Pep Guardiola Can Take Positives from Manchester City’s Defeat to Bayern Munich

How much can one glean from a pre-season friendly?

History tells us they aren’t a good indicator of how a side will perform once a league season gets underway. In 2008, Tottenham Hotspur were flying in their warm-up matches, winning seven of eight outings, only to lose six of their first eight Premier League games when the season started.

Chelsea did the opposite in 2010, losing four of their five pre-season matches, before racing out of the blocks when the real stuff started, winning their first six league games.

Importance of pre-season results – Spurs in 2008: WWDWWWWW, season stars: LLDLDLLL. Chelsea in 2010: WLLLL, season starts: WWWWW.

— James Maw (@JamesMawFFT) July 24, 2013

Last summer, Manchester City lost their final pre-season match against VfB Stuttgart 4-2 and were hammered for much of the match. Defensive frailties were exposed, and their play looked disjointed. A week later, they battered West Bromwich Albion, the first of a five-game winning run that didn’t see their goal breached once.

Clearly, they often have little bearing on how a side will start a campaign proper, but they can still offer suggestions about how they might set up or what kind of style they may use.

Pep Guardiola’s first game in charge saw him return to former club Bayern Munich on Wednesday. City lost 1-0—Erdal Ozturk scoring a deflected winner in the 76th minute—but there were plenty of positives for the manager to take from the game.

He picked a young side. The average age of his starting XI was just 24. With Bacary Sagna, Eliaquim Mangala, Kevin De Bruyne, Jason Denayer, Nolito, David Silva, Joe Hart, Raheem Sterling Sergio Aguero and Nicolas Otamendi all missing because of their international exertions over the summer, it was a somewhat depleted squad. Guardiola used the opportunity to test his young players—and he will have been impressed with what he saw.

Manchester City XI:

First half: Willy Caballero, Pablo Maffeo, Tosin Adarabioyo, Aleksandar Kolarov, Angelino, Fernando, Fernandinho, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Brandon Barker, Kelechi Iheanacho and Jesus Navas.

Second half: Angus Gunn, Maffeo, Adarabioyo, Kolarov, Angelino, Clichy, Fernando, Fernandinho, Fabian Delph, Wilfried Bony and Navas.

They acquitted themselves superbly. Adarabioyo started at centre-back and looked composed throughout, with his passing perhaps the most impressive aspect of his game. The Mancunian has a big future, and he can be proud of his …

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