IN his managerial career, Pep Guardiola has worked with some of the best forward players the game has ever seen, along with some outstanding defenders and goalkeepers, but the midfield always serves as the centrepiece – literally and figuratively – of his teams.
With Barcelona and then Bayern Munich, the Catalan coach assembled and fine-tuned some of the greatest midfield combinations in modern football history, and he has set about repeating the trick since taking over at the Etihad in 2016. Already the most dominant and destructive middle third in Europe, claiming back-to-back Premier League titles, City are set to reach still higher levels of midfield mastery this season.
The biggest upgrade City’s midfield has undergone this this term comes via the return of their best player. Injury restricted Kevin De Bruyne to just 978 minutes of Premier League game time last season, down from 3085 in their 100-point 2017/18 campaign.
Kevin De Bruyne First 2 Games
Most Chances Created (12)
Most Big Chances Created (5)
️ Most Assists (3) #MCFC pic.twitter.com/JbdIHWnBPq
— Premier League Statman ⚽️ (@EPLStatman) August 19, 2019
Slotting back in as though he’d never been away, the Belgian’s form early in the new campaign has served to make City’s achievements of last season appear all the more remarkable, highlighting the fact they were able to claim a domestic treble largely without the aid of arguably the world’s best midfielder.
De Bruyne already has three assists to his name this season. Resuming his ‘free 8’ role in Guardiola’s three-man midfield, he is once again seen charging through the middle third with the ball at his feet, sliding through-balls between multiple defenders, linking productively with his attacking colleagues and drifting wide to flash his deadly crosses across the face of the six-yard box.
City broke their transfer record this summer to sign Rodri from Atletico Madrid for £63m. Identified some time ago as the ideal long-term replacement for Fernandinho, the 23-year-old has everything Guardiola looks for in a midfield pivot. Once he has fully acclimated to life in the Premier League, Rodri could soon prove to be even more vital to City’s continued success than the man whose role he is assuming has been in recent years.
“Rodri will be incredible for us,” Guardiola told BT Sport of his record signing. “He doesn’t have tattoos or earrings. His hair, he looks like a holding midfielder! A holding midfielder must be like this, think about the rest [of the team].”
️ Pep Guardiola:
"Every midfield player has his own qualities. Kevin has his own special quality but David [Silva] has quality that nobody has, everybody has their own and tries to use it to be the best for him and the best for the team."#MCFC pic.twitter.com/1nMuQvAQtl
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) August 16, 2019
Comparisons to Sergio Busquets – whom Guardiola moulded in his own image from a teenager at Barcelona – are tired at this stage, so often are they regurgitated, but their accuracy remains. Possessing a broad passing range, the ability to fizz balls between the lines and always open to receive passes as City play their way out from the back, Rodri shares many strengths with the Barcelona conductor.
Also like Busquets, Rodri is a formidable physical presence, standing an athletic 6ft 3 and demonstrating his ability to shield the back four by making more tackles than any other midfielder in La Liga last season.
Now 33 and in light of De Bruyne’s return to fitness, the magnificent David Silva is likely to operate in a diminished role this season, but his cameos will prove valuable throughout the campaign. There is a strong case to be made that the Spaniard is City’s greatest-ever player, and his technique and speed of thought will ensure he remains a relevant threat as his physical tools inevitably decline.
Bernardo Silva, the heir to his Spanish namesake’s creative role, is growing evermore important to Guardiola’s side. The diminutive Portuguese will split his time between a wide attacking remit and a position alongside Rodri and De Bruyne this season, and to either role he brings tenacity, workrate and the flair to unlock defences.
Man City probably have the best midfield in the world, it's disgusting. Just having De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva should disqualify you for cheating. It's not fair. 3rd Premier League title in a row incoming? #MCITOT
— Alpha Music (@AlphaMusic94) August 17, 2019
There is, of course, Phil Foden, too, whom Guardiola – somewhat dubiously, given he has managed Lionel Messi – regards as the finest natural talent he has coached. Still only 19, the English playmaker won’t dethrone De Bruyne or the Silvas just yet, but he will continue to grow as an influence and regular presence.
Then there is Ilkay Gundogan. Able to deputise in any of the midfield positions within City’s standard 4-3-3, the German signed a new four-year deal with the club in August, so valued is he by Guardiola for his versatility and quality on the ball; it is telling that the German is often a preferred started in the biggest fixtures, trusted as much for his cool head and what he offers without the ball as with it.
Domestically, City have come closer to attaining perfection than any club in the Premier League era. After what they achieved in the last two seasons, their biggest challenge was always going to be finding ways to improve yet further.
Worryingly for those intent on disrupting their monopoly of the title, City are getting stronger in what was already their greatest area of strength.
