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- [00:02]
Matt
Race the rudders. Race the sails.
- [00:04]
Adam
Race the sails.
- [00:05]
Jordan
Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching.
- [00:07]
Tom
Over.
- [00:08]
Matt
Roger. Wait.
- [00:10]
Adam
Is that an enterprise sales solution?
- [00:13]
Jordan
Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title and more. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started today at LinkedIn.com results, terms and conditions apply. When you're a forward thinker, the only thing you're afraid of is business as usual. Workday is the AI platform that transforms the way you manage your people and money today so you can transform tomorrow. Workday, moving business forever forward.
- [00:45]
Narrator
BetterHelp Online Therapy bought this 30 second ad to remind you right now, wherever you are, to unclench your jaw, relax your shoulders, take a deep breath in and out. Feels better, right? That's 15 seconds of self care. Imagine what you could do with more visit betterhelp.com randompodcast for 10% off your first month of therapy. No pressure, just help. But for now, just relax.
- [01:31]
Host
The Athletic FC Podcast Network.
- [01:38]
Guest
Manchester City are back on the big stage this week, specifically the Club World cup in the usa. And with the revamped squad and no trophies to show from last season, can Pep Guardiola's side make a statement in the state? Later, we'll be joined by Tom Harris. For now, I've got Jordan Campbell and Adam Crafton, both of whom are stateside with me. Hello, chaps.
- [01:59]
Host
Morning.
- [02:00]
Matt
Hi, Matt.
- [02:01]
Guest
I appreciate you both getting up so early to talk to us, but you both got Club World cup fever. It is already underway. Manchester City play their first match on Wednesday. Adam, you're in New York, where much of the wider tournament hype is building. How's it been received in the US So far? And is hype an appropriate word to use?
- [02:21]
Host
Well, I suppose before I answer that, I guess you should look at kind of the context of how things are generally received in the States, which is, it's really, really hard to tell, I think a national story across the whole of the United States about a sports event, unless you are the NFL or the NBA Finals or the Stanley Cup. So, you know, is the country pausing to turn its attention to every Club World cup game in this, in the group stages, for sure, no. But at the same time, I think there are pockets in certain markets which so far are really enjoying it. You know, I was at the game between Palmeiras from Brazil and FC Porto last night in New York City, which had 46,000 people there, which is, I think on the one hand it's 40,000 empty seats at MetLife Stadium because it's such a big stadium. On, on the other hand, 46,000 for a game that between two teams, that's very unfamiliar. I would say to kind of the average American is pretty impressive. But what you are seeing is this real passion from South American fans and Middle Eastern fans for this tournament. You've got people who are traveling. I spoke to couples yesterday who had spent thousands and thousands of dollars to come to this tournament. Basically treat it as a bit of a trip of a lifetime. Although they did say they're going to come back next year for the World Cup. So I guess it's two trips of a lifetime or a trip of two lifetimes. And they seem really, really into it. You know, they took over Times Square on Saturday night. So there are pockets where this is getting, you know, what FIFA wanted to get. I think what you are going to see, though, is also pockets during the group stages. I think. For example, I was looking at Chelsea's game against LAFC today in Atlanta, which is in the middle of the afternoon. You know, Americans don't get that much annual leave, you know, and you're asking people to take time off in the middle of an afternoon on a really hot day for games that, you know, people are still working out what the tournament means. And I think you are going to see some of these afternoon games in particular, really, really struggle ticket wise, attendance wise. So. So it's a mixed bag so far. In conclusion.
- [04:33]
Guest
All right, interesting. Jordan, you're on the, the Manchester City beat on the streets of Philadelphia. How many cheesesteaks have you had and what, what have you made of City's approach to this tournament more pertinently?
