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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is still at the Etihad when many thought he wouldn't be. Can he get back to the top?
Pep Guardiola's football is as successful as ever. The question is whether it has deserted the man himself at Manchester City.
Last season was the manager's worst since his first at the club back in 2016/17, with nothing he tried coming off. A new contract signed to take him up to 2027 was well received, as was Erling Haaland agreeing a monster deal to keep him at the Etihad until 2034, but those big boosts for the club were unable to turn around a team on the pitch that lost their way.
An injury crisis that began at the end of October and took until April to really clear up ruined any hopes of success, with Rodri missing eight months, Josko Gvardiol the only central defender who was consistently available and Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden a shadow of the players they had been. It felt like everything that could go wrong did go wrong, and leaves the Blues with work to do to catch the top teams heading into the 2025/26 season.
A look at those teams though, and all is not lost. Liverpool are English champions under Arne Slot, who arrived in the Premier League after describing City games as his 'ultimate joy in football' with no other team he would rather watch.
Paris Saint-Germain conquered Europe with an emphatic 5-0 win over Inter in the final in a superb triumph masterminded by Luis Enrique, the coach who developed under Guardiola at Barcelona before shining as a successor with a Treble of his own at the Catalan club. "He’s a role model, a reference, and a unique coach who has revolutionized football," Enrique said ahead of their meeting in January.
PSG came back from 2-0 down in that game to win 4-2 in a match that ended up defining the level of both teams in the Champions League, although rather than believing he was landing a killer blow on a tired old empire Enrique praised Guardiola and City for pushing them to improve.
"He’s not afraid of new ideas, and that pushes us to grow in response to whatever tactical surprises he might bring. It’s exciting for a young team like ours."
Guardiola settled on some new ideas in one of the most Guardiola ways possible, bringing on an academy playmaker for one of the team's most consistent central defenders and getting him to play left-back for the second half of an FA Cup quarter-final where they trailed. Nico O'Reilly shone with two assists against Bournemouth and that was enough for the Blues to win despite Haaland going down injured.
Having lost 15 of 30 games in all competitions between November and March, City stabilised in the final two months of the season and did enough to book their place in the Champions League for this season. But the board were not prepared to risk another disappointing season, and £275m has been spent in the calendar year to refresh a squad that looked like it badly needed it.
Three summer signings (plus a new third-choice keeper after Scott Carson left) gave some welcome optimism to fans and there was also cautious encouragement over the revamping of Guardiola's backroom staff. Longtime mentor Juanma Lillo left along with his assistant and Carlos Vicens, with Jurgen Klopp's No.2 at Liverpool Pep Lijnders arriving with Liverpool analyst James French; Kolo Toure stepped up from the Under-18s for the Club World Cup.
There were signs of progress from the new faces at the summer tournament, with Tijjani Reijnders in particular impressing in midfield and some positive signs from set-pieces - French's new beat - with small tweaks that can have major results.
However, just as a 5-2 battering of Juventus in their final group game raised expectations City were brought crashing back to earth, and out of the competition, after a shock 4-3 defeat to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal in the round of 16. There were green shoots of progress, but will that be enough?
City's exit looked to open the door for PSG to be crowned world champions after they smashed Real Madrid in the semi-finals, but Enrique's team were themselves stunned in the final by Enzo Maresca's Chelsea. Maresca, another Guardiola disciple who has stubbornly stuck to his possession-based football at Leicester and Chelsea despite criticism, joined Enrique in winning one of the biggest competitions of the year.
And what did Maresca have to say about Guardiola last season as City beat them home and away to finish above them despite their terrible season?
“I’ve had the fortune of working with some of the best in the world – Ancelotti, Lippi, Pellegrini – but Pep is different,” the Chelsea coach said. “I don’t see him as a manager. I see him as a genius because he’s always ahead of the rest.”
The last 12 months have been a spectacular triumph for Guardiola in terms of his influence on the game. To gaze at the best teams in the world is to look upon sides inspired by the manager's distinctive principles that are pushing football to new limits.
It is just that his teams have rarely looked as limited as City did last season, and there is a battle between old and new to make sure that the man behind the methods remains at the cutting edge of the sport fighting for trophies rather than simply giving others a blueprint. By far the longest-serving manager in the league now that Thomas Frank has joined Spurs - another challenger for City to worry about - Guardiola has to show that his best days are not behind him and he can lead City into a new era of success.
To do that, he will have to overcome concerns with the balance of his squad. He does not want to work with a group as big as he had for the Club World Cup, although the club are keen to avoid a repeat of last season when the group was stretched too thinly with injuries.
Having told the board last summer that a refresh wasn't necessary, even as it has begun the manager has stuck with his experienced stars. Bernardo Silva is now captain, Ilkay Gundogan played enough last year to trigger a contract extension and Mateo Kovacic also appears set to stay despite frustration from fans at the way the midfield was overrun in an increasingly competitive Premier League.
Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have already spent big this summer in their attempts to claim the 2026 crown, adding to the pressure on City to raise their game. Mikel Arteta, another of Guardiola's former assistants, is one of two managers (with Slot) deemed more likely than his former master to lift the trophy.
Guardiola would welcome success for Arteta - just not at his own expense. A coach who has stayed at City and in England longer than anyone expected has no unfinished business yet is still here, trying to solve the next problem to win more trophies.
His principles are alive and well in the game, but the 2025/26 season is one where Guardiola has to show that not only is he the biggest inspiration for coaches around the world he is also the biggest threat to them and the one they have to be perfect to beat.
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