How Premier League sides must learn to adapt if they wish to emulate Pep Guardiola’s style of play.

Author: Liam Lacey, Last Updated: 25.11.2024

Few managers can claim to have had the influence on football tactics and philosophies like Pep Guardiola has had on football in England in recent years. Not even great managers that have graced the English game like Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho or Jurgen Klopp have significantly affected how football is played like Guardiola has during his time in the English Premier League with Manchester City.

All those other managers may have won plenty over the course of their managerial careers in the Premier League or beyond, but Guardiola has surpassed what almost all of them have done in terms of trophies, but he has also done it while implementing a style of football that is the envy of almost every other club in world football. This has led to several copycat versions of the style of football Guardiola has developed in La Liga, the Bundesliga and the Premier League in many English sides. These teams managed by so called progressive and forward-thinking coaches have become almost obsessed with trying to play like a Guardiola team, regardless of whether it is to their team’s benefit.

Guardiola’s Influence on English Sides

In the Premier League, newly promoted sides over recent seasons have for the most part tried to play in a possession-based style, in the mould of Guardiola and his City side.

Burnley under then boss Vincent Kompany, a Guardiola disciple, who played under the legendary coach at City, tried to maintain the passing style that they had adopted in the Championship in the Premier League, but failed, because of the lack of quality in their squad, and their manager’s refusal to adapt to the better standard that they faced in the Premier League.

Russell Martin at Southampton this season has taken his side into the Premier League off the back of playing a possession game with lots of playing out from the back in last season’s Championship. They find themselves bottom of the Premier League after 11 matches, with just one win to their name, but Martin looks like he will not move away from the tactics that he has employed since becoming a Head Coach. The question for the Southampton boss is whether his approach is brave and progressive, or madness at the top level. Only City have played more passes than Southampton this season, admirable bravery from Martin and his players, but no team in the League has lost the ball in their own final third more than Southampton, and none have made more errors resulting in goals than Russell Martin’s team.

Before Guardiola’s arrival in the English game, the majority of goalkeeper’s goal kicks ended up in the opposition’s half, but this season, almost two thirds of the League’s kick-outs end in the defensive third of the pitch with the majority of those not even leaving the 18-yard box. Tottenham and Southampton take the shortest goal kicks in the League followed by Chelsea, now coached by another Guardiola pupil in Enzo Maresca.

The problem for those coaches that have tried to catch up with how Guardiola has set his team’s up for many years is that they have become so entrenched in trying to emulate what Guardiola has done, that they have forgotten to adapt with new innovations and tactics that even Guardiola himself has brought to the game or taken on board with his Manchester City team.

The need to be Adaptable.

Arsenal under Mikel Arteta who won two Premier League as an assistant to Guardiola at City have become a much more pragmatic and direct team this season. Many would have expected Arsenal to try and play like City and for much of Arteta’s time in charge they have played exciting football that was easy on the eye, but this season they have adapted. Arsenal now go long with two thirds of their goal kicks, avoiding the threat of good pressing sides in the League nicking the ball from them in their own defensive third. Even City themselves go direct at times now under Guardiola to avoid any unnecessary risks at the back. In their keeper Ederson, they have arguably one of the best long passers of a football in the League, so at times City will look to break the opposition’s press by going long towards Erling Haaland up front.

This shows that for all the principles of even the most idealistic coaches like Guardiola, the need to win is even greater now. This means they must adapt to survive, something his imitators may need to learn if they want to have any kind of success at the top table of English football.

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✒️ Liam Lacey – Football and GAA Sports Expert

Liam Lacey is a sportswriter from County Laois in Ireland who specializes in delivering content on GAA, horse races, and football matters (though he does see himself as somewhat of a tennis aficionado also).

Liam has written about All Ireland Gaelic Football and Hurling Championships, Premier League, Champions League and international football, offering expert opinions and match previews and predictions. Occasionally, even getting some right!

Last Updated on 25/11/2024