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Pep Guardiola Facing Big Week as His Manchester City Side Looks Undercooked
- Updated: August 8, 2016
Manchester City ended their pre-season calendar with a 3-2 defeat to Arsenal in Gothenburg, Sweden, on Sunday after a performance that added further weight to the theory Pep Guardiola’s side is somewhat undercooked heading into the new Premier League season.
The result was largely irrelevant, but City’s defending, which was sloppy throughout, did little to settle the nerves of their supporters, many of whom feel their team could have done with an increased summer programme, particularly after their proposed friendly with Manchester United in Beijing on July 25 was cancelled because of the poor state of the pitch inside the National Stadium.
This was City’s third proper friendly (they also played St Johnstone behind closed doors on Wednesday), and they looked anything but ready for the new season, one that will see stiffer competition than ever before after a summer of managerial changes and heavy spending across the upper tier of the division.
It was at the back they suffered the most. It would be foolish of Guardiola to ignore the defensive issues that undermined Manuel Pellegrini’s final season in charge. The new manager has yet to strengthen his back line, and it could prove his undoing.
Fernando and Aleksandar Kolarov played as a makeshift centre-back pairing in the Ullevi Stadium and neither looked comfortable.
Pablo Zabaleta has undergone ankle surgery this summer after an injury-affected 2015/16 season and isn’t match fit.
Gael Clichy made costly errors but at least looked sharp going forward, Bacary Sagna came on for his first run out in a City shirt this summer after France’s run to the final of the European Championship and Tosin Adarabioyo, impressive in the previous two games, played the loose pass that led to Arsenal’s third.
Nicolas Otamendi was left at home because of injury.
It’s a somewhat chaotic situation. Given City’s their first Premier League game of the season at home to Sunderland is on Saturday, it was far from ideal.
Guardiola’s new style of play, which sees his side pass from deep, with goalkeepers and defenders encouraged to get on the ball and start moves, hasn’t yet been taken on board fully by his players. They tried to carry out his instructions on Sunday, but time and again they surrendered possession in dangerous areas and handed Arsenal the initiative.
“It’s a new philosophy, a new way of playing football, a new way of defending,” Clichy said after the game. “We just have to adjust. For most of us, it’s the first time we see something like this and, of course, you have to pick it up quick.
“But it’s not going to happen overnight—we need to work …
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