5 things we've learned about Manchester City so far this season

For all his success with both Barcelona and Bayern Munich, many considered the Premier League to be the ultimate litmus test of Pep Guardiola’s managerial credentials. Therefore, when Manchester City unveiled the now 46-year-old as their manager last season, many believed that the Spaniard had joined the Citizens to conquer the proverbial final frontier for a manager.

Though it would be highly idiotic to ever have doubted Guardiola’s managerial acumen, the most intriguing aspect for the vast majority was to see if he could deploy the same kind of lethal possession-based football in England, as he had done with his all-conquering Barcelona side back in the day.

And the doubters had based their inhibitions about Guardiola’s methods on the fact that Premier League was a lot quicker, direct and most of all, physical than the Spanish league and the German league. Moreover, Guardiola himself had admitted to these differences and in all humility said that he had come to England to find out if he could play ‘his’ kind of football with City.

A year and a half later, as Guardiola and his men enjoy a seemingly unassailable lead at the top of the Premier League table, with half the season still to play, it certainly feels as though Guardiola certainly can play his way in England as well. However, that’s only one of the things we’ve learned about Guardiola and City so far.

Here are five things we’ve learned about Manchester City so far this season:

#5 Simplicity is the key to Ederson’s brilliance

Ederson is just the kind of keeper that Manchester City needed.

The fact that Guardiola endorses possession football is a well-documented one. However, such is the emphasis that the Spaniard puts on possession, that he expects each and every member of his team to be comfortable with the ball at his feet, including the goalkeeper. And it is with this requirement in mind that Guardiola added Claudio Bravo to City's roster last season from Barcelona.

And though the Chilean was certainly good with the ball at his feet, on too many occasions last season his handling and decision making left a lot to be desired. Moreover, Bravo also had a knack putting his defence under unnecessary pressure by choosing to play out of the back at times wherein he could have easily uncomplicated things, by simply kicking the ball long instead.

Finally, after Bravo’s transgressions cost City on more than one occasion last season, Guardiola understood that he needed to sign a new keeper if City were to genuinely challenge for titles and that he needed someone who was a lot more traditional and pragmatic in his approach.

So, at the start of the ongoing season, City snapped up Ederson on a €22 million deal from Benfica as he was everything Bravo was not. For starters, the Brazilian shot-stopper is ten years younger than his South American counterpart and this also implies that he possesses cat-like reflexes as compared to the Chilean.

But more decisively, Ederson likes to keep simple at the back as he doesn’t mind going along with the ball if the given situation demands it. Moreover, the Brazilian has been definitive in his decision-making in goal for the majority of the first half of the season and that has certainly done City’s defence a world of good.

Make no mistake about it, Ederson may not be as eye-catching or as celebrated as some of his goalkeeping counterparts, like David de Gea, but the one thing he has done really well so far this season, is that he has kept things simple as City’s last line of defence and as Bruce Lee once said, “Simplicity is the key to brilliance.”

#4 Vincent Kompany is City’s version of Carles Puyol

Vincent Kompany is City's undisputed leader.

Vincent Kompany has already established himself as something of a modern-day Manchester City great, having led the Citizens to a couple of Premier League titles in the recent past. However, for all the success he has had on the pitch, the Belgian has been equally unfortunate to be plagued by injuries which have curtailed most of his spells in the side.

But despite being highly injury prone, Kompany’s importance to City as a defensive unit is not lost on anyone. On his day and when he is fit, there aren’t too many who can do what Kompany does for City as he leads by example from the back.

Moreover, while the vast majority of the City squad are expected to be comfortable in possession, City’s skipper is probably the only exception to that expectation as he believes in nothing but no-nonsense defending. Further, the benefits of having Kompany in the side are plain to see as his presence allows his fellow centre-back, Nicolas Otamendi to effectively play as a midfielder, knowing that his skipper has got his back, in case he slips up.

Moreover, City have undeniably looked far more assured with Kompany at the heart of their defence as he also a leader of men and their defensive organizer.

And given that Guardiola is aiming to follow the blueprint from his Barcelona days with City, who better than Kompany to recreate the role that Carles Puyol once played ever so well for the Catalan giants.

