5 things we've learned about Manchester City so far this season
For all his success with both Barcelona and Bayern Munich, many considered the Premier League to be the ultimate litmus test of Pep Guardiola’s managerial credentials. Therefore, when Manchester City unveiled the now 46-year-old as their manager last season, many believed that the Spaniard had joined the Citizens to conquer the proverbial final frontier for a manager.
Though it would be highly idiotic to ever have doubted Guardiola’s managerial acumen, the most intriguing aspect for the vast majority was to see if he could deploy the same kind of lethal possession-based football in England, as he had done with his all-conquering Barcelona side back in the day.
And the doubters had based their inhibitions about Guardiola’s methods on the fact that Premier League was a lot quicker, direct and most of all, physical than the Spanish league and the German league. Moreover, Guardiola himself had admitted to these differences and in all humility said that he had come to England to find out if he could play ‘his’ kind of football with City.
A year and a half later, as Guardiola and his men enjoy a seemingly unassailable lead at the top of the Premier League table, with half the season still to play, it certainly feels as though Guardiola certainly can play his way in England as well. However, that’s only one of the things we’ve learned about Guardiola and City so far.
Here are five things we’ve learned about Manchester City so far this season:
#5 Simplicity is the key to Ederson’s brilliance
The fact that Guardiola endorses possession football is a well-documented one. However, such is the emphasis that the Spaniard puts on possession, that he expects each and every member of his team to be comfortable with the ball at his feet, including the goalkeeper. And it is with this requirement in mind that Guardiola added Claudio Bravo to City's roster last season from Barcelona.
And though the Chilean was certainly good with the ball at his feet, on too many occasions last season his handling and decision making left a lot to be desired. Moreover, Bravo also had a knack putting his defence under unnecessary pressure by choosing to play out of the back at times wherein he could have easily uncomplicated things, by simply kicking the ball long instead.
Finally, after Bravo’s transgressions cost City on more than one occasion last season, Guardiola understood that he needed to sign a new keeper if City were to genuinely challenge for titles and that he needed someone who was a lot more traditional and pragmatic in his approach.
So, at the start of the ongoing season, City snapped up Ederson on a €22 million deal from Benfica as he was everything Bravo was not. For starters, the Brazilian shot-stopper is ten years younger than his South American counterpart and this also implies that he possesses cat-like reflexes as compared to the Chilean.
But more decisively, Ederson likes to keep simple at the back as he doesn’t mind going along with the ball if the given situation demands it. Moreover, the Brazilian has been definitive in his decision-making in goal for the majority of the first half of the season and that has certainly done City’s defence a world of good.
Make no mistake about it, Ederson may not be as eye-catching or as celebrated as some of his goalkeeping counterparts, like David de Gea, but the one thing he has done really well so far this season, is that he has kept things simple as City’s last line of defence and as Bruce Lee once said, “Simplicity is the key to brilliance.”