their next manager. Optimistic Manchester City fans can grab on to this theory, but I think it’s highly unlikely.
Instead, the more likely outcome is that the news makes it almost impossible for Pellegrini to get the best out of his current squad. After all, he’s now a lame duck manager that each player knows will have no input on their future at the club.
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City is already filled with players who can be difficult to motivate and having a lame duck manager will only exacerbate those problems. Yaya Toure, in particular, will be nearly impossible to manage with the knowledge that his future isn’t in Pellegrini’s hands.
Manchester City will struggle mightily at the first hint of adversity with Pellegrini at the helm. Players simply won’t put forth the same effort for him with the knowledge that he’ll be gone in just a few short months. It’s quite possible that City’s season will go off the rails with the first sign of trouble.
City’s fragility only serves to open up the Premier League title race even further. Arsenal now become the prohibitive favorites to break their title drought for Arsene Wenger. If he can’t overcome a lame duck manager employed by his most formidable challenger then he’ll never take the Gunners to the promised land.
The unsettled situation at City will also buoy the spirits of Leicester as they try to continue their improbable title run. With City likely falling off the pace, it removes one tough competitor for the Foxes to overcome. Suddenly, it takes a little less magic for them to complete their impossible fairy tale.
Even Tottenham who is lurking five points off the pace will see their hopes lifted by the tumult at Manchester City. The thought of just overcoming Leicester and Arsenal seems much more manageable for the White Hart Lane faithful.
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In a year where the Premier League title race was already more open that it has been in recent memory, the Guardiola announcement only makes it more unpredictable. The news that Pellegrini is out and Guardiola is coming in, greatly reduces City’s chances of winning the Premier League this season.