#3 David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne are in a league of their own

City have two magicians in the form of David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne

Creativity is a fundamental aspect of any playmaker’s game and while there are some players who fulfil this requirement sufficiently, there are some others who raise the bar to a whole new level altogether, so much so, they can safely be considered as artists on the football pitch. And Guardiola’s men have two of the best in the business in the form of David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne. But the duo couldn’t have had more contrasting journeys to being the creative mainstays that they are now.

On one hand, while Silva has seldom put a foot wrong since joining the Citizens from Valencia in 2008 and has quite often single-handedly engineered a lot of City’s recent success, on the other hand, De Bruyne was initially deemed to be not good enough for Chelsea and therefore sold to VfL Wolfsburg for a meagre €15 million in 2014.

But to his credit, not only did the Belgian redefined himself in Germany, he soon transformed himself into one of the best playmakers in the world.

And City were the beneficiaries of De Bruyne’s resurgence as they snapped up the former Chelsea man for an eye-popping €75 million two years back. But more importantly, ever since his return to the English top flight with City, De Bruyne has lit up the league and has seemingly gotten better with every passing game.

This season though, the Belgian seems to have unlocked a whole new level of genius as he has racked up 6 goals (including a very special strike against Chelsea) and 8 assists already. Clearly, City are blessed to have two of the world’s best playmakers in their ranks and given both their respective performances so far, it’s not surprising that they are playing in a league of their own.

#2 Sterling has truly come of age and City have Guardiola to thank for it

Guardiola has helped Sterling take his game to the next level.

As much as Guardiola could possibly be criticised for being a cheque book manager, the fact of the matter still remains that he has an equally good eye for spotting talent. And, the development of Sergio Busquets at Barcelona is a testament to this fact.

Having been promoted to the Barcelona first team by Guardiola, the Spaniard has gone on to establish himself as the fulcrum of Barcelona’s storied style of play in the last decade or so.

And it was Guardiola’s penchant for spotting talent that once again saw something really special in Raheem Sterling. So much so, that the Spanish gaffer singled out the Englishman as the one player he wanted to develop during his time at the Etihad Stadium.

Now, ‘develop’ is the key word here. On the face of it, Sterling possesses pace and skill in abundance, both of which are fundamental requirements one needs to succeed as a winger. The two things that Sterling needed to improve on though, was first, his finishing and secondly and more importantly, he needed to add an element of consistency to his performances.

And one and a half years into Guardiola’s tenure, everyone can see that the Spaniard has helped Sterling take his game to the next level by plugging the gaps in his game. Over the course of the first half of this season, Sterling has already racked up an impressive 13 goals and 6 assists in the Premier League so far, which is a testament to the fact that he’s begun to realize his true potential as a footballer.

But what’s more significant is the fact that Sterling has stepped up for City when his team needed someone to do so the most and his match-winning strikes against Bournemouth and Huddersfield are proof of this, and the credit for Sterling’s coming of age goes completely to Guardiola.

#1 Pep Guardiola is a philosopher like no other

No one understands football the way, Guardiola does

A lot of Premier League fans (including myself) wanted to witness Pep Guardiola managing a top-flight English club to be completely convinced of his managerial prowess. And given that scenario, the arrival of the former Bayern Munich manager at Manchester City’s helm provided the fans and the doubters an opportunity to witness just that.

However, a year and a half into his time in the Premier League, Guardiola has successfully managed to convert his doubters into believers, and though it’s a bit painful to watch from a rival fans’ perspective, I, for one, must admit that it has been a pleasure to watch City play the way they have done this season. For, Guardiola’s team are a reminder of why football is called ‘the beautiful game’.

The other reason why the Premier League was supposed to be Guardiola’s toughest test yet, was because of the ‘competitiveness’ that has traditionally been synonymous with the league, especially in comparison to La Liga and the Bundesliga. However, going by what we have witnessed from Manchester City this season, this so-called ‘competitiveness’ is nothing more than a well-documented myth.

For, had there existed ‘competitiveness’ in the Premier League in its truest sense, City would not have been coasting to the title, with half the season yet to play. Given his love for football and his tactical approach to the game, Guardiola has deservedly been dubbed as the ‘tactical one’ by his Manchester City charges.

But for someone like me, who has a Masters in Philosophy, I can’t help but draw parallels between Guardiola and some ardent philosophers from yesteryear. After all, Guardiola has turned his doubters into believers with City’s performances this season and nothing could be more philosophical than that. So, the next time someone asks me who’s my favourite philosopher, I shall surely take Pep Guardiola’s name.