The 2022/23 Manchester City team just may go down in history as one of the best ones ever. The Citizens have been dominating English football for the past six years, having won five titles in the given time span.
They started off the season slowly, but by mid-season, Pep Guardiola knew exactly what he was doing as he made the necessary adjustments to tweak his team just enough and drive them to success.
The Incredible Comeback
Manchester City found themselves looking in the back of Arsenal for the majority of the 2022/2023 Premier League season. Hats off to Arsenal for competing as they did. They were the best versions of themselves after a long time. But it simply wasn’t enough for the rampaging Man City side.
After losing to the Spurs (1:0), which was their fourth loss of the season, the Citizens went on a 16-game win streak. Their form started putting fear in their opponents as City started racking up wins.
The game at Etihad versus the Gunners was the win they needed. they didn’t only get three points. They destroyed Arsenal by 4:1, winning and demoralising them with a single swoop.
The Tactical Changes
Pep Guardiola is a genius in his own right. Experts criticised him in the past for making tactical decisions that caused him to lose out in crucial Champions League matchups. No one is criticizing him now after making all the right moves during the entirety of the season.
Pep decided to bench Phil Foden early on in the season when he was in his best form. He then realized that Joao Cancelo wasn’t the best fit for his tactics and shipped him out on loan at the midpoint of the season.
Guardiola then started using Nathan Ake as a left-back or paired the Dutch defender in a back three that featured Manuel Akanji and Kyle Walker.
More so, he decided to push John Stones from his natural position of centre back and into a defensive mid role. Finally, he transformed the game of Jack Grealish, who matured in his role and started producing as expected of him.
One Man Team
I simply can’t go on without mentioning all the records that Erling Braut Haaland broke this season. He became the most prolific single-season goalscorer in the Premier League by bagging 36. To make things even more impressive, he has done it in his debut season. Haaland put all the doubters to rest after coming from the Bundesliga and then ragdolling defensive players across England.
However, he couldn’t have done it without the program that Pep created. Haaland is exceptional, but he couldn’t have managed all that he has done on his own. He is still a product of a system that the Citizens have instigated.
After the departure of Sergio Aguero, Pep needed a true striker, something that the team desperately lacked. Gabriel Jesus is a talented player, but he simply couldn’t do what Pep required of him. In steps Haaland, who was exactly what the City boss needed. Haaland flourished in Man City’s offence, with more to come in the years in front of him.
