Arsenal midfielder predicts how Manchester City will cope with significant Pep Guardiola exit | OneFootball

Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino has claimed that Manchester City will not be worse off without their legendary manager Pep Guardiola next season. 

The 55-year-old led his players to a 2-1 defeat on the final day of the Premier League season for the last time on Sunday after a trophy-laden decade at the club.

Tributes were paid to Guardiola while his 95-year-old father Valenti stood in the stands during a special farewell, where John Stones and Bernardo Silva were also celebrated as they said their goodbyes too.

Guardiola announced his departure just three days ago and while his trophy haul includes six Premier League titles, three FA Cups, five League Cups and the UEFA Champions League among others, a seventh English top-flight title just wasn’t meant to be.

Despite crawling back from being nine points behind Arsenal at one point, narrowing the gap to only two points and threatening to take the title race into the final day, the Gunners ended a 22-year wait for Premier League glory following City’s draw to Bournemouth on the penultimate matchday. 

The impact on the Citizens remains to be seen, yet the assumption is that they will struggle to adapt to life without the greatest manager in the history of the game.

However, Merino suggested that whoever the new manager is will likely adapt and said manager could achieve even better results than Guardiola despite his stature as the best manager in Premier League history. “It’s a very complex question,” he said, as quoted by Cadena SER.

“They’re going to lose the best manager in the world, or perhaps history, but football is so unpredictable that a new manager could come in and achieve even better results. The incoming manager will adapt his approach and it will be a different team.”

The front-runner for the City job is former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, whose experience with the City Academy and as Guardiola’s assistant in the Treble season will go a long way.

The Italian coach’s style is rooted in Guardiola’s positional play, emphasising fluid and effective possession, structured build-up and tactical flexibility and adaptability. It goes without saying that emanating his success will be an almost-impossible task. 

Guardiola will have a statue built outside the Etihad Stadium and will be seen as fans approach the newly-expanded North Stand, which will be named the ‘Pep Guardiola stand’ in the near future. 

That says one thing about his impact but, for many City fans, it is hard to put into words just how much of a difference Guardiola has made to the club and the English game overall.