Guardiola lacks confidence in current City team: Owen
The team has not exactly gotten off the blocks well this term and currently sit in fourth position after seven games
Mumbai: After Pep Guardiola’s 601st match as the manager of a top-flight club ended, one statistic glared more than any other. His Manchester City team had been held to a 1-1 draw by Arsenal, in their Premier League match a fortnight ago.
It was not the first time a Guardiola team had conceded a late goal. Certainly not the first time they failed to get three points. What was shocking was the possession statistic.
In all his time as manager of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and now City, the 54-year-old manager has set his teams to play attacking, possession-based football. But against Arsenal, he substituted attackers with defensive players, and got his team to drop back and defend a narrow 1-0 lead. At the end of the match, City managed only 33% possession, the lowest ever for a Guardiola-led team.
“This is something I’ve never seen from Pep,” said Michael Owen, the former England striker and now pundit, to HT. “Bringing defenders on and taking off players that can keep the ball. Maybe (he has) a lack of confidence in his current team.”
In his nine completed seasons as City’s manager, Guardiola led his team to six Premier League titles. That included four titles in succession, a streak that ended dramatically last term as City put in inconsistent performances to finish third - low by the standards the Spaniard has set.
The team has not exactly gotten off the blocks well this term either and currently sit in fourth position after seven games. And for Owen, Guardiola is yet to develop the trust in his team that is going through transition.
City saw the departure of long-time key players Ederson, Kyle Walker, Ilkay Gundogan and talisman Kevin de Bruyne over the summer transfer period. Three of them were in Guardiola’s team that won six league titles - except for Gundogan, who featured in five.
“Maybe if he had his team of two or three years ago, maybe he wouldn’t have changed (tactics against Arsenal), said Owen, who is in Mumbai for the Premier League India’s engagement week. “Maybe he’d be so confident in his team to keep the ball, to keep possession, to maybe score another one. So it might be that he’s not got as much confidence in this team as he did have.”
But while Guardiola is yet to fully trust his team, his former apprentice Mikel Arteta, has been faring better as manager of current league-leaders Arsenal.
The London-club, often through fans, is taunted for failing to win the league since the unbeaten campaign of 2003-04. Arteta, who took charge in 2019, has led Arsenal to runner-up finishes in the last three years. But for Owen, Arsenal has been doing the right things.
“Everybody says it’s Arsenal and they’ll always come second. Do you not remember Manchester City, before they won all these trophies, they didn’t go from being 10th in the league to winning,” said Owen, who played for the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid and won the league with Manchester United.
“Liverpool won twice in six years. All the other times they came in second and third. Arsenal, if they continue like they’re doing, they’re going to win it in the next few years.
“They got to the Champions League semi-final last year. It’s a process, and they’re stronger again this year than last year. They’re going to win it soon. Might be this season.”
Isak-Ekitike conundrum
Another team to have broken the bank during the summer transfer window was defending champions Liverpool.
Owen asserted his surprise at the number of players joining the club (10 players joined this season, costing the club over £400 million). The new signees included £125 million acquisition Alexander Isak for a British record fee.
But the Swedish striker joined the Reds after their other new striker Hugo Ekitike had hit the ground running with the club. With manager Arne Slot using a formation that involves just one forward, it is intriguing how he will rotate the two.
“So far it’s been absolutely fine because there’s been suspensions already,” said Owen. “But at some point during the season, they’re both going to be fit and he’s going to have to choose on a regular basis. Now you would expect, after spending 125 million, Isak is going to be the number nine. But if Ekitike keeps scoring goals, it’s very hard to ignore that.”
