by So much for Pep Guardiola’s insistence at the start of the season that Manchester City are on their way to their fourth title in a row. After a comprehensive victory at Aston Villa, his team dropped to fourth in the table, six points behind leaders Arsenal. Here’s how much they’re off the pace: Manchester United – a team that has spent much of the season serving up fodder for comic writers – are now only three points behind them.
And, as he pondered the unexpected position of being better, Guardiola did not shy away from the issues plaguing his side.
For the richest sports brand in the world words like “struggling” will always be relative. However, the architect has a point with so much sky-blue success. For the first time since 2017 his team failed to win four Premier League games in a row. There can be no question, that the City is among the rising circumstances in rising circumstances for a slump, since there is a bunch that used to rule over everyone and everywhere.
And what this conveyed most was the nature of the victory. Villa had 22 shots; Registered city only two. Meanwhile; Villa won the ball back 13 times in City’s half, the most ever in the Premier League. They had never won so many games and were doing so well against the Emirati. This was not a simple case of being complacent or taking their opponents lightly. They were truly second best in everything.
And there was a reason for that: superbly organized by Unai Emery, Villa spent the whole game playing as if they were sure they were in this company. Everything they did was blamed on the belief that they were competitors.
With Emery constantly sending instructions from the sidelines, there was no sitting back, no surrendering possession, no allowing the opposition to attack. Instead they drove forward at every opportunity, pressing City every time they had possession, never allowing their visitors to gain any time on the ball. It was a joy to watch.
The highlight of their approach was when Bernardo Silva tried to tackle the gears in midfield. He was hit and run and stopped by a combination of John McGinn and Douglas Luiz. They held it until they won the ball, then they advanced again. This was the discomfort they were causing to City’s main creative force: Silva was seen panicking in his own area as he tried to claw the ball back to Ederson.
City looked saddened and saddened, Erling Haaland’s main job – apart from gifting Emi Martinez time to return for his weak header at far back – was swatting at the referee. And a check of statistics suggests that there was a reason for their lack of integration. The simple fact is that when Rodri doesn’t play, City will lose. This was the fifth time they had gone apart in the games when he was missing. Paraphrasing Guardiola’s disdain for Harry Kane-era Tottenham, it’s not hard to say that City are Rodri’s Team now.
Inevitably, the suspended Spaniard was lost here, his presence so valuable against sides that deliver burly hurly like Villa. His composure, his positioning, his ability to pick out the unexpected pass: these are qualities that are not easily replaced. Guardiola covered his midfield holder with John Stones and Rico Lewis, two defenders, although the latter were educated in his approach to positional hybridisation. But they could not get hold of Villa’s relentless harassment, with Lewis in particular getting too much time and dispossession. His effort on Cruyff on the halfway line, which was immediately snaffled by McGinn, did not go down well with his manager.
For Villa this was the victory characterized by the goal that won it. Leon Bailey, who was very attractive throughout the evening, showed how to tackle City. He picked up the ball on the halfway line from Youri Tielemans and just kept running. None of City’s defenders could get close to him as he turned on the edge of the penalty area. His shot may have taken a huge deflection off Ruben Dias, but nobody in the Holte End seemed to mind. They roared as if this was 1982 all over again.
At last this was a result of all that hard work, a just reward for the effort made to break the lungs. And for Emery this was the first time in 15 years, over 13 games that he beat Guardiola.
“For 30 years since I started as a coach I like to prepare games against the best teams and coaches,” he said. “It’s not something special to beat, it’s part of the process.”
Villa fans disagree. As they celebrated their side’s dominance over the reigning champions, putting pressure on Sweet Caroline even as the relentless visitors streamed off the pitch. This was a proper recognition that Emery, for all his efforts, has created a title challenge.
As for Guardiola, he tried his best to be philosophical about his demise but looking back on this game, however, he could come to a startling conclusion: without Rodri his side is there for the taking.
