Pep Guardiola has done what his Man City critics said was beyond him

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is getting the team where he wants them to be as they settle into their campaign

"I said, 'Jeremy, you can go inside when you feel it, go outside when you feel it.'"

So spoke Pep Guardiola after Manchester City's win over Bournemouth, having allowed Jeremy Doku 'freedom' to make his own decisions in the final third. It, and the wider tactical plan, paid off as the Blues beat a very good team 3-1 to move up to second in the Premier League.

Guardiola has not been short of critics in the 10 years he has been in English football - he would count referees in the group of people against him - and there remains no shortage of sceptics lining up to see him fail. Even if six Premier League titles in seven years can't be questioned, the depths City fell to last season brought some out of the woodwork to question whether Guardiola still had it.

"I think his time is coming to an end," proclaimed long-term Guardiola critic Didi Hamann last month. "It probably should have been in the past. Maybe he missed the point where he should have gone."

City's manager himself has been honest about the way that football has changed, and back in January named Bournemouth as one of the teams that now play 'modern football'. The way that Bournemouth, Brighton, and Newcastle play certainly looks different from City, and all three of those took points off the Blues last season.

Yet here we are, 10 games into the Premier League campaign, and City sit above them all after inflicting Bournemouth's second defeat of the season. Guardiola studied what has made Andoni Iraola's team so good, and adapted his City team to use the visitor's strengths against them.

It remains unclear whether Guardiola will win the league with City this season, or again. Liverpool at home will be their biggest test yet on Sunday, while Arsenal look to be the major challenge over the next six months.

However, City's coach has already achieved more than what the naysayers were preaching when the Blues looked to be in trouble as late as August. Whether it is allowing wingers the freedom to express themselves or giving his team what they need to win important matches, Guardiola is helping City to stay relevant in the ongoing shifts in modern football.

That is allowing them to be competitive, putting them in a position where home games against Dortmund and Liverpool this week in the Champions League and Premier League can be seen as opportunities for further progress rather than worries about more defeats.

Having been on the outside last season, City are now coming inside again to where they feel comfortable.

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