The 2016/17 will be Pep Guardiola’s first season as a City manager. The expectations are pretty high and a lot of fans wonder what we can really expect.
The 2015/16 EPL season has been truly remarkable. Even though City fans in Manchester and beyond are quite sad that the club didn’t manage to win the Premier League or the Champions League, we have to be honest and admit that seasons like that don’t come too often. Leicester managed to win the title, even though the odds for them were a staggering 5,000/1. There has been a lot of transfers in the summer transfer window and we all know that transfers can be a bit of a gamble.
Clubs simply have to risk and hope that the players they signed turn out to be good additions to their current squad. The only difference is that clubs ‘gamble’ with millions, whereas you can enjoy your favourite online slot game, often for less than one quid. Now it is even possible to play online casino games on your mobile. Here you can find the best Australian casino apps. Speaking of transfers and the upcoming season, the biggest transfer for City isn’t any of the players that was brought in, but the manager. People expect a lot from Pep Guardiola and is not surprising, as he is the best manager in the world according to many. What can we truly expect from him, as City fans, without being unrealistic?
We Can Definitely Expect a Thrilling Season
Not only does Pep Guardiola assume the managerial position at City, but also his biggest rival, Jose Mourinho, will now be the coach of our biggest rival – Manchester United. That will surely make the season even more dramatic, especially for Mancs. Although, most United fans aren’t from Manchester, but let’s leave that aside for now. Pep hasn’t been too active on the transfer market this season, but he did sign few players. Ilkay Gundogan was bought from Borussia Dortmund in June and Nolito was also signed from Celta de Vigo, whereas Demichelis left the club as a free agent.
Pep Guardiola obviously believes in the qualities of the current squad as he doesn’t seem inclined to buy or sell a lot of players. That is certainly reassuring and will have a positive outcome on the atmosphere both at the club and amongst the fans. However, winning the title in the EPL is never easy and most big clubs are expected to raise their game compared to last season. Klopp will start his first season as a Liverpool manager, we already mentioned Mourinho and Italian Antonio Conte will be the new Chelsea manager. It’ll be hectic, that is certain.
Motivated Players
The first and perhaps the most important thing that City fans can expect from Guardiola is for him to motivate the players. It has been said on more than one occasion that Pellegrini didn’t fail in terms of tactics and strategy, but he simply couldn’t motivate the players enough to give them that extra edge. In tight games motivation is everything and it is more than certain that next season will feature a lot of matches where motivation might prove to be the key. Most players who have worked under Pep have stressed the fact that he is a great motivator, so there’s no reason to think that he won’t be a motivator at City as well.
Possession-Based Style of Football
We can also expect Pep to implement his style of football. Possession is what wins matches for Pep and that certainly was the case both at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. He will teach the players to be more aggressive and always chase the ball, always try to grab hold of it and keep it as long as possible, whilst progressing towards the opponent’s box slowly. It is well known that Pep tends to use midfielders and defenders and encourage his full-backs to play as wingers. In fact, the positions are a lot more fluid and we can expect City to start playing a lot more beautiful and free-flowing football.
There are teams in England who play defensive football and then try to score in counter-attacks. In fact, a lot of clubs play like that. The main question is how City under Pep will manage against those clubs.
Good Fan, Press and Owners Relations
Guardiola is a manager who has good relations with the fans and that will surely be the case with City as he chose our club over our most bitter rivals. Moreover, if he manage to bring a title in his first season, he may become one of the most celebrated managers in the history of the club. Pep is also known as a person who can handle the press and establish a good relationship with them. He hasn’t had any problems with club owners and directors either and he believes in youth player development. Sergio Busquets and Pedro are only few of the examples of players he promoted. It is more than certain that youngster Kelechi Iheanacho will play an important role for City under Guardiola. All in all, we can and we ought to expect success.