- [04:44]
Matt
Yeah, a few too many cheese sticks. I think I need to get up the, the rocky stairs pretty soon. But yeah, I think like Adam said, the, the fever is yet to hit Philadelphia. I suppose that's natural because the games haven't started here. Man City play on Wednesday. But even being in the bars around here, you know, it's, it's not on the TV unless you ask for it to be on the tv. So I think that's an indicator that it's not really something that is in the national psyche just yet. And I guess that's the, that is the issue with the, the group stage format. When you watch a game like Bayern Munich, Auckland, it feels very much like a lot of these groups also already figured out before we started, which I guess comes back to the sort of financial discrepancy, financial gulf between Europe and the rest of the continents. But you know, with that are in Man City's group. The Moroccan fans have been voted the best ultras, the best fan base in the world several times. And I was speaking to some of their people this week and you know, a lot of them have traveled and a lot of them are seeing this like the World Cup. So I think there is that sort of philosophical tension between Europeans who are looking at this as it's not really a big deal for us yet until the knockouts, the players probably aren't overly excited to be here. They probably want a holiday. But for the, for the, the club and the guys behind the scenes, if you win, this is potentially worth close to 100 billion. So you know, that is what legitimizes it, that's what validates it for the big clubs. I guess there's that tension between the smaller clubs from the less popular successful continents compared to Europe this is a big deal for them. And I think Man City playing with Ad playing Alain, the scoreline should be pretty comfortable. I don't think it'll be 10 now like it was with Auckland because you know they're the only part time team here. But it is difficult to, to, to go into that game with much jeopardy. So I guess that's the thing that the, the tournament is battling with as.
- [06:40]
Guest
You say then it's without the Moroccan champions. First up for City on Wednesday, then Alain later in the week before Juventus, the more familiar name to most certainly from a European perspective, I mean I guess Jordan that that's probably the only serious test for City in the group stage. But, but even then both teams might already have qualified by then or is that being disrespectful to Widow and Alain?
- [07:04]
Matt
Well, I mean we don't know yet so we've got to be fair and say that we need to see what the level of these teams are. I guess we are basing it on probably the national team level and you know that's obviously a huge goal for Man City. But yeah, I think it's fair to say that it will come down in that last game to decide who's first or second and even then does it really matter because you're both getting through. So I guess that's the one thing that you know, if they did on a league phase like the Champions League potentially it could have been different that way. But then it's a slippery slope towards a European super league or a global super league. So I guess, you know, you need to be careful what you wish for. But yeah, I think that Man City should, should take care of it. And it will probably be good for. For Rodri, you know, especially as he's a comeback, such an important player to say. You seen how much they missed them last season for, for City to be able to ease them back and maybe bring them on for half an hour, 45 minutes. And these games will be big. And they've made four, four new signings, so they're treating this very seriously. They want to win it and they wanted to get their players in very early. And Hugo Viana, the new director of football, has obviously made an impressive start bringing in Cherokee 8 Nouri riders better as a backup goalkeeper. So you've seen Man City almost transform the squad within a matter of a few weeks. You know, you've got the average age back down, and all of a sudden it feels like the Kevin de Bruyne hole that they've left is not quite as big a hole now. So I think there's a lot of positivity at Man City and it's. It's sort of flipped. Obviously, you've got 115 charges waiting in the background for, for a long time now. But, you know, if you look at the squad plan in isolation, I think you can see there's a real gear shift to Man City this summer in.
- [08:43]
Guest
Terms of actually winning the tournament. Adam, is that as that increased in importance for, for City, given that they're not the champions of England anymore, you know, they want to raise their global profile or keep it as high as it. And winning this tournament will go some way to doing that, I guess.
