Pep Guardiola has refreshed Man City with an ‘us against the world’ mentality… talk of Everton’s 10-point deduction – and what it could mean for the champions – is the type of chatter the Catalan relishes
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- An ‘us against the world’ mentality has only heightened with Everton news
- City-Liverpool is tough to referee… but our campaign is up and running – IAKO
Pep Guardiola uses a few different techniques to keep things fresh at Manchester City – and one of them is an ‘us against the world’ attitude that has really taken hold in the second half of his eight years on these shores.
On Friday, before what has become traditionally their biggest game of any given campaign, discourse was dominated by Merseysiders but not Liverpool.
Everton, the 10-point deduction and what that means – or, more to the point, doesn’t mean for City – were high on the agenda and Guardiola relishes that sort of chat.
Without flinching, he suggested that an army of critics bay for their relegation down the divisions over 115 financial charges. It is hard to disagree with him there. That stuff genuinely does translate to the players. What pumps the manager up year after year is the public perception of their achievements.
Guardiola is frustrated by the idea City just turn up and win, that it’s all embarrassingly easy, baffled that they are expected to run up cricket scores every week.
Pep Guardiola relishes chatter that feeds into Manchester City’s ‘us against the world’ mantra
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‘Just because your name is Guardiola everyone thinks you’ll win 6-0,’ one source said recently.
They certainly won’t on Saturday. Guardiola was effusive about Jurgen Klopp, as usual, while joking that City might as well be blamed for the early kick-off given their track record of playing the villain. Not a 6-0 but it is hard to imagine a game without goals and incidents aplenty.
There is all that psychology involved in making sure they all remain hungry for more success but the other bit is equally important. He alters their style each year – and this one is no different.
‘Teams work us out, how to defend’ captain Kyle Walker said. ‘That is Pep being Pep.’
Over the last few months, Guardiola has generally pivoted away from his more pragmatic tendencies, his more cautious side, worried about consequences of tactical.
The statistics don’t bear that out – City have scored 32 times so far, only a higher tally than three of Guardiola’s campaigns – but there is a feel to them that things are a little freer.
They are attacking in a more direct fashion, purchasing midfielders who regularly carry the ball rather than recycle it.
And then there is Jeremy Doku, with his explosive running and stardust. No team in the division has carried the ball more than City, not data you expect them to top.
Everton were hit with the largest points deduction in the history of the Premier League
Guardiola (right) was quizzed on Everton as he prepares to face Jurgen Klopp’s (left) Liverpool
Liverpool’s visit on Saturday lunchtime will challenge that change. Only really at Arsenal has Guardiola opted to truly ‘keep the ball in the fridge,’ as he says, when without the suspended Rodri he feared transitions.
‘The last decade we have been each other’s best rivals. We’re still there, which is a big complement to Liverpool and City,’ Guardiola said.
‘We’ve we faced each other a thousand million times.’
Klopp will know about the mindset of Guardiola when the team sheets are exchanged in the Etihad tunnel at just gone 11:30am; Doku or Jack Grealish is a selection dilemma that will tell a great deal.
Grealish started the victory at Manchester United, whereas Doku did in that game for the ages at Chelsea. Whoever operates wide left significantly impacts the gameplan.
The centre half has still been coming into midfield which, in Guardiola’s words, is ‘quite similar’ to last term but the overall way they attempt to pick through the opposition actually seems more likely to thrive in a game where transitions are the order of the day.
Not since Leroy Sane on one wing and Raheem Sterling the other have they had that.
‘The fundamentals are the same,’ he added. ‘Last season we mainly played the important part of the season with John (Stones), (Ilkay) Gundogan, Kevin (De Bruyne) and Rodri. Those players could play blindfolded.
It is intriguing to see how Jack Grealish (left) and Jeremy Doku (right) are used vs Liverpool
‘Now three of them are not involved and we have to adjust. That’s why I’m surprised with the position we have in the league and Champions League. So far we have been better that the other ones.’
De Bruyne is expected back in training over the next fortnight or so, although there is pessimism that he’ll play any part before Christmas as the Belgian recovers from hamstring surgery.
He will be licking his lips watching this latest iteration of Guardiola’s City though; to the untrained eye, it looks made for their talisman.
Erling Haaland wants him back as soon as possible, nobody telegraphing his runs in behind quite like De Bruyne, and you wonder what happens when he does return with the crosshair hunting for those blonde locks.
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