Pep Guardiola changed the way football is played in two different countries. Credit: Getty Images/Isaac Parkin
Manchester City are on the rise, on the verge of joining the pantheon of football's greatest.
Guardiola doesn't need to be reminded of what needs to be done to take the final step. If City win the Champions League this season, there will be those who will believe that we are watching the best English club team of all time. It's getting harder and harder to argue against this point of view.
It's not just that City are winning. Here's how they do it; style, prestige, panache and ingenuity. City have the best striker in the world, the best midfielder in the world and without a doubt the best manager in the world. He may be the best in the world.
As with Barcelona, Guardiola is reimagining the game. No one in this country can come close to him or his team, his closest rival Arsenal looked like schoolboys in what was to be title decisive. If Europe is next, Guardiola will outshine the great Arrigo Sacchi and his mentor Johan Cruyff by changing the way football is played as a coach at two different clubs in two different countries.
Like Sacchi and Cruyff, Guardiola is more than a coach. He is an architect and an influential person in the modern game. Football is littered with legendary managers, but only a select few can see their influence extend beyond their own team. If imitation is flattery, Guardiola doesn't have to look far for compliments from his peers.
Guardiola rewrote the rules for the first time at Barcelona. After he mastered the art of deploying a false nine with two wide attackers, every top team in Europe began to use a similar system.
Four years ago, Guardiola developed his vision of a hybrid full-back, encouraging smart moves in midfield to create an additional midfielder and dominate possession. This strategy formed the basis of Arsenal's title bid thanks to Oleksandr Zinchenko, and it looks like it will inspire Jurgen Klopp's efforts to resurrect Liverpool with his re-role of Trent Alexander-Arnold. Other trainers will analyze and copy. Soon there will be «fake cornerbacks» in every league in the world. Guardiola is probably already working on his next evolution.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola instructs his players on Wednesday evening& #39; defenestration of Arsenal Credit: Reuters/Phil Noble
For now, the City manager can be proud of his latest masterpiece, knowing that City can nearly match the Treble achievement that only one other English club has managed. Yes, he had as much money as he could want to realize his vision, but that can't change the fact that he's built a winning car that scores season after season at a rate that surpasses anything this one has ever seen. country
City have the potential to become what Milan were in the 1980s, or what Barça were after Guardiola modernized Cruyff's methods at the Camp Nou. These teams have not only achieved success at home, but also secured recognition outside their own countries. The great Liverpool teams of the 1970s and early 80s fell into the same category.
This City team outperforms the Manchester United team that won the 1999 treble. There is almost no similarity in how they try to replicate this achievement. Sir Alex Ferguson's team managed to do it thanks to sheer will, some incredible late comebacks and — they admit first — successful rebounds of the ball at key moments.
A few weeks ago I asked why so few people refer to Treble City Avenue. Now they are approaching the line at a gallop. After the international break, no one was able to land them a jab, let alone a meaningful blow. Guardiola will insist that all three trophies are still a long way off. Perhaps at some point luck will have to intervene. But what is surprising about their current level is that now it would be even more surprising and illogical if they missed the treble.
To be remembered as the greatest, Guardiola must win the recent Champions League
City. the sequence of games is as close as possible to football perfection. They make some of the most respected clubs look ordinary.
Wednesday night's victory over Arsenal quickly followed on from a rout of Liverpool and Bayern. In each case, it was easy to focus on the shortcomings of the defeated opponents. But Liverpool have been City's closest rivals for the past four years, with Arsenal being the only team to keep up this time around. Should we be so critical of them, given how few other players have been able to measure up to City's standards?
The gulf between City and Arsenal has both surprised and worried the rest of the Premier League. I can't think of a game of this magnitude — a high-season title shot — that was so one-sided. Still, I can't help but feel some sympathy for Mikel Arteta and the Arsenal players.
In the pre-Guardiola era, Arsenal's scoring would still lead them to promotion to the Premier League. Just like Klopp's Liverpool in the years they finished second, Arsenal turned out to be a good team at the wrong time.
Despite all this recognition, Guardiola knows what's missing. To be truly remembered as his great Barça team or Milan Sacchi, he must win the Champions League.
Draw next week against Real Madrid is not just an extension of the treble this season. It's about getting another chance to fulfill your mission in the city. But whether he makes it this year or not, it seems inevitable that sooner or later he will, at which point all his work at Etihad will be even more recognized.
As a player, the greatest team I have ever faced Arsenal's Invincibles. Outside of England, football historians do not remember or glorify them in the same way that the clubs that won the European Cup did. The same goes for City as long as the club's biggest trophy is missing.
Whatever he wins, Guardiola's position as one of football's most influential figures is guaranteed. Like his team in Barcelona. Now it's tempting to say that his Manchester City team is 10 games away from immortality. They are not. There are three games before them. Beat Real Madrid in two matches and win in Istanbul and they will become the greatest team of their time.
Do you agree? Vote and join the discussion in the comments section below. Is Manchester City the greatest English team?
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