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Pep Guardiola: Premier League's newfound Box Of Surprises.

It was almost certain that Pep Guardiola who had earlier stamped his philosophy in Spain and Germany would do the same in England. It's hard to believe that the success of the respective national teams of the countries he's coached in at international tournaments is a coincidence. It was his Barcelona that defined Spain during the 2010 World Cup and tasked with an almost impossible job of bettering a treble winning side his Bayern 2.0 was at the very heart of the current World Champions in 2014.

Pep's foray into English football started off with a home fixture against last season's survivors Sunderland. Although many people expected this to be a cakewalk given that Moyes had just taken charge of the Sunderland outfit a couple of weeks back; it was anything but that. Sunderland almost hung on if not for a very late Own Goal from Paddy Mcnair. There was still plenty to talk about in regards to how City played the game. The Catalan reinvigorated the inverted Full Backs and instructed Clichy and Sagna to drift in and be part of the midfield while Fernandinho frequently did the Salido Lavolpiana.
The man with the Ideas.
At the outset this might seem like just another one of Guardiola's tricks to make up the numbers and achieve superiority in midfield. But this maneuver does far more than just that. The fact that the full backs occupy this half-space enables the attacking trio of Nolito, Silva and De Bruyne to operate freely up front. City's wingers on the day, Sterling and Nolito occupied extremely wide positions on the wings with the aim of stretching Sunderland's defense by taking their fullbacks wide. This left Silva and De Bruyne with two options, one to join Aguero in the middle and making it a 3v2 in the box; and the other option was to overload either of the wings. This forces the opposition players to make impossible decisions. The center-backs are in a constant dilemma as whether to press Silva, De Bruyne while letting Aguero free or should they stay back to let Silva dictate play. With the inverted fullbacks advancing the opposition wingers are left with the question of whether to support their full backs who are already in 1v1(2v1 when Silva/De Bruyne choose to overload) situations or cut in to make up numbers in midfield.
Sagna occupying the half space with Clichy out wide. Variation.

Contradicting the misconception that Guardiola is negligent about his defense, this framework also enables City to defend safely, should they lose possession. The full backs are in a position to track back from their half spaces and be part of a 5 man defense and midfield. This system needs more time to reach the level Guardiola demands but it appears to put the opposition in very uncomfortable situations. And with all this on the opening day of the Premier League, who knows what else he's gotten up his sleeve.

There have been many cases where managers and players have had to adapt to the fast paced physical nature of the Premier League, but this may be the first occurrence in a very long time that the entire league would have to adapt to one man. And that is saying something!

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