- [08:58]
Host
Yeah, I think there's a few reasons why some of the big, big teams involved, particularly kind of the PSGs, Man City, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, at boardroom level at least, really do like this competition. And look, I mean, to be clear, a few of them were talking about walking away from the competition in November, and then all of a sudden they found out there was a billion dollars prize money on the table and they became suddenly very excited about it. So that explains a lot of the excitement and the disparity between the participation money is really big, between kind of the big European clubs and the clubs from the other continent. So I think if you're, for example, if you're an MLS team, you're probably going to get around nine and a half million dollars, whereas European teams are getting several multiples of that. FIFA would probably say that, well, if we start giving the same money we'd give to European teams to, I don't know, mls, South America, to a certain number of teams that would really distort those leagues back home because all of a sudden they've got an amount of money that the rest of the leagues can't compete with. They don't seem to have the same problem when they're giving sort of PSG, probably $100 million this summer, which will have a distorting effect on the French league, for example. So there's all sorts of challenges and contradictions to that, I think. With City, I think it's become more important almost because it's a pre season for them as well as a post season, just because they're probably not going to do the usual summer tour after this. So I guess it's a chance for Pep Guardiola to reset. We've seen he's almost completely cleared out his coaching staff and brought in a raft of new backroom assistants. Pep Blinders, who was at Liverpool previously. There's other ones that I'm sure Jordan will talk about as well. But, but City do, do seem into this. They've always, they have been trying really hard over the last few years to push their brand in the United States. We know they have this multi club model. They've got a team in New York, New York City, they often go on tour here. A bit like PSG Cities kind of their merch is quite lifestyle as a, as a brand and you do see a lot of it, you know, walking around the States, I see a lot of. I've been living here over a year now. I do see more Man City merch and more City, more City kind of apparel than I see from quite a few other Premier League teams. I'd probably include Man United in that in terms of who I see more of. So City are growing here. They are keen on it. Even at FIFA's meetings with clubs from the European Clubs Association. The other day in Miami, I think both Chiki Baguriste and the outgoing Man City sporting director and also Hugo Vallana, the incoming one, they were both present in Miami. So it shows City are very invested in what, you know, I suppose what you'd call these meetings about the future of football and where the game, where FIFA and the ECA want to take the game next. So yeah, clearly this is interesting for them. And you know, Guardiola, I think he's had mixed messaging probably it's fair to say on this tournament, on the one hand probably want to rest after a really difficult season. On the other hand, it's a chance to kind of get back on top and get Some good vibes ahead of the new season.
- [12:17]
Guest
Yeah, that's what I was going to ask you, Jordan. It's obviously good for the brand, maybe not great for the players, but as far as Pep Guardiola is concerned, it might actually be quite a nice pallet cleanser from the end of last season and losing the FA cup final. Yes, they qualified for the Champions League, but we're used to them winning the Premier League title. So maybe this will be a nice little bridge between the disappointment of the end of the domestic season last term and the start of the new season.
- [12:42]
Matt
Yeah, I think it's a way to put a full stop on last season and sort of make a clear divide and say this is we're back to the man city that, you know, have conquered England and been the dominant team. But, you know, you can see it's a pre season on one hand, but then, you know, I did a piece a few months ago on, you know, just how much the calendar affects Premier League clubs and how it affects their training. And the guys I was speaking to, who are the performance coaches, the sports science guys, they're saying to the teams involved in this, it's an absolute nightmare logistically to plan for a Premier League season because you had what, three weeks in between the end of the season and this tournament starting. Not long enough to really let the players off for any time and recuperate, but, you know, not short enough either that you can let them not train. So you've in that sort of middle ground where you've had to do a lot of light training, a lot of, you know, sort of keeping them fresh but having to keep them taken over to get them prepared for this. And then at the other side, you've got a month between the final and the league starting. So how do you give the players proper rest? You can't. So you've got a preseason, but you also don't have an offseason. So I think that is the difficulty for the teams is that. Yeah, or gel the group together and it might give them the. The sort of sugar rush if they're able to. To win this and get them back on track. But then you're looking at thinking what is the long term effect on the players who have played 50 games this season, who are then playing another seven at this tournament and then straight back into it again. You know, Ruben Diaz played the Nations League Final. He's literally no brick. So, you know, he put his calendar up, I think it was a couple of years ago, showing just what it's like to be at Man City in Portugal and obviously he did the FIFA rounds and was, and was giving it the whole oh, we're happy to be here. But yeah, I read like an AI statement. I'm not overly sure how honest that was, but that's the difficult is how do you find a way to recuperate after this tournament? I don't think you can. So I think teams like Arsenal and Liverpool, well, they probably wish they could get the finance, the finances for this tournament. We'll be looking at thinking we've got an advantage over City and Chelsea.
