While talk of crises and pressure on Pep Guardiola brings wry smiles to the faces of those who handle the levers of power at the Etihad – one executive at a rival club recalls a City official joking recently that being third in the Premier League was “his sort of disaster” – there’s no doubt they have been taken to some difficult places this year.
“Pep is a tough guy when they lose. Everyone feels it inside the club. It’s awful, but in a way that’s normal,” Santos tells The i Paper.
Pep Guardiola has endured a difficult season at Man City (Photo: Getty)
“Of course it’s not as serious but imagine you’re at a hospital and you keep making mistakes. You need to analyse it, work out why it’s happening and put it right.”
Just as things had seemed to be back on track with a run of five successive wins, a listless draw at already-relegated Southampton last weekend prised open the debate about how he’s handled the first serious turbulence of his coaching career.
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“If something’s not working in a Formula One engine it’s much more difficult to solve than a normal car engine. His strategy is complex and requires players to buy in completely and to be emotionally available. When confidence drops, that’s much harder.”
“People are trying to understand why he’d do that,” he says.
Has some of his aura diminished? Guardiola has been bested (twice) by Arne Slot this season, lost twice to Carlo Ancelotti’s ailing Real Madrid and taken just a single (fortunate) point off Arsenal. By his own high standards, that represents a sort of failure. It can be difficult to recover that sheen of invincibility when it’s tarnished.
“If any other manager wins four on the bounce and does something no one else has done before in the history of English football and then finds themselves in a scrap for the top four, are they fighting for their job?
City certainly don’t have any doubts. When chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak sits down for his annual end-of-season video review next month, expect wholehearted backing for the Catalan, whatever happens at Wembley.
Meeting the representatives of Florian Wirtz, the Germany and Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder who has a £125m price tag, shows they are prepared to spend big to reclaim their title.
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Guardiola has become obsessed with the importance of player availability, to the point where any member of the squad who can’t play three times in a week is vulnerable. Could that, in theory, mean the likes of Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic join Jack Grealish as a potential high-profile exit?
“We know the standards are the standards. They won’t be having conversations around another season of transition. It’ll be ‘How do we win the title again?’. That will require bringing in high-quality players who adapt quickly.
“The demands Pep puts on midfield players, the club have probably realised he won’t trust an 18-year-old so there’s no point in giving him one. You need to give him players who drop straight into the team.
“I don’t think it’s the start of the downward spiral. To me it feels like the most exciting summer since 2017.”
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An FA Cup win changes the narrative significantly. While the feeling externally is that Palace want it more – and they are the undoubted choice of the neutral – City are hugely motivated for Wembley.
Exorcising the ghosts of last year’s no-show against Manchester United has been mentioned but the bigger picture is maintaining Guardiola’s incredible record of silverware. Given all they have been through, emerging from this season of struggle with a trophy might even top 2023’s Champions League win.
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