Gary Neville has said that this current Manchester City side is his favourite version under Pep Guardiola.
After winning the treble last season, the Citizens got their latest Premier League campaign off to a strong start by beating Burnley 3-0 at Turf Moor thanks to goals from Erling Haaland and Rodri.
This then led to one pundit, who knows what it’s like to be successful playing under one manager for a significant period of time, talking about what the City boss has done over recent months.
Neville praises Guardiola evolution
Speaking on Sky Sports after the match on Friday night, Neville had this to say about Guardiola and the ways in which he has allowed City to be so successful recently.
He said: “One thing I would say is that in the last 12 months and even with the signings of [Josko] Gvardiol and [Mateo] Kovacic, he played with four centre-backs, a 6ft2 centre-forward, two holding-midfield players in the Champions League final.
“I think to win the Champions League, I think Pep recognised that he had to change slightly and become a lot more solid.
“He talked last year about the influence of having proper defenders, so whilst the rest of them are still playing the way in which Pep plays, he’s moved on to the next stage which, actually, is a little bit different.
“This is my favourite Pep Guardiola team. Last season was the best football I saw them play. There was power added to the obviously technical ability and It wasn’t as subtle as it has been in the past and as technical, which actually I felt was more exciting to watch with the imperfection of Haaland up front.”
The previous Premier League campaign saw the Citizens score more goals (94) than any other side in the division as well as conceding the joint-fewest (33).
Having only conceded one goal in their FA Cup campaign and not losing a single game in the Champions League, this shows how much their defence contributed in seeing the club lift their trophies.
While they may have scored more and conceded fewer in previous seasons where they have won the league, it’s interesting to hear that this current style and set up that Guardiola has his side playing is one he admires the most.
Having won three big titles last season, there’s a strong argument that this is the best version of City under Guardiola.
Looking ahead to the rest of the season, if the treble winners can a historic fourth Premier League title in a row, this would undoubtedly strengthen the argument that this is Guardiola’s strongest side.
