On form, Manchester City have showcased once again this season why they belong amongst the upper echelon of teams across world football.
In five games in the Premier League and the Champions League so far, Pep Guardiola’s men have won four and drawn one — scoring 11 goals and conceding only three.
Yet, Manchester City still have several gears to reach — as the 2024/2025 campaign is still in its infancy and it is only during the business end of the season where the team start playing their best football.
However, even when City are not playing at their absolute best, they remain an elite side.
But the standards that the English juggernaut have set mean that even slight dips in their performances invite plenty of microscopic analysis amongst fans and pundits alike.
But the Manchester City machine continues to roll on and steamroll its opponents in the Premier League.
Guardiola explains where Man City are better than every other team in the world
With the Sky Blues hosting Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium, the dilemma Pep Guardiola may have on his hands is whether to instruct his team to go full-throttle or play conservatively.
Being the hosts, the onus will be at City to call the shots against Mikel Arteta’s side.
- READ MORE: Pep Guardiola says he already knows one thing Mikel Arteta won’t do when Arsenal face Man City
But the Premier League champions will also be wary of Arsenal’s threat.
On the counter-attack in particular, the Gunners have several players who could cause mayhem if afforded space such as Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Raheem Sterling.
Ahead of the contest, Pep Guardiola was quizzed about whether he approaches any big games with a pragmatic approach.
Guardiola claimed that Manchester City are the best team on the planet in terms of their pragmatism — emphasising how key such a trait is to him as a manager.
The £378,846-a-week tactician said via HaytersTV: “We are so pragmatic as a team, look at the results! The people think, have a build-up, a lot of passes or maybe not good at long balls and transitions, we are not pragmatic.”
“Pragmatic, we are the best team in the world being pragmatic. Look at the numbers. We won a lot. No, because at the end, being pragmatic, what does it mean, its related in results, right? Not in, how beautiful the football and this kind of stuff.”
“I don’t believe in that. I believe in being pragmatic. And we believe, in the way we play, we are unbelievably pragmatic. The best, I would say, I’m sorry, that is the truth.”
Pep Guardiola is certainly a pragmatist
As Pep Guardiola stated, due to Manchester City often playing beautiful football, dominating possession and having several technicians within their disposal, it could be perceived that they are the antithesis of a pragmatic team.
However, it could go unnoticed how Guardiola seemingly tries to make City as difficult to beat as possible season by season.
Not only by prioritising orthodox centre-backs like Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake in his side over the past few years but often by also picking a winger like Jack Grealish who helps his team control games.
Pep Guardiola is a master of helping his teams minimise their chances of being vulnerable in any footballing sense.
By reducing such possibilities, naturally, City’s chances of winning increase against most teams in the world and as Guardiola stated, such pragmatism explains their success under him.
As a result, players who lack both technical security as well as defensive discipline do not seem to be the two-time treble-winning coach’s favoured type of profile.
