Manchester City’s transition on the rise

The chances came and went for Inter Milan as its bid for a fourth UEFA Champions League title slipped away. In a game, many didn’t expect the Italian side to hold a candle against the champions of England, Simone Inzaghi’s men played out a brilliant game plan to no avail.

When Federico Di Marco’s goal bound header struck Romelu Lukaku’s leg and Lukaku’s version of a goal bound header hit Man City goalkeeper Ederson, Pep Guardiola must have realized something different was coming for his side.

For many years, Guardiola’s group found itself on the wrong side of such situations; case in point Raheem Sterling’s miss from six yards out in a 1-3 loss to Olympique Lyon in the Round of 16 stage.

While that sounds and feels too far back, the 2021-2022 Champions League season misery for Man City is a bit fresher. City was on its way to a second final appearance in a row before Real Madrid turned on the charm and nicked past them.

Speaking of Champions League finals, Man City’s debut appearance wasn’t pleasant either as Kai Havertz’s goal unknowingly provided the last hurrah for the Roman Abramovic era at Stamford Bridge. In a strange twist of fate, it was Guardiola’s men who played like Inter Milan typically would by grabbing a well worked goal and managing the game the rest of the way.

Since City’s Abu Dhabi royalty led takeover, trophies have come consistently chiefly thanks to Guardiola but the Spaniard had yet to really distinguish himself. Guardiola has five Premier League titles, four EFL, two FA Cups and two Community Shield titles to his credit at the Etihad Stadium but Roberto Mancini won the FA Cup and the league title while Manuel Pellegrini won the league and two EFL titles.

The only missing trophy in the collector’s item was the Holy Grail-the Champions League and winning it makes Pep Guardiola the greatest manager of all time. Yes he has worked with world class talent backed by billions of dollars but many have failed to succeed working with big egos under such intense pressure of expectations that come with assembling an ensemble cast.

Plus there is the incredible feat of winning a treble with two clubs in two different countries while influencing the football culture in both countries.

With that out of the way, Guardiola can focus on setting a new record at least domestically by winning the EPL title for a fourth time in a row after matching Sir Alex Ferguson’s three peat winning campaign with Manchester United.

That is the only reason Pep stays after accomplishing the mission he was taken to England for.

Notice there was no mention of a successful defence of the Champions League title in the aforementioned line because it looks unrealistic for City to achieve this feat next season.

This is all down to a series of expected series of exits from the club after reaching club football nirvana.

This sounds absurd considering Man City’s immense financial backing means no player is beyond capture but while getting players is no problem, getting them to flourish in Pep’s system right away is the major hurdle.

Man City’s 100 million pound man Jack Grealish is a prime example of a player who struggled mightily in his debut season in Pep’s system but has thrived since. Nathan Ake and John Stones are embodying testaments of this belief too so new top players can get drafted into Man City this offseason but getting them to produce at the premium level Pep demands is near impossible.