The Guardiola era is over. So what next for Man City and English soccer?
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10:14 AM on Tuesday, May 26
By STEVE DOUGLAS
So long, Pep.
After a transformative decade of trophy after trophy, spellbinding play and tactical shifts, the Guardiola era — as it will no doubt be called in future years — in English soccer is over.
The final sendoff came Monday night when sporting and music aristocracy — basketball great Michael Jordan and Oasis mastermind Noel Gallagher among them — gathered in person and on video to pay tribute to the outgoing Manchester City manager in a parade through the city center followed by an after-party.
There were tears. There were laughs. There were so many memories.
There was, though, an elephant in the room, one that may slink away into the background for the next couple of months while the World Cup takes center stage but will emerge ahead of the start of next season: What next for City, Guardiola and, indeed, the English game as a whole?
These could be tough times for the dominant team of the last decade.
First of all, some housekeeping. The team needs a new manager and the front-runner is reportedly Enzo Maresca, the former Chelsea coach who was assistant to Guardiola at City in its treble-winning season of 2022-23.
The sooner a replacement is hired, the quicker they can start shaping a playing squad in their image. It will already be without John Stones and Bernardo Silva, stalwarts who are confirmed to be leaving.
The modern-day Man City, though, was essentially constructed to accommodate Guardiola, right from the moment Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain — two officials close to Guardiola in their Barcelona days — joined from the Catalan giants in 2012 to steer the direction of an ambitious English club that had been taken over by Abu Dhabi four years earlier.
What's the strategy now in this post-Guardiola world if the centerpiece is gone?
Much might depend on the verdict of the legal case that City has ongoing with the Premier League, after the club was charged by the league in February 2023 with more than 100 financial breaches, including providing misleading information about its sources of income.
The case was heard by an independent commission between September and December in 2024 but no verdict has been reached.
City has always denied the charges. Punishment could be as extreme as expulsion from the top flight, in which case City's world turns upside down overnight.
This is the moment rival teams have been waiting for. Finally Guardiola — a coach who is pretty much a guarantee of trophies — is gone and the playing field suddenly seems more level.
With City in flux, this might be Arsenal's time to build some sort of dynasty under Mikel Arteta, who has constructed a deep and strong squad and has removed the burden of expectation on the team by leading it to the Premier League title.
“My job, and everybody at the club, is going to be to lift those standards now and achieve much more,” Arteta said, "because I think we are capable of doing it.”
It remains to be seen how Xabi Alonso reshapes Chelsea and how the third season in Arne Slot's turbulent Liverpool career goes, after being champion one season and barely scraping into the Champions League the next.
Then, of course, there's Manchester United, historically the biggest team in England but without a Premier League title in 13 years. Under Michael Carrick, can United step out of the shadow of its neighbor?
The departure of not just Guardiola but also Mohamed Salah after nine years at Liverpool means two of the biggest names in world soccer are no longer in England.
Take away City striker Erling Haaland for a second — could the mighty Premier League be getting short of real star appeal?
Even the profile of coaches has dipped compared to 10 years ago when Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger and Antonio Conte were fighting it out.
Stylistically, where does the English game go now without Guardiola? His possession-based approach — where attacks started from the goalkeeper or defenders — was copied across the country, from kids’ teams in the parks to teams throughout the professional leagues. Will that style persist?
This recently completed season saw a shift to a more back-to-basics approach, where set pieces, long throws and long balls from goalkeepers became commonplace in an era when teams' schedules are so packed that coaches have little time to bed in their ideas on the training field.
Arsenal mastered that new style and became champion for the first time in 22 years. Maybe it becomes the norm and Guardiola-ball is faded out.
As for the man himself, Guardiola first of all plans to unwind and recharge the batteries after 13 straight years at the top of the European game — with Bayern Munich and then City — following his yearlong, post-Barcelona sabbatical.
“I need to step back,” he said, “I will not (coach) for a while.”
Guardiola said he wants to spend time with his kids and his father Valenti, who is in his 90s, meaning a return to live in Barcelona is highly likely. He is sure to travel and, in his words, “learn to live a different life.”
That won’t be the end of Guardiola in soccer, though.
For starters, he has taken up an ambassadorial role within the City Football Group, the umbrella company that owns Man City, so expect to see him sitting in the stands at some City games. He is a devoted Barcelona supporter, too, so no doubt he’ll be at matches inside the Camp Nou.
As for coaching, Guardiola has no plans at present but may well take the chance to get into international coaching.
Could that be with the England national team, Guardiola was asked last week? He gave it short shrift.
“We see what happens,” his answer finished.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
