Pep Guardiola has solved major Man City issue in time for Arsenal
Manchester City were confused a month ago but everything has come together in time for April and their Premier League battle with Arsenal
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It seems strange to think that it is only a month since Manchester City struggled to a Premier League draw at West Ham. Even stranger when you consider that two of the subsequent weeks haven’t actually contained any club football.
Pep Guardiola went into defensive mode at the London Stadium, denying that the title race was over despite having said days earlier that if they didn’t win then the title race would be over. The disappointment etched on his face told of a very different story to the one he was attempting to say.
What particularly bothered City fans at the time was the team selection. The manager had tried something new for their Champions League game at the Bernabeu and it had backfired badly (in result even if not in performance) as they lost 3-0. Then changes were made for West Ham and it wasn’t until the substitutes came on that they showed any energy or urgency in the final third.
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Trying to pick City’s best team looked to have eluded the manager, and they were being punished for it. This most definitely was not the side of old where you could name at least nine of the 11 starters days before the games.
Then came the Carabao Cup final, where the team Guardiola plumped for were magnificent and thoroughly earned their 2-0 win to end Arsenal hopes of the Quadruple. Just one change followed for the FA Cup game with Liverpool, arguably making them even stronger as Marc Guehi came in to replace Nathan Ake.
For the trip to Stamford Bridge, there was just one more change as No.1 goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was back in the team ahead of James Trafford. Another assured performance followed and City’s tails are firmly up.
Just four games since the West Ham draw, the Blues are in a position where as long as Nico O’Reilly is fit you can probably name all 11 players who will start against Arsenal. Suddenly they have the clarity again that had been lost and there is not a single player who started at Chelsea that did not do enough to keep their spot against Arsenal.
That does not mean that Guardiola will stick with the same, but keeping that team would likely send the strongest message out before the game that City mean business. Like the title-winning sides of old, it would be a statement that it doesn’t matter if opponents know exactly how City will line up because stopping them is an entirely different issue.
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With the clarity that they have to win on Sunday, and a full week to prepare the game that has allowed them two days off, this Guardiola team is coming into vision. For all the worries of Pep Roulette that routinely pop up, the manager may have already decided on the team that he hopes will put Arsenal in a spin.