- [14:45]
Host
It's one of the things that's been quite interesting when, when the other teams in the Premier League found out this money was actually going to come because for a long time it was very unclear whether the prize money would come through from FIFA for, for this tournament. When they then found out, you know, that their rivals, Chelsea, Man City, you know, in a, in a PSR world that the money that they are getting this summer is really, really significant. Now the way that kind of FIFA and the clubs involved try and balance that out is they say, okay, well if you're going to get $100 million, that's the kind of the top line figure or 60 to 80 if you're, if you're not winning the thing, then you have to balance that against the fact that Chelsea and City probably won't do a preseason tour. So that's maybe 15 million that they would have got otherwise. There's quite big tax implications actually of playing these games in the United States depending which state you play in. They all have different tax implications. So there's a significant tax bill for these teams. The other thing they say is, you know, it's once every four years for now at least. So if you spread it over four years and okay, it's more like 15 million a year over four years, even though they're probably going to get it all in one go. And then the other argument they basically make is we're going to be knackered, which means you are rivals are going to have an advantage at the start of next season because we're probably, you know, teams competing in this will probably drop five or six points as a result of the tiredness and trying to balance the minutes for their squads over the course of next season. So I suppose that's some of the counter to that. But it's clearly this, this prize money aspect I think has started to rattle quite a few of those other big six clubs who are looking at this and just thinking well, Chelsea and Man City all of a sudden have this extra money to spend this summer through a kind of questionable qualification process. You know, Chelsea are here on the back of winning a competition when Roman Abramovich was still the owner, you know, what, four years ago now, was it 20, 21. So the squad is pretty much unrecognizable from that time. And it does constitute a little bit of a bailout, you know, considering some of the steps that Chelsea have had to take to rebalance themselves from a PSR perspective, whether it's, you know, selling the hotel or selling the women's team. And I think what you're going to see as a result is a big push to expand this tournament. Shock. People want to expand a football tournament which probably takes it, you know, beyond 32 up towards 48, so that you can not have a situation again where you don't have the champions of England, Spain, Italy and Portugal in this competition. You know, we don't have Napoli without Sporting Lisbon, Liverpool, Barcelona and other teams like Milan and Arsenal that probably FIFA would like to be here as well. The problem with expanding it from that perspective is it means you then have to expand it in other parts of the world as well. And as we saw with Auckland, for example, this weekend, that has the risk of creating mismatches. So these are some of the challenges that I think the tournament probably has going forward in future editions.
- [18:02]
Guest
Yeah, lots to sort out for the future. Well, look, unlike Manchester City, we are allowed to take a break. So we'll do that now. And when we come back, we'll be joined by data and tactics writer Tom Harris.
- [18:17]
Adam
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- [18:47]
Jordan
When you're a forward thinker, the only thing you're afraid of is business as usual. Workday is the AI platform that transforms the way you manage your people and money today so you can transform tomorrow. Workday moving business forever forward.
- [19:03]
Narrator
BetterHelp Online Therapy bought this 30 second ad to remind you right now, wherever you are, to unclench your jaw, relax your shoulders, take a deep breath in and out. Feels better, right? That's 15 seconds of self care. Imagine what you could do with more. Visit betterhelp.com randompodcast for 10% off your first month of therapy. No pressure, just help. But for now, just relax.
- [19:51]
Guest
If we move on to what might be the real long term storyline here, the required rebuild at Manchester City. Jordan, you're fairly new to the City beat. What have you made of their summer signings so far? We've got Tiani Reinders, Ryan Ake Nouri and Ryan Cherk.
- [20:06]
Matt
Key.
- [20:07]
Guest
We're expecting them all to feature in this tournament, right? Yeah.
- [20:10]
Matt
And I think that's why it was, you know, a really pressing matter to get them all in early, which they've done successfully. And I think you look at the, the price point a lot of the players, you know, set here. You look at Jack Grealish, he was a real sort of outlier in terms of the, the fee that City pay. Obviously they pay big wages and that balances it out. But, you know, reindeers at 50 odd million eight, Neuri at 30 odd, Cherokee at 30 odd 40. You know, they're all quite healthy price points. And I think the biggest thing to me is the, is the age profile of them. You know, I did a piece last week looking at the sort of parallels with 2017, the summer where after Pep Guardiola's first season, he cleared out all of the free agents basically, and really redesigned the squad. And at that time they were using, you know, a squad planning method where they wanted no two players to be at the same age curve, basically, and the same position. And I think there's a point in two or three years of that process, they got to a real perfect position. Optimal squad planning, as you would call it internally. But after a few years, I think that sort of drifted and I caught up with him last year, I think. So this summer has been a move back towards what we recognize as a City squad and a balanced squad. So that, to me is the biggest thing. I'm sure Tom will talk about his opinions on the tactical side of things, but the one thing I've noticed is just how many dribblers and 1v1 players he's brought in. And that to me is the biggest, the biggest sign of where the next evolution is.
