Man City Boss Guardiola Faces Key International Break as He Searches for Answers

Much has been made about Manchester City’s draw with Celtic and defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the space of four days last week. They had won all 10 of their matches going into those games, with some slightly hysterical observers discussing the possibility of them matching Arsenal’s Invincibles and marching to the Premier League title unbeaten.

Now, those same people feel City have been figured out, with Liverpool and Tottenham now at the heart of the conversation about who will win the title.

As is so often the case, the truth lies somewhere in between. City aren’t going to stroll to the title unchallenged just a few months after finishing their last campaign with 66 points, nor are they now an easy target for sides who think they have figured them out.

There’s work to do, and manager Pep Guardiola, so intense in his preparations, will be using this international break to prepare for the games against Everton and Barcelona, but the quality of City’s football in the opening 10 matches of this season was no flash in the pan.

Guardiola has drastically improved the team in a short period, and they will be in contention for the title come the end of the season.

The emerging blueprint of how to disrupt City’s play needs answering, though. There can be no doubt the performances of Celtic and Tottenham shared certain characteristics, and any opposing manager watching those games will feel they at least now have something to cling to tactically that may unsettle Guardiola's team.

Both started quickly, flying into challenges and denying City time and space. When they won the ball, usually high up the pitch, they were direct and attacked at speed. Basically, they did to City what City had done to the opposition in their previous 10-game winning run.

Tottenham, led by the brilliant Mauricio Pochettino, took things a stage further and man-marked City at goal kicks, meaning the build-up play Guardiola strongly advocates was almost impossible to initiate. Claudio Bravo was out of options with the ball at his feet. City looked flummoxed, out of ideas, unable to establish any rhythm and take the game to Tottenham. By the time they did find a way into the game as Tottenham tired, they were 2-0 down and the points belonged to the home side.

It saw City play more long balls than they have been and misplace more passes than in any game this season. Tottenham, as brilliant as they were with their own attacking football for much of the match, built their win on pressing City out of their stride and denying them the platform to play their usual passing game.

Not every side will be able to do that in practice, even if they understand the theory. However, Guardiola must find answers.

This week he will attend a Johan Cruyff book launch in London before travelling to see his father, he said last week.

"Then the focus will be on City’s upcoming fixtures. I go to London at midday to make a presentation for a book for Johan Cruyff, the family invite me so I go there Thursday or Friday and after that maybe I go back to Barcelona to see my father, because I haven't seen him for a long time, and after that it's Everton and Barcelona.

“When I travel, I'm going to see games, the next games, and to be with my family, that is my schedule.”

Dan Mullan/Getty Images

It is likely that one of his first decisions will be to make Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna his first-choice full-backs again. Quite why those two sat on the sidelines at White Hart Lane remains a mystery, and hindsight would suggest it was an error of judgement. They offer energy and more solidity than the often chaotic Aleksandar Kolarov and the fading Pablo Zabaleta.

And then his focus is likely to be on improving the understanding between his defenders and goalkeeper. They need to be slicker with their passing to combat sides pressing and man-marking them. They need to be more willing to ask for the ball, create better angles for one another and take more responsibility. John Stones was the only member of City’s back four to emerge from north London with his reputation enhanced—and for exactly those reasons.

"

Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen & Wanyama have started every PL game for @SpursOfficial this season while @fernandinho makes 150th City app pic.twitter.com/IQ06hlIyQN

— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) October 2, 2016"

He took responsibility, offered himself when a team-mate was in possession and in the second half was the driving force of many City attacks. That desire for possession and ability on the ball was exactly why Guardiola made him a priority signing.

Starting Fernando also proved a mistake. It added caution to a side who have looked at their best when told to attack. The Brazilian looked sloppy in possession, too slow with the ball at his feet. He, perhaps more than most, was unsettled by Tottenham’s approach. It proved a fatal weakness.

He has often proved useful in his time at City. This season it’s been from the bench with City protecting a lead and in need of some out-and-out defensive-midfield traits. Putting him in against a rampant Spurs side in the biggest game of City’s season to date was a gamble that backfired.

But the positives for City are clear, despite the knee-jerk reaction from some. In a world of rolling football analysis and 24-hour news, negative back-to-back results can feel like a crisis, but City sit top of the Premier League table and have taken four points from six in their Champions League group, having scored 32 goals in 12 games.

OLI SCARFF/Getty Images

Every player involved with the first team on a regular basis looks superior to last season, and a team spirit previously absent has already emerged. Given City were so limp as last season drew to a close, finishing fourth with a paltry points tally and surrendering meekly in a Champions League semi-final, it’s been excellent progress in a relatively short space of time.

The international break, for once, feels well timed. Guardiola’s players can go away and take stock of the season so far. The manager himself can take a well-earned break, distance himself from his work, before returning to try to make some further adjustments that may help his side combat the pressing and harrying that caused them so many problems in their last two games.

This isn’t the sign of City’s decline, more a bump in the road they need to negotiate.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and follows the club from a Manchester base. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Follow him on Twitter @RobPollard_.