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Pep Guardiola’s first season in English football has been nothing short of a nightmare.
After enjoying huge success with Barcelona and Bayern Munich it was expected that the Spaniard would elevate Manchester City into the upper echelon of world football.
To say things haven’t gone to plan would be quite the understatement.
But perhaps now we are finally seeing Guardiola for what he is – a fraud whose success was built largely off the mega-stars at his disposal rather than astute tactical skills.
It’s hard to envision how a manager who has 21 trophies to his name can possibly be called a fraud, or overrated, or anything other than a genius.
Yet here we are doing just that, and rightly so.
Guardiola’s dominance of La Liga and Europe with Barcelona came as a surprise to everyone given, his unknown abilities as a manager. After being chosen to succeed Frank Rijkaard at the Catalan club, Guardiola quickly transformed the way football was played.
His ‘tika-taka’ style took Europe by storm, and has since been imitated by teams around the world looking to implement a similar brand of possession-based football.
However, would he have been as successful implementing that style anywhere other than Barcelona? Absolutely not.
He was lucky enough to have arguably the world’s best midfield and arguably the greatest player to ever grace the football field at his disposal.
To win the treble in your first season is an incredible achievement, but given the attacking talent available, which included the likes of Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto’o, Andres Iniesta, Xavi and of course Lionel Messi, you can’t help but wonder whether the same success would’ve been achieved without him.
After four seasons at the helm with Barcelona, Guardiola was lured by German giants Bayern Munich to replicate his success in the Catalans with the Bavarian club.
And for the second time in his career, he managed to inherit the best squad in the world.
This is by no means an exaggeration either. Bayern was coming off a treble-winning season of their own when Guardiola took over from Jupp Heynckes – a feat he would not replicate during his time in charge.
Though Guardiola won three Bundesliga titles in his three seasons at the helm, he was still a failure, as he was unable to do what it was he was brought in for – win the Champions League.
He was appointed with the vision that he would elevate Bayern to the absolute pinnacle of world football and keep them there.
Instead, he fell short time and time again.
And while it’s foolish to write off a league title as irrelevant, there’s no denying that it is only ever a two-horse race at best – and even then, the financial pull that Munich possess puts them at an immediate advantage every season.
But after failing to deliver in Germany he was lured to the blue half of Manchester and handed his first true test as a manager.
Again, he has fallen into the hands of an owner that has endless pockets to wave at transfer targets, but this time it’s a completely different league.
While Premier League clubs have been accused of being failures on the European stage in recent years, there’s no debating that the EPL remains one of the most competitive leagues in the world.
Anyone can beat anyone, and simply fielding a team of superstars isn’t enough to guarantee you three points.
Six months into his reign as Manchester City’s saviour he has done nothing but provide justification for those who remain unconvinced by his managerial skills.
His side looks a shadow of those he’s managed in the past, and that’s because the squad itself is a shadow of those he’s inherited previously. And now that he no longer has the advantage of fielding the best player in every position each week, Guardiola is struggling to get a foothold in this league.
His decisions are being closely monitored and scrutinised and it seems he is struggling to cope with the pressure that is mounting with each passing week.
Given the money spent to bring him to Manchester, and the wider assumption that he remains one of the best in the business, his position on an unsteady Manchester City ship will remain in tact until the end of the season.
Yet should another summer of splashing the cash fail to deliver vast improvements in his second season, we may well see the demise of one of the most ‘successful’ managers of our generation.
It’s easy to deliver when things are handed to you on a silver platter but it’s an entirely different challenge when you’re made to work for your result.
While it’s too early to label Guardiola a failure at Manchester City, it’s certainly time we start to realise he’s been living the life of a fraud up until now.
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