- [21:37]
Guest
Yeah, let's bring Tom in then. You've been analyzing how these new pieces of the puzzle might fit on the pitch. Is there a clear tactical direction Emerging already, do you think?
- [21:47]
Tom
Yeah, I think the second season in a row only now let's City of Axeloup route is good ball carriers. Obviously there was last season out in the wings but Nunes originally the idea was for him to be that kind of ball carrying midfielder as well. So yeah, the intention now I think is twofold. It's also, you know, is to help escape these Manaland pressing systems that we see so often now in the Premier League a little bit earlier in buildup. I think Rangers is going to be a player to do that. Receipt of ball under pressure, thrive for a center of pitch, help to destabilize the opposition a little bit. And then the wider tapping players in the final third, just having a man who can take on their man find us, pass it into the box, kind of weaken the deeper defensive structure from there. So yes, Savino Dot, you are lacking a little bit. I think with the final ball last season shaky, I think is going to be a bit more decisive with his final actions. I think he's one of the more most promising players in Europe really at Sardon in those spaces in and around the penalty area. And A Nori also fits that category. I think he brings versatility down the left. We saw him play really well out wide for Wolves, but he absolutely has a technical ability to come inside as well.
- [22:51]
Guest
And definitely a theme as well, I think, Adam, about younger and maybe more versatile players. Do you think this was always the plan or is this kind of a reaction to how last season went?
- [23:01]
Host
I think they've known that the team that won the treble was on its way, not on its way out. That's a harsh way of putting it. But on its way in terms of an age profile and needed refreshing. I think they, they recognized that last summer was a mistake in terms of letting it run as far as they did. I think they thought, you know, they probably have one more year in them and I think they were quite shocked by what. What developed as a result. On the, you know, the flip side of that is, you know, they've had such an extraordinary run, you know, four titles in a row, winning a treble within that, backing up the treble by winning the league ahead of a really competitive Arsenal team. It's not that surprising that there would be a year where they just fall off a little bit. It would be pretty obscene really for them to go five in a row at the standard that they were and, you know, hitting over 90 points every time. Equally, you know, there were periods last season where they looked like the rest of the league, which is not something we've ever really been able to say about City over the past decade or so. So I think they were stung into action. I'm interested, like what Tom Jordan think about the January business. Obviously, Marmouche, I think his first day had an impact, but some of the other signings, which, you know, Kusanov was a lot of money. Is he someone that you see as eventually being a starter for City? Mr. Race, the other defender who is young as well. I'm just curious where. Where you think those kind of players are going to fit next season? Are they players we expect to see start one game a week, or do they feel like strange signings now?
- [24:35]
Tom
Yeah, I mean, Mahmouch is the one, which makes sense. I'm working to make sense because I think he is something that City only has that kind of springiness. He's very kind of powerful in the final third, allows him to play a little bit more of the transition. And I think Kuzanov makes sense as well. I mean, I'm not really sure what happened towards the end of last season where he was really thrown into a defense. I think it was Chelsea, Real Madrid, Liverpool, or within two weeks and then kind of disappeared. But I think he does have that kind of, you know, the Premier League is becoming all about intensity and pace and end to end games. And I think he adds a little bit of physicality. Race, we'll have to see. I think he's very young. He didn't really play very much in Brazil either. So I think that's kind of more of a sign is the future. But yeah, I think, you know, part of the January business last season was to kind of paper over the cracks a little bit to get City through to the end of the season, which I think they more or less did, particularly with Mamish. And then it'd be very, very interesting to see how those that you mentioned kind of fit in along the line because, yeah, some of them look like they've. They've already kind of been replaced. Like Nico Gonzalez, for example. I think he's another signing who again, he's got that physicality, he's got that box to box about him. But with Rangers coming in, there's already Rodri there. You know, I think he's going to kind of fight for his position next season, which is very interesting to the how much money they pay for him in January, halfway through a season.
