ORLANDO, Fla. — Manchester City have had a lesson in how quickly things can change in football throughout the past 12 months.
From four-time champions to also-rans in the Premier League. From the excitement generated by the 5-2 win over Juventus in the FIFA Club World Cup to the frustration at being dumped out by Al Hilal four days later.
Even during the game against the Saudi side, the control of the first 45 minutes could not have been further removed from the chaos that ensued after halftime.
As Pep Guardiola and his players head back to Manchester, their mission is relatively simple: rediscover the consistency that formed the bedrock of their success for nearly a decade. Guardiola can only hope it can be rediscovered as quickly as it was lost and the mountain can be scaled again.
Speaking in the cramped media conference room at Camping World Stadium late on Monday night, the City boss was in a philosophical mood about the defeat to Al Hilal. He spoke of his “regret” at not being able to go further and said it was a “pity” they were going home early.
There was, though, also a sense that the trip to the United States has served one key purpose.
Guardiola has had his squad together at their training base in Boca Raton, Florida, for more than two weeks. There has been time on the training pitch at Lynn University with his new coaches, including Jürgen Klopp’s former assistant Pep Lijnders.
The players were allowed to bring their families and barbecues were arranged at the team hotel. Recovery and stretching sessions were done on the beach and day trips to Miami sanctioned to fill the downtime.
“We have been on an incredible journey together and we were in a good place,” Guardiola said when asked about what he would take away from the Club World Cup. “The vibe was really good.”
There has been little doubt that, tucked away on the Florida coast, it’s been a happy camp.
Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gündogan, John Stones and Éderson have all said they’re committed to staying put this season. Phil Foden, short of form for nearly a year, said it was a “new start, new me.”
Guardiola has clearly enjoyed it, too. Now that it’s over, though, the issues he’s been insulated from are now very much back on the agenda.
Firstly, there are fresh decisions to make on Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker. They were omitted from the group for the Club World Cup and both are free to leave the Etihad Stadium this summer. But with nothing advanced yet in terms of moves away, Guardiola will have to choose whether to reintroduce the pair into the squad when the players reconvene ahead of the Premier League season or exile them completely.
Kalvin Phillips and James McAtee are in similar positions, although neither are as high profile as Grealish and Walker.
The squad trimming is unlikely to stop there. Guardiola said toward the end of last season that he would rather quit than work with too many players.
He took 27 to the U.S. and it would have been 28 had Mateo Kovacic not required Achilles surgery in the buildup to the tournament.
Of the players who travelled to America, youngsters Vitor Reis and Claudio Echeverri could leave on loan. Abdukodir Khusanov is another candidate for a temporary move.
Then there’s the more senior players.
Gündogan is wanted by Galatasaray. The German faces stiff competition in midfield now that Rodri is back and Tijjani Reijnders has arrived from AC Milan. Gündogan scored twice at the Club World Cup, but he was hauled off early in the second half against Al Hilal as City began to fall apart.
Like Gündogan, Stones also wants to stay. Guardiola, though, made a point of saying during last season’s injury-hit campaign that he only wants durable players, and Stones wasn’t able to play a single minute in the U.S. and hasn’t featured at all since February.
City’s defense — in terms of both personnel and organization — remains a problem.
There are concerns about Manuel Akanji‘s form. Nathan Aké‘s injury record counts against him. There’s also no recognized right back.
Makeshift full back Matheus Nunes looked impressive going forward, particularly against Juventus, but there are worries about his defensive positioning and his ability to sense danger. City have considered Juventus’ Andrea Cambiaso and Tino Livramento of Newcastle United over the past six months, and it remains to be seen whether they look to bring in a specialist before the transfer deadline.
Guardiola played without a natural left back for nearly four years before Rayan Aït-Nouri‘s summer move from Wolverhampton Wanderers, and City will be happy with the impact of the Algeria international — and fellow new signing Reijnders — in the States. Rayan Cherki showed flashes of brilliance, including the cross for Foden’s goal against Al Hilal, but there’s not yet a clear idea of where he will play and what his role might be.
Scoring goals and creating chances wasn’t the problem against Al Hilal because on another day City could have had seven or eight. The biggest issue was how much they struggled with transitions. Afterward, Silva, in his new role as captain, could not hide his frustration and what he believes is a developing pattern.
“Most teams that beat us play this way,” he said. “We are very used to playing teams like this. We’ve played against teams like this for eight or nine years and we didn’t control those situations and they are normally situations we recover very well by being aggressive in the first five or six seconds when we recover the ball quick.
“This time, they always managed with one or two passes to create danger in behind and cause problems. That was the main problem.”
Time and again, Al Hilal looked to expose Rúben Dias‘ lack of pace. There were points when it looked like it was a specific instruction from manager Simone Inzaghi. Dias is integral to the dressing room because of his personality and leadership — he’s often seen barking instructions during the pre-match huddle and organizing during games — but he looks increasingly vulnerable when he’s asked to run back toward his own goal.
City’s weak underbelly was a problem last season, although Rodri’s return will cover some of the cracks. The Spain international showed just how important he is in the impressive win over Juventus.
The one thing City’s early exit from the Club World Cup has given Guardiola is time.
He was facing the prospect of preparing for the Premier League season in just one or two weeks had they reached the final in New York on July 13. Defeat to Al Hilal means his players will get more rest and he will get more time on the training pitch before the opening game against Wolves at Molineux on Aug. 16.
Asked to sum up his time in the U.S., Guardiola paused for a moment and delivered a telling answer.
“I felt we were happy here,” he said with a smile.
His job is to keep it going now that it’s back to reality and start the climb back up the mountain.
