It wasn’t simply Pep Guardiola’s first league defeat at Arsenal. A tangible, potential, changing-of-the-guard second. It was the fewest photographs a Guardiola aspect had produced in a league recreation for greater than a decade.
Down the M23, Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton had simply drawn 2-2 with Liverpool. It was not the outcome they needed, however one which cemented them because the division’s high scorers, an accolade usually the hallmark of any Guardiola aspect.
Both managers have constructed the foundations of their philosophies on possession. Right now, De Zerbi’s seems the extra full.
When the 2 go face to face on the Etihad on Saturday, it may simply be his Brighton aspect who taking part in extra expansive soccer, going through a City crew whose stylistic reboot has stalled.
Guardiola’s sides have been unforgivingly ruthless ever since his first day on the Nou Camp 15 years in the past, scoring at a fee of just about three objectives a recreation throughout approaching 900 matches.
There has at all times been an underlying pragmatism, a desperation for in-game management, however his determination to construct a backline round 4 centre-backs earlier this yr was far faraway from the Guardiola playbook.
But after a run to a historic treble inside months, it seemed like his newest second of genius.
The underlying inventive numbers, whereas nonetheless sturdy, weren’t these of Guardiola groups both. Now outcomes are catching up, and the answer has develop into an issue.
Shots, opposition-box entries and most crucially objectives have dropped off significantly from their earlier league-leading totals.
He is totally conscious of the trade-off, however trigger for concern has heightened since defeat on the Emirates. City’s xG of 0.48 was their third-lowest determine below this supervisor, who watched his aspect amass solely 4 photographs for the primary time in a league recreation since April 2010.
Sky Sports’ Sam Blitz is joined by Adam Bate to research what has precisely triggered Manchester City’s slip in kind and the way Rodri’s absence has impacted this
The champions have misplaced all three of the video games Rodri has missed via suspension, and he stays arguably the Premier League’s most vital midfielder. No one can transfer the ball via the traces whereas providing a defensive defend fairly like he can.
But his absence is a symptom quite than the trigger given City’s longer-term developments.
It would nonetheless take a courageous soul would write them off. A wounded Pep is a Pep at his most harmful, however there may be an extra psychological consideration this season. What do you purchase for the crew who has the whole lot?
“I thought there would be a slight treble hangover for City this season. They’ve achieved utopia, they can’t do any more,” mentioned Gary Neville after their defeat on the Emirates.
“I think there’ll be an element of these City players just having a bit taken out of them. What is their cause this season?”
Gary Neville feels Arsenal’s essential 1-0 win over Manchester City may increase their hopes of pipping Pep Guardiola’s crew to the Premier League title this season
Things get no simpler now. Guardiola has dubbed De Zerbi “one of the most influential managers of the last 20 years”, and the Seagulls would leapfrog their hosts with victory on the Etihad.
Of course, Guardiola has a historical past of generosity in the direction of opposition managers shortly earlier than dismantling their best-laid plans.
That may nonetheless occur right here, despite City’s dwindling objectives. De Zerbi’s fashion is extra open than Guardiola’s. When it goes flawed, it will possibly go very flawed, like a 6-1 hammering at Aston Villa final month.
But they sit 4 factors off the highest, with a model of soccer that mixes the keep-ball of Guardiola with a lot of the verve of classic Klopp.
They have scored 81 objectives in 40 Premier League video games since he arrived. This is possession with an finish product, the hallmark of the very best Guardiola groups.
De Zerbi ball has seen extra of the ball than Liverpool, Man Utd or Newcastle this season, racked up extra photographs from excessive presses than anybody, in addition to topping the scoring charts.
It is a special possession recreation. Instead of pulling opposition defenders out, De Zerbi invitations the excessive press and strikes via it.
Eventually, opposition sides will discover a method to withstand, however the outcomes and the objectives hold flowing for now. Brighton have scored in each recreation this season, and haven’t drawn a league clean in over a yr.
No one expects Brighton to complete above Man City this season. That actually could be a altering of the guard. But on a restricted finances, with the crux of the midfield which took them to sixth final season gone and with European soccer to cope with, the 44-year-old’s outcomes are performing wonders.
His philosophy marks the league’s clearest new tactical considering since Jurgen Klopp after which Guardiola himself arrived virtually a decade in the past.
Just as he seemed to reinvent previous concepts again then, De Zerbi threatens to do precisely the identical to Pep and co now.
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