Manchester City offer feast of entertainment with Pep Guardiola’s new lease of life

PRE MATCH PEP: Pep Guardiola, during the Premier League match between Manchester City and West Ham United. Pic: Molly Darlington/Getty Images.

Pep Guardiola delivered the line knowing the exact type of reaction it would receive. Weight has been a sporadic theme of his Manchester City reign, the jettisoning of Kalvin Phillips three years ago a reminder of both his unwavering standards and how difficult it is for a player to regain his trust once it’s lost.

So when the Catalan caveated giving his players three days off this week by warning that they must step on the scales before Christmas morning’s training sessions, they knew it was a threat that would be followed through.

Whether anyone failed the test will only become apparent when the team news is confirmed 75 minutes before kick off away to Nottingham Forest this lunchtime but the warning will have ensured no second helpings.

“They can eat but I want to control them," Guardiola said before sending them home to their families while he ventured to Barcelona for champers and some “top” food.

Control has always been the cornerstone of Guardiola’s genius and it is irresistible to make the point that, at a time when his team is less dominant in matches than at any stage of his time at City, he may feel the need to exert it elsewhere.

Then again, for a head coach whose success has been defined by that need to micromanage every single facet, a newfound willingness to concede on-pitch territory may well prove his latest masterstroke.

Rather than shaping the wider tactical direction, Guardiola is now adapting to the Premier League’s latest trend of physicality and directness.

To watch this team up close is a very different experience to what has followed before and, for neutrals, the shift in style has made them far more entertaining to watch.

Guardiola seems to be enjoying it too. The near-permanent frustrated look he wore during last season’s end-of-a-cycle slump has been replaced by that of a man having fun.

The touchline histrionics when a player is two yards too wide in their defensive shape or a pass goes misplaced are still there – they always will be – but he also looks renewed, energised by the prospect of birthing his next silverware-hogging side.

What has changed most is a great emphasis on physicality. The press and the precision remain but, perhaps influenced most by Arsenal’s targeted recruitment over the past three years, City are bigger, stronger and more direct than before.

It is backed up by the numbers, not just the eye test. Seventeen league matches in, they are averaging 57.9% possession, the lowest of Guardiola’s eight campaigns, six of which have had an average above 65%.

He raved about his players’ work ethic last week, saying: “[We’re] maybe one of the teams in the Premier League that runs the most. It’s unbelievable … I love it.” And that has translated into them being a far more notable counter attacking threat. Erling Haaland’s strike to make it 3-0 versus West Ham last weekend was their sixth goal categorised as a fast break this season, more than the five in the two previous campaigns combined.

If Haaland’s production is not much of a surprise – 19 in the league, six more in Europe – the resurgence of Phil Foden is a pleasant one.

Foden openly admitted to “facing challenges mentally off the pitch” last season but playing more centrally than before as a solution to Kevin De Bruyne’s departure, he is striking up a potentially devastating partnership with summer signing Rayan Cherki.

In line with City’s wider drop in possession, Foden is on the ball less than before despite coming in off the flank but the output is approaching levels that saw him scoop the individual awards in 23/24.

He has scored seven already, developing a knack for arriving in the box at the right time, and provided two assists. Above all he looks like a player who has, well, had a weight lifted.

Behind him ​​Tijani Reijnders has settled in remarkably quick, limiting the impact felt by the continued loss of Rodri through injury, while three consecutive clean sheets since the wild 5-4 win away to Fulham points to a defence, directed by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, that is presently only second best to Arsenal.

Which all leaves City one part of a three-team title race that, it no longer feels premature to say, has shown potential to develop into a classic. The only difference is that this time they are the underdogs instead of overwhelming favourites.

And that is maybe why Guardiola seems to be enjoying this so much. Few would have expected an immediate turnaround considering last season’s struggles and, yes, the dark cloud of their legal disputes.

But here they are, still with the crucial advantage over Arsenal and Aston Villa of knowing how to close the deal when spring arrives but lower expectations than the former.

Today’s examination away to Forest could be a fascinating one.

City’s possession stats should be boosted against opponents even more eager to counterattack but Forest will not roll over.

They have improved considerably in the two months since Sean Dyche’s arrival but consistency remains out of present reach. Having delivered what the manager later described as one of the most complete performances of any of his teams in 15 years of management when beating Spurs 3-0 a fortnight ago, they followed it up with a meek defeat away to Fulham on Monday.

Under Dyche, who told his players to enjoy the festivities but apply “common sense”, they have lost just once at home, a deceptively close 2-0 versus Brighton, and racked up 13 goals in six matches while keeping clean sheets in half of those.

Up until recently it would have been easy to predict how such a match would pan out but the way City, thanks to Guardiola’s flexibility, can mix things up may also be making it harder for opponents to prepare.

They are content to counter, determined to overpower. Once they have skipped the yule log, of course.