Pep Guardiola has become better at enjoying his international breaks, taking time for holidays with family, but he will not be able to resist the urge to study the tapes this month.
Although one point off the top, Manchester City have fallen behind in four of their seven Premier League games — conceding the first goal in three of them, as they did on Saturday against Fulham — and their manager wants to know why.
Marco Silva’s vibrant side, who deserved more than their eventual lot, were most dangerous when City won a corner or were loose in possession in the final third. From there, Adama Traore motored and Fulham finished the afternoon with a higher expected goals tally than City.
City’s eight goals conceded so far, more than Newcastle and Nottingham Forest, is no major cause for alarm yet the exacting standards mean it will be Guardiola’s primary area of concern over the next fortnight.
Broadly, these are not coming via individual mistakes. ‘Maybe it is structural,’ Guardiola said. ‘I will reflect. We have a margin to improve.’
Pep Guardiola will not be able to resist the urge to study the tapes during the upcoming break
Guardiola admits he is glass half-empty and describes himself as ‘scared’ on the touchline. He is pragmatic in a way English football traditionally isn’t, the ethos being to keep the ball as much as possible to stop opponents having a sniff.
So when the Catalan says structural, he generally means when City are in possession and how they are set up to deal with transitions.
While it is too easy, he says, to point towards Rodri’s knee injury — ‘we’ve drawn two games with him and without him we won them all’ — there is a formula to find in midfield.
And that includes how City build up from the back. Does John Stones come in for Ruben Dias? With that City lose an organiser. Could they revert to the Treble team, with Manuel Akanji at right back? Then the club captain, Kyle Walker, is only left watching. Are Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan functioning well enough, or does Bernardo Silva drop into central midfield? Rico Lewis, largely terrific so far and especially in midfield, might then be a fall guy.
City stretched their unbeaten home record to 50 matches on Saturday but they were indebted to Ederson. Maligned by some supporters for his shot-stopping, the Brazilian twice thwarted Traore one-on-one in a display that supported Peter Schmeichel’s recent claim that he is the best in the league.
Guardiola had spent the summer worrying that his long-term No 1 would be heading to Saudi Arabia after Cristiano Ronaldo’s team Al Nassr turned Ederson’s head. In the end, Al Nassr lowballed City with a bid that was swiftly rejected.
‘He knew from day one I didn’t want it,’ Guardiola said. ‘But the truth is the offer didn’t come. A real offer. A keeper, for the team who won four Premier Leagues in a row, has a value. They have a price. Otherwise, he cannot leave. If the offer (was higher), maybe he would not be here.’