How Much of Manchester City’s Squad Will Pep Guardiola Rip Up?

The postmortem of Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City is already in full swing; with the Citizens now officially out of the running of domestic and UEFA Champions League glory, we have nothing to look to bar the impending arrival of Pep Guardiola and what he might do.

The lethargic, limp showing the Citizens put in at the Santiago Bernabeu was regrettable in so many ways. Yaya Toure’s non-performance typified the entire approach, as the Ivorian simply stood and watched as Real Madrid bypassed the midfield without pressure and attacked in relentless fashion.

When Guardiola watches the game back, he’ll see myriad good performances from Los Merengues’ players; Dani Carvajal, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Isco and Gareth Bale all starred in a showing that could easily have yielded four goals, not one, on another night.

Picking out strong Manchester City performances is a far tougher exercise, as Joe Hart (and maybe Fernandinho) are the only two to emerge with any semblance of credit.

The viewing was so abject it prompted a post-match discussion on BT Sport regarding how much of an overhaul this squad needed.

Owen Hargreaves and Rio Ferdinand both agreed approximately half the team would be different once Guardiola had had his way, and while these sorts of comments can often be over the top due to the fact they’re based largely on the most recent performance (in this case, a tepid one), the duo’s assertions probably aren’t too far wide of the mark.

Guardiola will bring a unique playing style to the Etihad Stadium which will force every footballer on the books to rethink everything they think they know about playing the game.

He changes the sheer basics of your movements and actions. If you can hack it, you get to be a part of the coolest party in the sport; if not, you’re sent packing almost immediately.

So who stays, and who goes? Who fits and who doesn’t? Is the overhaul going to be quite as ferocious as Hargreaves and Ferdinand suggest, or does Guardiola merely need to sprinkle the finishing touches in terms of player recruitment and focus on remoulding what he has?

Guardiola’s tactical flexibility and versatility knows no bounds—he’ll try any formation, even a 2-3-5—but there are certain staples he rests his hat on. Possession, pressing and width are key parts of every game plan he constructs, as he values controlling the ball, stretching the pitch and stressing the opposition highly.

The possession strand starts from the back, and a goalkeeper equipped with good passing feet and one-on-one skills is a must. He is exposed more often and more openly than most, so confidence in space and in dealing with pressure is key.

Hart is an underrated goalkeeper—or was, perhaps, before he starred against Real Madrid over two legs these past two weeks. He’s actually excellent one-on-one, saving a high percentage of those types of chances and exudes confidence for the most part.

His distribution will need some work in order to play his part under the incoming manager, though, and that’s perhaps why reports suggest Hart could leave (he’s been linked to Liverpool, per the Liverpool Echo) and that Guardiola has identified Barcelona reserve ‘keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen as the ideal replacement, according to the Daily Express.

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The defensive line’s modus operandi is set for radical change too. They’ll play higher up than ever before, be required …

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