Sport

Pep Guardiola’s exit will change the Premier League

This is the point in time every Manchester City fan has dreaded for over a decade, but it looks to have finally arrived. Pep Guardiola’s final game in charge of the club after 11 years is expected to be on Sunday, at home to Aston Villa.

 

His exit is yet to be confirmed either by himself or City, but should be by the time the game rolls around. It has been a long time coming, but it was always known he would make the call himself; the club and fans have had to be prepared, knowing deep down it’ll never be the same without him.

 

It seems a tad disingenuous to suggest Guardiola is underrated. Though he has his critics who claim his success to be nothing more than a byproduct of working with the best players and biggest budgets in the world throughout his career at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City, generally he is seen as one of the greatest coaches on the planet.

 

He may just be the greatest of all, though, having had a profound impact on the very fabric of football and how the game is seen across the past 17 years, since his top-flight career began.

 

What some people do, wilfully or otherwise, misunderstand about Guardiola is the depth of his obsession and work rate. The critical view of his career stems from the fact he was given the Barcelona job at the age of 37, he was given one of the biggest jobs in the world with some of the best players simply because he was a club legend as a player.

 

This has, in turn, created the idea among supporters of other clubs that their former players can do the same, if not to the same level, at least with a degree of success. But this fundamentally ignores the true reason Guardiola’s success at Barcelona was immediate, winning the treble in 2009. Yes, the squad had elite players in it, but having finished third the previous season, it severely lacked discipline and structure.

 

Guardiola instantly sold Ronaldinho and Deco and was all but certain he wanted Samuel Eto’o to depart. Those three players were crucial to the glory under Frank Rijkaard before it all went wrong, but he made those big calls and put his faith in the likes of Sergio Busquets and Pedro, who he’d coached in the B team, before eventually moving Lionel Messi into the false 9 position which saw his career hit the stratosphere.

 

That squad and those players are remembered the way they are because of Guardiola, not the other way around. He’d used the latter years of his playing career to study the game, its ideals and find his philosophy. It took him years to be an overnight success.

 

Some managers fail to adapt with the pace of football’s changing face, but more often than not, Guardiola drives it. The success of the national teams of the countries he’s worked in while there (Spain’s three titles between 2008 and 2012, Germany’s World Cup win in 2014 and England reaching two finals in 2021 and 2024) is far from coincidental.

 

City are still awaiting a decision on the 115 charges for financial doping from the Premier League and it is easy to assume they are behind their dynasty of recent years. Again, though, Guardiola’s impact is overlooked. The club’s alleged offences pre-date his 2016 arrival by some time, yet their success was only sporadic despite huge financial advantages under Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini. Guardiola has driven this relentless winning machine.

 

His exit will open up the Premier League as much as when Sir Alex Ferguson left Manchester United in 2013. City’s dominance will be tested, especially when Enzo Maresca reportedly steps into the void. On the surface, the Italian is a natural successor to Guardiola; he worked under him at City’s academy and shares a similar footballing philosophy.

 

But again, Guardiola’s core strength is overlooked in the comparison. At both Leicester and Chelsea, Maresca was criticised for being inflexible tactically and clashing with both players and the ownership. Guardiola’s adaptability and communication are the true secret to his success; winning continuously at top clubs may seem easy, but only if everyone buys into the plan. He’s the greatest leader in the game, too.

 

City are facing a tough moment when Guardiola leaves. The easiest way to measure his quality is to say that what he has done is often overlooked and taken for granted. This may be his swansong in club football; if he never returns, perhaps he will finally be fully appreciated.