With a few minutes left of Manchester City’s 1-0 win over Tottenham in the Carabao Cup final, the camera went to Pep Guardiola on the touchline.
It was not a beautiful sight.
His face resembled a man who had realized that he had forgotten his ID, keys and putting out the bins while standing in a nightclub queue.
Guardiola looked even more worried than usual at City touchline | Clive Rose / Getty Images
It may not be attractive but that’s what makes Guardiola so well suited to coach the best squad on the planet. His compulsive pursuit of perfection and the desire to suck up trophies as a top vacuum cleaner has turned City into an unpleasant winning machine since he arrived in England in 2016.
City’s victory over Spurs means that Guardiola has now won 14 of its 15 cup finals. Not bad, ay? In addition, their pure goal means that his team has not conceded in nine of his last ten finals.
With such statistics, a Tottenham win would have taken a minor miracle. The first half gave little indication that Ryan Mason’s accusations had any chance of delivering the said miracle either. The young manager instructed his team to prevent Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan from getting easy passes on the half-wing from the city’s defense.
To achieve this, Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min stayed extremely narrow, giving free control to defenders Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker to squeeze the lines of contact and give their teammates a light ball.
More often than not, Cancelo would eventually receive the ball deep enough in the Spurs half to provoke the opposition to engage him. With Spurs pulled out of position, the sleek combinations City would have become known for to begin with, with a free-flowing square of Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling doing business.
Guardiola’s side played great stuff, they really did, even after Spurs tweaked their pressure after the break. This level of flexibility was only possible due to their lack of an “on the shoulder of the last man” striker as well. But not for the first time this season, finishing was a big problem.
Guardiola does not seem to like Gabriel Jesus | Pool / Getty Images
Only in the first half did they fire ten shots without converting, with Mahrez and above all Foden wasting good opportunities. Their waste continued and in the end they had to be saved by an Aymeric Laporte nod in the last ten minutes.
City would end the game with an xG of about 3.5, an underperformance of 2.5. In addition, six Premier League teams have surpassed their xG by more than Guardiola’s side this season. This is a measure that City should be at the top when you consider the amount of attacking talent they have at their disposal.
So, what is the solution? Well, if they want to sharpen their grip on European football next season, Cityzens must recruit a deadly finisher who can open a big tuck shop in Manchester, while not sacrificing too much of the team’s freaking positioning flexibility in the future.
2 – Tottenham tried just two shots in today’s league cup final against Man City and accumulated an expected goal total of 0.06, while the Citizens shot in 21 shots and put up an xG of 3.63. Bombed. #CarabaoCupFinal #MCITOT pic.twitter.com/mCOP0FjLNe
– OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 25, 2021
The obvious choice in Erling Haaland. The Norwegian would really help on the goal front, but putting him in City’s system can be a challenge. This applies to most of the other options for moving to Manchester also in the summer.
Whoever they choose, it is a decision they need to get right if the trophy procession is to continue in the coming decade. Then again, when they know Guardiola – a midfielder cultist – they can choose to spit in front of conventional wisdom and keep the beatless party going.
