The City owners brought in Pep Guardiola with the hope that he will be able to turn a rather strong side into juggernauts. And the Spaniard had proof of performing such miracles. But currently, City are not performing as they should have. They are fifth in the Premier League and have managed to win only two of their last five matches. And true to their job the British media have immediately pounced on Pep.
But to build something wonderful takes time and to rebuild it takes even greater time. Just ask the folks at United. City has seen a fair amount of success in recent years but their form dipped in the past two seasons. Hence the arrival of Guardiola. While everyone is saying how the English League is a different ballgame altogether and all that. But maybe the real problem lies elsewhere.
Picture by Илья Хохлов
Manuel Pellegrini handed over a squad to Guardiola which was rather old and ageing. While most of them are impactful but age plays a vital role when you are playing in the most competitive league in the world. Most of the notable players in the squad are way past their prime. Silva(31 years), Fernandinho(31 years), Sagna(33 years), Zabaleta(32 years), Yaya Toure(33 years) are all closer to their retirement that to their youth. And to be very honest these are the players who make a difference.
Picture by Hans17
In all fairness, City has bought in quite a lot of young players into the mix. The likes of Stones, Sterling, Jesus are important additions to the squad. But they are yet to hit their best form. So in all fairness, it will still take a few more seasons before Guardiola could pull off that ‘rabbit out of a hat’ trick. It will take a fair amount of time to replace such huge talents and that too with worthy ones.
Picture by Andre Borges/Agência Brasília
In between that time if City manage to win some silverware then great, otherwise they will just have to play the waiting game very well. But then the big question is, will Guardiola manage to survive that long? Or will he crumble under pressure?
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