Pep Guardiola did what was necessary to turn Manchester City’s season around | OneFootball

Manchester City picked up a vital 2-1 win over Aston Villa at the Etihad last night. The result is crucial in City’s chase to secure Champions League football for next season. Last night’s win extended City’s unbeaten run to seven matches in all competitions. Along the way, Pep Guardiola has tweaked his tactics to get the best out of his squad. The results have been clear to see over the past seven games.

The first glimpse of the shift in approach from Pep Guardiola came during City’s 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final win over Bournemouth. In that game, we saw Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne all start. The challenge was put to City’s senior midfielders to rise to the occasion and show that they still can perform at the level required. All four did on that day. Since then, we have seen a variation of those four all start every game for Pep Guardiola’s side.

Manchester City have begun controlling games again.

What we have also seen is Manchester City get back to controlling games with their possession play. Effectively, Pep Guardiola has his team taking the sting out of matches. During City’s 2-nil win over Everton, the world champions controlled the tempo of that match. They didn’t want to allow Everton any way of getting the crowd into the match and they contained the threat on the counter David Moyes’ side poses. We saw similar last night at the Etihad. Manchester City were the dominant team in terms of possession last night. They also didn’t allow Aston Villa to get at them on the break as often as Unai Emery’s side would’ve liked. Another factor in that was how Aston Villa set up as Unai Emery had his side sit deep and look to hit City on the counter. They had a couple of moments, but for the majority of last night’s match, Manchester City were in control of proceedings.

Speaking after his team’s vital win over Aston Villa Pep Guardiola admitted that his team didn’t create many chances, but they had to remain patient against Aston Villa’s low defensive. Block. Speaking after the game he said: “We didn’t create much, but it’s not easy against Aston Villa. They have low block five or six at the back. It’s not easy. It’s a question of being patient.”

That particular quote is telling. Manchester City have been patient in recent games, and it has been a key factor in their seven-game unbeaten run. It may not be the most enthralling football but it has helped turn Manchester City’s season around. Now they hold the initiative in the race for Champions League qualification and the way they’re currently playing should also be effective against Nottingham Forest at Wembley in their FA Cup semi-final tie. Pep Guardiola’s side is stable and in control, and that suits them best right now.