Nicolas Otamendi Has Risen to the Pep Guardiola Challenge at Manchester City

It was Manchester City’s best performance of the season, and for 40 minutes, it was perhaps the best they’ve ever played. Pep Guardiola is encouraging a brand of football seldom seen on these shores. Possession-based, risky, high-tempo. Total football.

Manchester United couldn’t live with them for long periods of the game. The damage was done after 36 minutes, with City 2-0 up and in complete control.

The second half saw a United resurgence, but City stood firm, repelling everything thrown at them—the artistry that had ripped United apart in the first half was replaced by a resilience in the second period. Every facet of City’s game is improving under Guardiola.

There’s now a collective organisation previously absent. City have direction again. A team spirit is developing. In the space of 10 weeks, Guardiola has made significant improvements.

Much of that is down to the upgraded form of players who were already at the club.

Pretty much everyone in the City squad underperformed last season. Raheem Sterling, the Premier League Player of the Month for August, is perhaps the most obvious beneficiary of Guardiola’s approach, but Nicolas Otamendi is now also showing real signs of improvement.

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Man utd 1 - 2 Man City 👊🏻👍🏻⚽️ good match #cmoncity pic.twitter.com/9skVVqctDQ

— Nicolas Otamendi (@Notamendi30) 11 September 2016"

His debut season in English football was largely hit-or-miss.

At his best, he looked outstanding, a proactive defender, playing on the front foot, not allowing forwards time to settle on the ball.

However, the days when it all clicked for the Argentine were few and far between—they were too often punctuated by performances in which his reckless streak undermined City’s chances.

Going to ground easily was his major flaw, but so far this season, he’s curbed his excesses. “I don’t like it when central defenders go down on the pitch,” Guardiola said after City’s 5-0 win over Steaua Bucharest that saw Otamendi slide in and almost give away a penalty. “I don’t know about last season because I wasn’t here, but we are here to get him better.

“After the two penalties for us, a little situation is going to give away a penalty against us and we have to avoid that.”

It was a clear warning to Otamendi that his style needed altering. Guardiola is a serial winner, and his exacting standards will not be compromised by anyone.

Otamendi, to his credit, has heeded the warning. The games he’s played since have seen him show a more controlled style. Being aggressive, which he often is, is fine. It’s the carelessness that needed removing, and he looks to be in the process of doing so.

OLI SCARFF/Getty Images

Against United on Saturday, he was a key figure in the win. City, with a slender 2-1 lead, swapped resplendence with resolve, and Otamendi was at the heart of their backs-to-the-wall second-half showing.

Drenched in blood by the end, his desire to stop United penetrating the City defence stopped at nothing. Blocks, tackles, interceptions, headers—he threw himself in the way of everything, and City left Old Trafford with a crucial three points and an early-season psychological boost over their rivals.

His passing between the lines, too, was exceptional. That's something Guardiola was keen to point out after the game. “He was amazing, amazing," he said. "I knew Otamendi has a lot of character, he deals with long balls, and fights.

“But with the ball, he showed his quality as well.”

“We cannot win with just two centre defenders, we have to win with a lot of central defenders,” Guardiola said after the 4-1 win at Stoke City. “If one of them is sleeping, I’m sorry next time you’re going to sleep at home, another one is going to play in your position.

“That is the only way to compete in all the competitions, every three games.”

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Nicolas Otamendi's game by numbers vs. Man Utd:

100% tackles won
8 clearances
6 interceptions
4 aerial duels won pic.twitter.com/er6pHAaxfV

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) 10 September 2016"

City’s defenders have been warned.

The arrival of John Stones may also have contributed to Otamendi’s improvement. Last season, he didn’t have a settled partner, with Eliaquim Mangala often erratic and subjected to periods on the bench and Vincent Kompany spending long stretches on the sidelines nursing muscle injuries.

Stones, 22, is Guardiola’s main man at the back. Signed for £47.5 million from Everton, he is the future of the club, a man Guardiola sees as capable of becoming the best ball-playing centre-back in world football. He has been a regular in the side, adapted seamlessly and had a stabilising effect—Otamendi being one of the chief beneficiaries.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Having an in-form, settled partner makes a big difference, and with a team that looks stronger as a collective, Otamendi isn’t being put under the same amount of pressure as in Manuel Pellegrini’s setup, which was porous.

What now happens to Kompany? His recovery is taking time after toxicity levels in his blood were deemed to be too high, but he is back in training and gradually nearing a first-team return. At his best, he’s difficult to keep out of the side—but Otamendi is finally looking at home in English football and growing in confidence.

“It's a doctor issue. He has something in his muscle and we believe that was a problem for the many injuries last season,” Guardiola said. “He's getting better. You have to be a little careful. I think it's the last part of that because he's training with the group.

“When I see him, I say, 'This guy can play,' because he's training like Vincent is. But the doctor said with what happened in the past, we have to be careful.”

When he does return, and if he can remain fit, Otamendi will have a battle on his hands to keep his place alongside Stones. On the evidence of what we’ve seen so far this term, he may now be in position to do so.

Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images

If City are to achieve their ambition of becoming England’s established superpower and an elite European side, they need a settled centre-back pairing—something they haven’t had since Kompany and Joleon Lescott helped the club win its first silverware since the 1970s.

Now, with Stones looking every bit the talented star in the making people suggested he could be and Otamendi making strides under the guidance of a new manager, they may just have it.

It’s early days, and the memory of his shaky displays last season remain fresh—but Otamendi’s improvement is clear. Calmer, more assured and more intelligent, he looks capable of justifying the £28 million price tag he came with when he signed from Valencia last summer.

City will be hoping Otamendi's outstanding display against United represents a new start for him.

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_.