- [25:57]
Matt
The chairman's notes at the end of the season were pretty interesting because he basically admitted that last summer they weren't aggressive enough and that they didn't really follow through with the changes they thought they probably had to make. Which I guess is natural because you know, a team so successful you maybe convince yourself that they've all got one more year, they've all got one more year and then they don't and suddenly you're stuck with players who can't do what they've been doing for the last five years. And I think that's what happened. And you know, he said that usually January is only if we don't really show up in January that heavy. But this was the second biggest transfer window spend behind Chelsea a few years ago, I think in the history of the Premier League. So, you know, they went really heavy. But I think City see that as the start of the summer's revamp. They wanted to get ahead of it and bet some of these younger players in.
- [26:45]
Guest
Yeah, and that average age, obviously Tom has been brought down by the departure of Kevin De Bruyne. Have they already bought somebody in to replace him, do you think? Is that where Cherokee's going to play? Or maybe might we see the lesser spotted Phil Foden take that role?
- [26:59]
Tom
Yeah, I mean it's. You're never going to completely be able to replace De Bruyne, I think is going to be about kind of assembling some of his past rather than giving that role to, to Ryan Cherky. I think he said during the week that he's not Kevin De Bruyne and you know, he's not going to kind of be compared to him. Having said that, I think watching him against Spain in the, in the Nations League, that 54 to France when he came on 60 Minutes, the freedom that he had in that game to drift from one side to the other, he was constantly behind the midfield line just picking up the ball. And because he's so two footed, he can drift out on the right, he cut inside, he can drift out on the left and do the same. He can basically run the game from a creative perspective. Eddie has that freedom to do so. And then that's a big question at City. Is he going to be allowed to do that? Because that's kind of what De Bruyne.
- [27:47]
Matt
Was allowed to do.
- [27:48]
Tom
You know, Pep Guardiola, you know, this is generalizing a lot because a lot goes on in the tactical systems, but it was. You're the game breaker. You do what you need to do to, to get into those positions to win his games. And I think if Cherokee's given that that freedom then, then that is promising. But there's a lot to replace with De Bruyne, I think. I think Jackie goes a long way because his. His creative numbers are very good. But how Kevin used to pick up the ball on the edge of the box, for example, and strike for it really cleanly does crosses from out wide. No one's ever really going to be able to replace that. So I think it's. Yeah, some of the parts as we.
- [28:20]
Guest
Record then on Monday, Jordan, the transfer window has reopened. Do we think the city's business is finished now? They've been linked with several other players, haven't they? Please tell me that Morgan Gibbs White is no longer under consideration, for example.
- [28:32]
Matt
Yeah, well, I think Reinders and Cherokee coming in, they look pretty packed down midfield unless somebody goes out. But I think right back the other position that you look at and think they don't have, you know, the sort of traditional solution there. Obviously Nunez has been playing there last season and did improve towards the end of the season. But I mean Rico Lewis for that side, even Khusanov had to play there at times and, you know, got exposed. So I don't think you've got a perfect solution there. So I think that's somewhere that they could add someone. But Pep Gordo is talking about a smaller squad, even 32 players here and that's without Jack Grealish and James McAtee. So 34 doesn't go into 25 and that's without adding another couple of players. So I think it's going to need to be about getting players out the other way, you know, before they add more players. Because Guadala is very strong in that he doesn't like working with a huge group of players. Last season was the most I've ever used. Injuries played a part in that as well, but form played a part. So I think he would like to revert back to sort of a tight group of 15, 16 players who played a majority and then he can pad out with another, another five, six academy players. But yeah, people are going to have to go out for that to happen.
- [29:43]
Guest
All right. Well, it's not just on the pitch where City look different from last term. We're going to talk about changes in the dugout.
- [29:56]
Jordan
When you're a forward thinker, the only thing you're afraid of is business as usual. Workday is the AI platform that transforms the way you manage your people and money today so you can transform tomorrow. Workday moving business forever forward.
- [30:12]
Matt
Race the rudders. Race the sails.
- [30:14]
Adam
Race the sails.
- [30:16]
Jordan
Captain an unidentified ship is approaching.
- [30:19]
Matt
Roger, Wait.
- [30:20]
Adam
Is that an enterprise sales solution?
- [30:23]
Jordan
Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title and more. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started today at LinkedIn.com results, terms and conditions apply.
