There was an eclectic charge of excitement at Goodison Park as Everton trounced Manchester City 4-0 to hand Pep Guardiola the heaviest defeat of his illustrious managerial career.
The day held greater significance to teenagers Tom Davis and Ademola Lookman who both found the back of the net for the Toffees- with the latter scoring on his debut.
The defeat left City heavily exposed, further denting their Premier League ambitions in a season that has seen Chelsea emerge as foreseeable runaway leaders.
Antonio Conte’s side still leads the log on 52 points, 10 points ahead of the Manchester side.
Guardiola’s rigidity
Pep Guardiola had a trophy laden career as a player, most notably winning the European Cup and four La Liga titles, but it’s his exploits as a manager that the Spaniard is best remembered for.
On his retirement from active football, the former Barcelona captain took up a coaching role at La Masia, working his way up the ranks to become manager of the senior team in 2008.
Guardiola won the treble in 2009 and 2011, guiding the Catalan club to one of its most successful period in the modern game.
Although he never won the Champions League with Bayern, he still won back-to-back Bundesliga titles during his three year stay in Munich.
The English game has however posed a poignant challenge to the 45-year old, one that the Manchester City manager has found hard to maneuver.
His rigidity to change the style of play- which is possessive and often predictable- has cost the team dearly.
Furthermore, Guardiola just doesn’t have the technical quality to stick to his philosophy.
He might as well change his style of play or risk failing to qualify for the Champions League, the same tournament he was hired to win.
Porous backline
Vincent Kompany’s imposing presence has been thoroughly missed, but that still doesn’t explain the poor defensive positioning by the Manchester City’s backline.
Against Everton Gael Clichy and Nicolas Otamendi were heavily culpable with costly individual errors, Bacary Sagna was out of pace and yet John Stones, the youngest of them all had a decent game.
But none of those can be compared to the defensive wreck that is Claudio Bravo. Guardiola would do best to recall Joe Hart.
Rival teams are stronger
Despite a solid start to their Premier League campaign, Manchester City have fallen way off pace and are currently staring at the possibility of missing out on top four.
Chelsea and Tottenham are seemingly the teams to beat, either of which will eventually win the title.
Written by Brian Humphrey
Follow Brian on Twitter @brihum
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