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#4 He failed in his first season at Manchester City
Guardiola’s arrival in England prior to 2016/17 was considered a formality after he’d completed his short stints in Spain and Germany, and unsurprisingly it wasn’t a dark horse like Everton or Tottenham that he ended up joining, it was mega-rich Manchester City, who had previously won the Premier League in 2013/14 under Manuel Pellegrini. Unsurprisingly, Pep immediately splashed the cash, signing Ilkay Gundogan, Nolito, Leroy Sane, John Stones and Claudio Bravo as well as some smaller names. Gabriel Jesus followed in January and by the time things were said and done; Guardiola had spent a massive £171.5m on new players.
What did he achieve for all that spending? Well, practically nothing. He didn’t win a thing, and Man City found themselves finishing third in the Premier League, were eliminated from the Champions League in the round of 16, and didn’t make the finals of any of the domestic cup competitions. In the end they were miles off the pace in the league, finishing on 78 points – eight behind runners-up Tottenham, and fifteen behind champions Chelsea, two sides that hadn’t spent anywhere near the money that Guardiola had used.
The only side that spent more? Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United, and while they finished even lower in the Premier League, they did win the Europa League and the League Cup, giving Mourinho more trophies for his ever-growing cabinet. Guardiola meanwhile was supposed to deliver Man City’s biggest successes, but in reality, he barely even surpassed the feats of his predecessor Pellegrini in his first season.
Perhaps it’s fair to give Pep more time to bed himself into the Premier League’s way of playing, but remember that he didn’t need such time in Germany. Maybe it’s just that the Premier League is by far the toughest league he’s found himself in, and due to the toughness, he’s found himself wanting.
