Man City exit Champions League and face trophyless season, as Pep Guardiola repeats decade-long mistake.
Disappointing season
Pep Guardiola ends 2023/24 season exhausted. After considering leaving the club to coach an international team – hoping to manage Spain or England – or taking a year off (like when he left Barcelona), he decided to change his plans (which led to his wife leaving him), remaining loyal to Khaldoon Mubarak, Man City’s chairman.
The parties agreed to extend his contract until 2027. After eight years at the Etihad, it was an unusual move in a career marked by building projects and leaving after three or four seasons.
One of the most influential managers of the century, Guardiola has always known that his strengths are tactics, not man-management.
The style of play is so wear-and-tear on players that he can hardly reconcile it with the demands of the day. After just half a season, his and City’s demise is clear.
Man City, the 2023 European champions, who set a record for winning the Premier League title for a record fourth consecutive season in the following campaign, have just been eliminated from the Champions League. They put in a disappointing performance never seen before from a team led by Guardiola.
“We want to keep the ball for a long time to find the best opportunities, because if you play a direct match, they are very strong,” Pep explained after the 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid.
For the first time in 16 seasons of his career, he has been eliminated before the last 16 of the Champions League. This Sunday could be his farewell to the Premier League when they host Liverpool (23:30 on 23/2).
Guardiola’s biggest problem
In the second leg of the 2012 Champions League semi-final, Chelsea’s coaching staff recognised the problems Barcelona faced when Guardiola asked his players to control the ball to prolong attacks, rather than deploying his trademark quick play.
Former members of Roberto di Matteo’s coaching staff, the 2012 Champions League winner, reminisced about how City floundered at the Bernabeu under similar instructions that had crippled and confused Messi, Xavi and Iniesta more than a decade earlier.
“In 2012 at Chelsea, we thought the same thing, that Guardiola was a legend who created impregnable teams through pressure and circulation, unless Pep himself asked his players to slow down to control the ball,” one of Di Matteo’s assistants told El Pais, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“In 2010, Pep did it against Inter, and was eliminated. We studied it and concluded that he would repeat the same plan against Chelsea. We had only a 5% chance of going through. It worked for Raul Meireles and Ramires!”
Di Matteo’s assistants discovered the weakness when studying the Barcelona-Inter match in April 2010.
They divided the pitch into four sections, measured the collective movements in long passes of 50, 100 and 150 metres, and confirmed that Barca moved the ball at the same speed in the opposition area as in their own defence.
Messi and co. held the ball for an average of three seconds before passing it back. Always at the same tempo, in all areas, without accelerating. This was almost twice as slow as the season average.
They concluded that Guardiola had asked his players to be patient. At Camp Nou, the result was a 2-2 draw despite the Blues playing with 10 men from the 37th minute (Terry was sent off).
Years later, the pattern was repeated. More than one Man City player has privately admitted that in times of doubt, especially against strong opponents, Pep tells them to slow down their ball movement, think before receiving the ball and look for the best passing options to avoid losing possession.