Very few football managers have achieved half the feat or enjoyed half the success of Manchester City's Pep Guardiola (six league titles and two Champions League titles) yet one constant criticism that has trailed the Catalan is his inability to achieve success in a more competitive league with Bayern and Barcelona at the time having little or no competition in their leagues . Yes Manchester City have spent billions since the Qataris took over in 2008 winning the Premiership twice and reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League yet there is no denying the fact that Guardiola has taken them further up than most expected.
Despite spending an excess of £160m last season, City under performed exiting the Champions League to a young Monaco side in the second round as well as finishing 3rd in the league last season. So what has changed this season?
While many of his colleagues favour a less expansive attacking style of playing trying to find a balance between defence and attack , Guardiola sets up his side with the mindset that attack is the best form of defence with City playing an all out attacking style as well as more than five attacking players starting most of his games this season (Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling/Gabriel Jesus, Kelvin De Bruyne and David Silva). In total City have 31 points already this season (Premier League's best ever start much more than the sides managed by Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsenal's Invincibles and Jose Mourinho's Chelsea) winning nine out of 10 games this season with the 1-1 draw against Everton the only exception.
Unlike last season where City won only two league games out of 10 against the league's top six (Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool), Guardiola's charges have already beaten Chelsea (at Stamford Bridge) , Arsenal and Liverpool this season as well as a 9 straight league games win which is a club record. So what has changed this season? The difference between both seasons is the inability of Guardiola's side to finish off chances last season , struggling to score goals despite controlling the game and creating loads of chances . Already City have scored an English record 52 goals across all competitions (17 games) , 38 goals in the league (10 games) as well as boasting a 23 games unbeaten record across all competitions (19 games league unbeaten run winning 16) all since last season. Since losing 4-0 away at Everton in January , City have lost just one game up until now and that was a 2-1 loss to Antonio Conte's Chelsea who won the League last season.
That is not all as City have averaged 3 1/2 goals per game this season with a goal difference of +31 in thier 10 league games with United (second) eight points and 13 goals behind them. With such points and goals this is Guardiola's best ever start which is remarkable considering he had earlier managed such sides like Barcelona and Bayern Munich which had such stars like Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, David Villa, Arjen Robben, Robert Lewandowski and Frank Ribery.
If there was any doubt concerning Guardiola's ability, the Catalan has clearly silenced his critics although it must be acknowledged that the season still has a long way to go, yet what must be noted is the likelihood of City becoming the most attacking Premier League side if they continue with their early season form.
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