When Pep Guardiola started his preparations for the new season, he knew there would be an immediate disadvantage.
“We will arrive late but not (just) against Manchester United [in the Community Shield], against Chelsea and Ipswich too,” he said. “We will be late. It’s about trying not to drop many points, try to compete well. We don’t have players because they have to rest.”
City under Guardiola have made a point of giving players as much rest as they can between campaigns, and most of the players that had driven the Blues to a fourth Premier League title in a row had then gone all the way in the European Championship; Rodri’s Spain won it with four Blues on the losing side with England. The manager would have to make do without his best player in Rodri and the league’s best player in Phil Foden at the beginning of their campaign.
If it was clear who City would have to do without, it wasn’t immediately apparent who Guardiola could turn to in their absence. Erling Haaland was itching to get started after a summer of rest with Norway not competing in the Euros, while the early exits of Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic helped.
Adding to them, Guardiola coaxed Jack Grealish through his England heartache and also challenged Rico Lewis to make a spot in the team his own in the absence of more senior colleagues. Lewis had broken through two seasons ago when City won the Treble but had been pushed back out of the side in the second half of last season with Kyle Walker proving integral to Guardiola’s plans.
Grealish and Lewis have both responded so successfully that they have worked their way into the England set-up again on the back of their efforts for City. Walker, Foden and others haven’t really got going for the side but Guardiola’s gamble of leaning on the players he knew would have the most energy has paid off; Liverpool might be top of the league after seven games, but the Blues are only a point behind after hosting Arsenal and travelling to Stamford Bridge and St James’ Park.
Two months into the campaign and while Rodri has unfortunately been ruled out for the season, the England players should be in a far better position to contribute – only now they have Grealish and Lewis in a better place to compete with them. Those two will certainly hope to start at Wolves on Sunday when City get back underway.
There may come a day when Guardiola works solely for the benefit of the England team, but for now his focus is all on City turning four in a row into five in a row.