- [30:41]
Narrator
BetterHelp Online Therapy bought this 30 second ad to remind you right now, wherever you are, to unclench your jaw, relax your shoulders, take a deep breath in and out. Feels better, right? That's 15 seconds of self care. Imagine what you could do with more. Visit betterhelp.com randompodcast for 10% off your first month of therapy. No pressure, just help. But for now, just relax.
- [31:29]
Guest
So Pep Linders has come in. It's drawn a lot of attention. How significant do we think this is in terms of shaping what city become next? Adam it's interesting from Guardiola, isn't it? It's kind of a page from the Sir Alex Ferguson playbook of longtime manager refreshes his backroom every once in a while just to give him a sort of an extra challenge and change things around the coaching staff, if not with the head coach.
- [31:51]
Host
Yeah, I guess it's a way of preventing things from becoming stale, from always hearing the same voices. I think it's perhaps a recognition stylistically that if you think of when Pep first came in, when we think of him as that kind of Barcelona team of 2009-11, and then you think of the kind of football that Pep Blinders was coaching at Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp, I mean, it's a really significant shift in many ways. Now it may well be that Pep still is the person who sets the tone in terms of this is the way we're going to play and it's your job to impose these principles. And Pep Blinds, I'm sure is capable of putting on a session that suits any style of play, to be quite honest, once you're a coach at that level. But it is going to be interesting to see the extent to which the team starts to resemble Pep Blinder's ideas relative to Pep's ideas, or whether it is just a case of I want someone else's voice to deliver my ideas from Pep's perspective. I would imagine that in the assistant manager's world, Pep Leinzers is probably as authoritative as you can come. So I can't imagine he is happy to come in and just basically follow a script that Pep sets out. And I think Pep as well will want him to come with his ideas And I think we've also seen Pep's style change so many times since he got to City. I think, you know, the physicality of the team is so different, I think from when he first came. You know, I remember him saying, you know, I don't coach tackles. I think it was in like his first season and that kind of outrage about the fact he's not coaching tackles. But what he was focusing on a lot, I remember speaking to people around City at that time was, was things like second balls, you know, which is stuff that we've always heard people in England talking about coaches all over the world, you know, being first to second balls. Pep was always bigger on that aspect of it. And then we obviously saw, if you just look at the size of City now or the treble winning team compared to his first title winning team, you saw big changes in that. So I think this will be another evolution. And it maybe does indicate perhaps that there was some disharmony on the training ground at times last season. There was a need for a change in the way that City go about things. And as you kind of refresh the squad, you also probably need to refresh the idea, I think. What was Pep's latest extension? Two years that he signed last season. So this probably sees him through that. Pep line's obviously tried to go off on his own last season. Didn't really work out. So I think it's maybe one that works well for everyone.
- [34:36]
Guest
What did you make of it, Tom? It surely does suggest something of a stylistic shift, doesn't it, to bring somebody so kind of diametrically opposed to what we'd consider classic Guardiola football.
- [34:46]
Tom
Yeah, I mean, I think, I don't think they're going to become a counter attacking side overnight. I don't think that's what Quad believes in it. But what I will say is that City were very, very open on the counterattack last season. That was one of their major flaws. And I think a lot of the time last season City were playing with Bernardo Silva, Elkai Gundogan, Mateo Komic. Sometimes Rico Lewis is the holder midfielder. And when that insta pressure wasn't right, when City lost the ball and they weren't able to regain it, it was very easy to get out those players who were not as good physically and not as good positionally either. So I think a lot of what lines it will be is about getting that press, counter press right, making sure that City are intense when they lose the ball, they're front footed when they lose it and they're in a good position to protect them on the counter. But as Adam said. Yeah, I think it's, it's kind of a win win because from Guardiola's perspective, you know, Klopp, he said many times that Klopp's always been the ultimate rival. So for him to get that kind of perspective and behind the scenes insight from, from Leynder that I think is going to be really useful for him as he, yeah, tries to adapt again to the Premier League, which is becoming a lot more intense and a lot more about physicality and football.
- [35:55]
Guest
Jordan, we've done well to get this far through the pub without making too many mentions of the 115 charges brought against Manchester City. We're still awaiting to hear what the verdict is on that. Is there any kind of update at all we, we can give people?
