The model for Pep Guardiola when he first arrived at the Etihad was Manchester City, who are now the model for Barcelona and the German national team.
When Pep Guardiola joined Manchester City in 2016, Barcelona was still the envy of Europe, and Germany was the defending world champion and a semifinalist in the European Championship.
Guardiola’s fingerprints were all over the two best teams in the world after he arrived from Bayern Munich, who have such an impact on the German national team. Seven years later, those two teams have gotten worse the longer Guardiola hasn’t had an impact on their organization. City, meantime, has grown steadily stronger.
Bayern continues to rule the Bundesliga, but hasn’t been as dominant in Europe since winning the 2020 Champions League, and Germany has lost to England in the round of 16 of Euro 2020 and departed the last two World Cups in the group stage. Barcelona, who has a La Liga championship under their belt but significant financial worries, has recently played more Europa League soccer than Champions League soccer.
Both teams want to recapture their previous success, but they are aware that they cannot sign Guardiola for at least another two years. their answer then? Follow Guardiola’s lead.
In recent years, Barcelona has acquired players from City like Eric Garcia, Ferran Torres, Sergio Aguero, Ilkay Gundogan, and Joao Cancelo, with Gundogan standing out among the bunch after leading the Blues to the treble in the summer. With the addition of Cancelo, they now had the option to play either the conventional right-back position or the inverted full-back position that Cancelo created and others advanced.
As near to Guardiola as it is possible to go without hiring him directly, they have chosen a Guardiola disciple named Xavi to coach the team. Xavi combines the Barcelona legacy with modern techniques.
Gundogan acknowledged that Barcelona’s current goal is to match City’s level under Guardiola, which is comparable to the heights attained by Barca during that era’s Golden Era under the legendary manager.
Gundogan stated last week that “there have only been maybe two or three teams like City last year, at least since I’ve been following football.” Barcelona in 2011 is one example.
“Xavi is definitely addressing the appropriate issues, in my opinion. We experienced players can make a good blend. In the upcoming years, I think we can catch up to City on a comparable level.
According to a report published this week in Bild, Hansi Flick has reportedly contacted City in an effort to improve his country’s halting form. Germany defeated Peru before losing their next four matches in friendlies leading up to their home Euros next summer after exiting the World Cup before the knockout rounds.
According to Bild, Flick has taken direct inspiration from Guardiola and wants to assign Joshua Kimmich to the position of an inverted right-back. According to the story, Flick used footage of City to demonstrate his argument to his team, paying particular attention to John Stones’ roving shift from right-back to midfield.
Even when Guardiola took over at the Etihad, it was inconceivable that Barcelona and Germany would use the City model to reclaim the top spot in the league. However, Guardiola’s impact and game-changing strategies have been so successful that the only way to compete with City’s level is to join it.
Guardiola stated that City were still miles away from Barcelona’s level in 2018, two years after taking charge. At the time, City’s trophy cabinet had just one Carabao Cup.
They’ve had a lot of success in the past. Guardiola noted prior to Basel and Manchester City’s second leg of the Champions League last-16, “We are new; we have won one trophy, but it is not a [fair] comparison.
Leave a Reply