Why are Manchester City looking so good right now?

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have taken the Premier League by storm, but what really is the catalyst for their change in fortunes?

There are many things that are so painfully obvious, ubiquitous to almost worldwide knowledge, that they don’t even need to be stated. Like President Donald Trump is the President of the United States of America not of Kentucky Fried Chicken, though many would argue it a suitable career path, yet you’ll have every major media organisation state his full title every single time he’s mentioned.

See also, Manchester City. Top of the League, unbeaten domestically and internationally, breaking records week after week. A team who seem to be running away with it. You know all this, I know all this, it doesn’t need to be stated, yet it’s a worthy topic to discuss none the less because, frankly, how did this situation arise?

You’ll point the finger at any individual, or even the collective, in the City squad who were acquired over the summer in Pep Guardiola’s massive spending spree. Perhaps that has indeed had an impact, but the reversal from last year’s fortunes cannot be put down to new arrivals alone. Why? Well, for a start, the players performing the best right now are unquestionably Kevin De Bruyne (an early candidate for Player of the Year), David Silva, Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and John Stones. All of them were acquired the year before or earlier.

Further, one could argue that while no player has made such an impact as new goalkeeper Ederson, imbuing the defence with confidence and the attack with dangerous opportunities, the few times Claudio Bravo has been called on the team have looked no less formidable. So too with Kyle Walker, who continues to stake his claim as best right back in the league, yet his absence has barely been felt in a squad that has bench players who could walk into the starting XI of any other Premier League side.

Ultimately there’s more to this than meets the eye. For me, Manchester City’s perceived dominance this year is the perfect storm of timing, where all the pieces of the puzzle seemingly have fallen into place. City paved the way for Pep’s arrival as early as 2012 when ex-Barcelona directors Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano came to the club. With these two pivotal Catalans in place, City began a process of retooling the club to suit and attract Guardiola, openly bringing in players suited to his style and not that of predecessor Manuel Pellegrini, such as De Bruyne and Sterling.

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The gambit worked, City got their man and the major competitors for the league were caught with their trousers down. Rivals United panic signed Jose Mourinho having originally hoped to woo Guardiola himself, a rival for a rival, yet the gulf between the two old enemies has never seemed larger.

Despite this success, the Blues hardly got off to the start they imagined. Oh, sure, they won their first ten games in all competitions last season, a club record, but what followed were a series of capitulations and struggles at almost every point that culminated in a trophy-less cabinet and a gleeful media ready to roll out the tired “not the Messiah” diatribe about Pep.

In my mind, it should have been obvious from the start. When a player like Barcelona’s Javier Mascherano claims it took him at least a year to adapt and internalise Pep’s style, then you can bet it would be at least the same for the likes of Nicolas Otamendi. And the proof of that pudding has been in the eating – not only has Manchester City got off to the perfect start this season, they were finishing off in splendid form at the end of last as well. 23 games in all competitions since Guardiola’s men tasted defeat, surely it’s not a stretch to wonder if this is the year they may not at all?

The key lies in Pep’s system. It’s not unbeatable, but it’s certainly very difficult to beat. Dominating possession not only provides a plethora of attacking options, but it limits the opponent to only a few in every game. Last season, with City’s defensive shortcomings all too obvious, these few chances were all that was required for any team to get on the score sheet. With a more robust back line, spearheaded by Ederson, teams are finding it incredibly difficult to get anything against City at all. Not unbeatable, but very difficult to beat.

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Not to say Guardiola’s side can expect to go the whole year unbeaten, almost certainly tougher challenges yet await them, but on current form there isn’t a team that seems to be so consistently dominating around, perhaps not even in Europe. In the end though, as things stand, the title could well be heading back to the Etihad. Perhaps that’s also something so obvious it doesn’t need to be said.