Guardiola is still giving it his all despite having won it all, and that's why talk of Manchester City’s decline feels greatly exaggerated
NOTTINGHAM — Pep Guardiola may have only had the technical area and just beyond to prowl, but his step count must have surely been in the thousands at Nottingham Forest.
The Manchester City boss was as mesmerising to watch as large parts of this match, a bundle of nervous energy forever gesturing and dishing out instructions, kicking every ball and then questioning why it didn’t go in the direction he intended.
Before even Forest’s late winner, there was plenty troubling Guardiola as he did his best to puppeteer his players from the sidelines.
Within two minutes he was face-palming, after Matheus Nunes passed the ball out for a corner, and more than once in the first half he was yelling in Nico Gonzalez’s direction, one “Nico!” audible from the press seats after the defensive midfielder opted against simplicity.
This “mini-Rodri”, in Guardiola’s own words, is a work in progress in the heart of their midfield, but so too in truth is this entire City side. They may be teeming with experienced champions who have been there for years, but age and the succession of heavy blows of late has also fast-forwarded them into in a transitional phase, outlined by the £180m spend in the January transfer window.
This was most evident on Saturday by City fielding another new XI, never before seen. Only Ipswich Town have made more changes to their starting line-up in the Premier League this season, and though on opposite ends of the table spectrum, it has been through a similar want of searching for something that might just click.
Pep Guardiola kicked every ball on the sidelines at Forest (Photos: Getty)
Against Forest, Guardiola went on the attack, starting Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva behind Erling Haaland with Savinho and Jeremy Doku out on the wings. Add Nunes and the attack-minded Josko Gvardiol in the full-back roles, and it highlighted City’s intent.
It didn’t work. Ola Aina pocketed Doku to the point Guardiola switched the winger to the other side for the second half, while Haaland was bizarrely isolated – given the wealth of attacking talent around him – as both Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic relished the opportunity to silence the Norwegian.
“We were a little slow in our process, we struggled to make chances but I always give credit to the opponent because they defended really well. Everyone was so connected,” said Guardiola.
“Our game was a little bit slow, we couldn’t contact with the final third and when we arrived in the final third we didn’t have the brilliance.”
This will probably send Guardiola back to the drawing board, but what a fortunate position. The head coach who was able to bring on Kevin De Bruyne, Omar Marmoush, Rico Lewis and Mateo Kovacic will once more have a week to ponder his options before hosting Brighton on Saturday.
It is why, despite the defeat, talk of City’s decline feels greatly exaggerated. They have the players, they have the depth, and in the shouting, gesturing, face-palming, hands-on-head, head-in-hands coach that is Guardiola, they have someone who still cares deeply.
And while they may be out of Europe, and may have finally relinquished their grip on the Premier League, that is something that should strike fear in City’s rivals. Despite this season to forget, despite the 130 charges hanging over them, they are being led by a coach who is still willing to give it his all and continue this project despite having won it all as well.
Guardiola’s extension was the biggest indication of that, but his demeanour in the big losses that have followed speaks as much about his determination.
He cares – so much so that visible marks have led many to the point of worry – and like the unwavering scientist of the sport that he is, he continues to experiment too.
The fact therefore that one of the greatest-ever footballing minds has months to do so without the pressure of a title race or a Champions League to go after, well that could only serve to tee them up perfectly for the next season.
Not forgetting, also, that there’s still an FA Cup to win. What other clubs would give for a so-called failure of a season which could yet end with a trophy and a finish inside the top four.