- [36:09]
Matt
No, I don't think so. Yeah, and I guess it's a bit weird because now all eyes are on the, on the club World cup and it's sort of now back in the, in the background again. You know, it was always expected to be decided before the end of the season and now, you know, we're in mid June in the season. The Premier League season is about to start in what, two months time. So, you know, it's difficult to see how there's going to be a clean break when this comes. And, you know, you would expect either way for it to be challenged and drag on for a longer time still. So, no, I don't think there's any update yet.
- [36:41]
Guest
Is it fair to suggest, Adam, the fact they've signed a bunch of players and a whole new backroom staff would suggest they're fairly confident that there's not going to be any really significant ramification from these charges. Or am I reading too much into that?
- [36:53]
Host
Honestly, I'm not sure if anyone really knows anymore, to be honest. You know, we call people all the time asking, what are you hearing? What are you hearing? What are you hearing? And there is just so much quietness about it. It suggests City have been confident from the start and it's always been hard to work out whether that's been bravado and bluster or a really sincere confidence or that they've just convinced themselves, you know, that everything will be okay or that they can kind of legalize it into submit into submission, which is where it feels like it is at the moment, to be honest. So I'm not really answering the question that you asked directly because I think sometimes as journalists we should be honest about what we know and what we don't know. And I think the reality at the moment is that this has gone really quiet. You know, remember all those spate of stories earlier in the year. There's going to be a verdict this week, verdict, imminent verdict in the next couple of weeks and it just never came. And even I think when it does come, you're not going to see the punishment immediately. What you'll get initially is a verdict on the charges, but not necessarily the punishment because it could still be subject to appeal. So I think at least there is, you know, there is a real danger. This just runs as quite significantly into next season, to be honest. By which point, once again, Pep won't be that far off. The end of another. The end of another contract.
- [38:13]
Guest
Right. Well, I look forward to discussing it again at the start of the next Club World cup then maybe by then, at least before we finish things up. Jordan, one thing I wanted to ask you was about Jack Grealish. You mentioned earlier he's not in the squad. That would suggest that he doesn't have much of a future at Manchester City. Has he got to be looking at a loan? He's on a pretty high wage, isn't he? Is there going to be that much demand for. For him, do you think? It's. It's a tough one to predict where he'll start next season? I guess, yeah.
- [38:42]
Matt
He finds himself in a sort of strange position. He was obviously left out in the. Left out the squad for the final game of the season and Pep wouldn't really be drawn on it too much. But he was saying, you know, he'll either be here or somewhere else, but he has to play. And I think the fact that he was left out is a clear indication of where he finds himself in the pecking order. So, yeah, he's touching 30 now. He's not a. He's not a kid anymore. And I think he's obviously changed from the player that we've seen at Aston Villa. So it's any teams who are wanting to bring him in, did he see him as that sort of team player or that sort of cog in the wheel that he's become in City? And even in his best season, in treble winning season, he was not the flashy player that you've seen at Aston Villa where he was allowed to roam around and dribble with the ball and was a maverick. So I think it's difficult for a team to go and pay the money that it would take to get them out and pay the wages to get him out when you, you, you're basing it on probably former two years ago. So yeah, I think he finds himself in a tricky position, but I think ideally you would look at a player like that and want to recoup some of the money you spent on him rather than put him out on loan for the last two years, his contract. But I think it's going to be difficult to to do that maybe this summer. So it could potentially be a loan with a, an obligation or an option at the end of the season. But yeah, I think that that's something that's going to be decided over the next few weeks.
- [40:03]
Guest
Well, that will just about wrap things up for this episode of the Athletic fc. Many thanks to Adam, to Jordan and to Tom. We'll see how city kick off their Club World cup on Wednesday, which is when we'll be back with another episode. Join us for that if you can. For now though, it's goodbye. You've been listening to the episode Athletic FC Podcast. The producers were Guy Clark, Mike Stavroot and Jay Beal. The executive producer was Ailey Moorhead. To listen to other great athletic podcasts for free, search for the Athletic on Apple, Spotify and all the usual places. The Athletic FC Podcast is an Athletic Media Company production.
- [40:42]
Matt
The Athletic FC Podcast Network.
- [40:51]
Host
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