Sport
Why Fernandinho is Pep Guardiola’s unsung Manchester City hero
Harry De Cosemo explains why he City’s Fernandinho is proving to be Guardiola’s unsung hero in the bid for honours this season
Opinion is too stubborn towards new methods
Like anything different, Pep Guardiola’s managerial style splits opinion. Never has a coach come to England with such a reputation for not only winning, but changing an entire outlook on how football is played. Some people view England as the home of football and the unwritten rules are for everyone to obey; these people wish Guardiola would fail at Manchester City and try their hardest to make sure everyone knows it.
Guardiola has never hidden who his main footballing influence is. Johan Cruyff taught him how to play the style of football he has made his trademark as a manager today. It goes way beyond possession and keeping the ball away from opponents; Cruyff demanded movement and flexibility in attacking positions in order to maximise opportunity not only to win, but also entertain. English football has only ever given true credence to results; entertainment is only of secondary importance. To win, defensive strength is paramount, aiding direct play either with pace on the flanks or long balls. Rigid positioning is key, too, and moving away from these principles will only result in humiliation.
When Cruyff left Barcelona as coach in 1996, Bobby Robson replaced him; an Englishman who gave Guardiola his first taste of the style made so clear on these shores. The pair loved each other, and Guardiola has often spoken of Robson’s influence, but that didn’t stop them arguing night and day; one wanted to play 4-3-3, the other 4-4-2, and it isn’t hard to guess who had which opinion.
A pattern has occurred with Guardiola’s doubters’ opinions; either the man who won 21 trophies when in charge of Barcelona and Bayern Munich can only work with the best players or he only succeeds when he spends money. Nobody is perfect, but most of the criticisms of Guardiola are either based on lazy assumptions or stubbornness. His methods have been revolutionary, so much so that he has offered new dimensions to the games of world class players. Lionel Messi was transformed into the world’s deadliest goalscorer under his watch; Philipp Lahm and David Alaba rewrote the rules on fullback play by moving into midfield. The biggest anticipation of his career at Manchester City was which players he would take onto a new level.
Raheem Sterling is in the form of his life; Leroy Sane is fulfilling his potential at breakneck speed. Both scored in City’s latest victory, 3-2 over West Brom on Saturday. They maintained their five-point lead at the Premier League’s summit and continue to average over three goals per game in the league. But someone who has not been given the credit he deserves for not only fitting into Guardiola’s system, but balancing it completely, is the eventual match winner at The Hawthorns, Fernandinho.
Fernandinho has Guardiola’s complete trust
Less than a month into his reign at the Etihad Stadium, Guardiola heaped praise on the Brazilian the type of which had only been reserved for the likes of Lahm and Alaba before him. He was intelligent enough to play in ten positions, said the suave suit-wearing Catalan; given his propensity to move players around the pitch more than most, it was expected the holding midfielder would be playing in defence. But the biggest growth of this City side over the past few months, and something that has not been receiving as much praise as perhaps it should, is how solid they’ve been at the back.
When Guardiola was most under pressure last season, the rate at which his side were conceding goals, and his apparent disregard for mending the issues, were levelled at him. Nine clean sheets in all competitions and only six Premier League goals conceded, the second best record in the division, speaks volumes of how the situation has been rectified. Guardiola has not changed his approach to defending at all; if anything, his use of wingbacks should make them more vulnerable, but the single-pivot in the midfield, Fernandinho, has remained constant. It is his individual growth that has helped City become a force at both ends of the pitch.
When he was signed from Shakhtar Donestk in 2013 under Manuel Pellegrini, his price tag was thrown back in his face. He is by far not the only signing to suffer this kind of treatment, but £34million was viewed as way too much to be spending on a 28-year-old with five caps for his country. Unlike countless others brought to the club in a similar period, Fernandinho has become a vital member of the squad, beginning his career as an energetic but disciplined partner for Yaya Toure and developing into a calming influence who can hold the structure of arguably the most attacking team ever seen in England together on his own.
Some of the criticisms of Guardiola remain and they are still as lazy as ever. Is he naive? Does he really care about and respect English football’s traditions? Well, there is really only one difference between the typical mindset of an English football fan, pundit or coach, and his. He wants to win in such a definitively beautiful style that he torments himself in search of an ever-elusive version of perfection. Now, and only now, is he coming anywhere near to that.
But ask him who he trusts most in his squad and he’ll give you an unexpected answer. It isn’t Sergio Agüero, the man one goal short of taking City’s all time top goalscoring record for himself. It isn’t Toure, all too often the club’s saviour in years gone by. Not even is it Kevin de Bruyne, the man he said only Messi eclipses as a player on the world stage. No, it is Fernandinho, his trusted lieutenant and the pillar who holds his revolutionary tactical approach in place.
