Football
Mark OgdenJonathan Smith 6y

Pep Guardiola's Man City century: How the Etihad boss has fared

Pep Guardiola has reached 100 games as Manchester City manager. We look at his record so far, how it compares, his signings, and his highs and lows.

Premier League: Third place in his first season was Guardiola's worst-ever finish as a manager and there were plenty saying that his style wouldn't be successful in England. But he steadfastly refused to alter his approach and is reaping the rewards in his second campaign. Now only a catastrophic end to the season would see him not collect his first title. City have been beaten just once and won 18 consecutive matches -- the first record of a season that has the potential to rewrite the history books.

Champions League: Historically, City have failed to compete against the best sides in Europe and their inferiority complex was underlined when Guardiola suffered a 4-0 defeat at Barcelona -- his equal worst defeat as a manager. He did at least beat his former club in the return match at the Etihad Stadium but City were dumped out in the round-of-16 by Monaco on away goals in a 6-6 thriller that exposed their European naivety. His biggest task is to improve City's Champions League record and they've made a major step-up this season -- beating Serie A leaders Napoli home and away with a quarterfinal place all-but secured. The bigger tests are still to come.

FA Cup: The competition will probably be Guardiola's biggest frustration in his first 100 games. With their title challenge over last April, the FA Cup represented his final opportunity to win silverware last season. They took the lead in a Wembley semifinal against a mediocre Arsenal side but couldn't hang on and were beaten after extra time. This season provided the biggest shock of Guardiola's time at the club when they were surprisingly knocked out by League One Wigan Athletic.

League Cup: Guardiola played a mixture of youngsters and reserve players in his first season and was narrowly beaten by Manchester United in a low-profile fourth-round derby. But he took the competition much more seriously in his second season. Although the passage to final was far from smooth -- needing penalty shootouts to get past Wolves and Leicester City -- they comfortably beat Arsenal 3-0 at Wembley to give Guardiola his first trophy.

How he compares

Pep Guardiola: P100, W71, D16, L13, F247, A96, Win: 71%

Manuel Pellegrini: P100, W63, D15, L22, F238, A44, Win: 63%

Roberto Mancini: P100, W58, D21, L21, F197, A87, Win: 58%

Mark Hughes (full tenure, didn't last 100 games): P77, W37, D15, L25, F138, A107, Win: 49%

2017-18

Aymeric Laporte: 6/10. A club-record signing when he joined for £57m in the January transfer window, the 23-year-old is a signing for the long-term rather than to make an immediate impact on the first team.

Benjamin Mendy: 7/10. The left-back made a huge impact as an attacking threat but just five appearances into his City career, he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury. A great cheerleader on the sidelines though.

Danilo: 6/10. He has been used as a utility player and has not yet taken the opportunity to convince Guardiola that he is a first-choice in any position.

Kyle Walker: 8/10. The England international has fitted seamlessly into Guardiola's team offering the attacking flair, pace and defensive attributes that the City coach demands from his full-backs.

Bernardo Silva: 7/10. After being one of the key figures in Monaco's brilliant Ligue 1 title-winning team, he was slow to have an effect at City. But the Portuguese international is acclimatising to life in England and has shown the quick feet and vision and that saw him identified as a potential successor to namesake David Silva in the side.

Ederson: 9/10. It's hard to think of a goalkeeper in world football better suited to play for Guardiola. His passing ability and coolness with the ball is perfect for the Catalan's philosophy and he is strong in one-on-one situations by either quickly charging off his line or diving courageously at attackers' feet.

2016-17

Gabriel Jesus: 8/10. The Brazilian striker arrived in January without any European experience and made an instant impact, scoring seven times in just 11 appearances. His second season has not been quite as explosive, hampered by a knee injury, but the 20-year-old looks set for a huge future and his £27m pricetag looks like a steal.

Claudio Bravo: 5/10. The goalkeeper endured a nightmare first season as a replacement for the popular Joe Hart and had the worst save per shot ratio of any Premier League goalkeeper when reserve Willy Caballero was brought into the first-team. Now second-choice he has slightly redeemed himself this season with his League Cup heroics.

John Stones: 7/10. After his big move from Everton last summer, the England defender struggled at times in his first year. But he was at his very best in the first half of this season and City opened up a huge gap at the top of the Premier League and must now prove his quality in the later stages of the Champions League.

Leroy Sane: 9/10. His pace terrifies opponents and the winger's threat and awareness will only increase under the guidance of Guardiola. He has the ability to be one of the best attackers in the world.

Oleksandr Zinchenko: 6/10. The Ukranian youngster spent his first season on loan but has impressed Guardiola in training and broke into the first-team.

Nolito: 5/10. Initially he made a big impression, scoring five times in his nine appearances. But it soon became clear that he didn't fit the masterplan -- making just one start, in the FA Cup, after the New Year and he was shifted out to Sevilla in the summer.

Ilkay Gundogan: 7/10. The German arrived injured and then suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury in December that ruled him out for the season. He's been back to his best in recent months and Guardiola has been purring over what he can contribute to his side.

Has Ederson been the key to his defence?

Guardiola made a number of mistakes during his first season in charge -- the biggest being his choice of Claudio Bravo as goalkeeper -- but he has learned from them and the most significant change has been the signing of Ederson to end the problems in goal. The Brazilian, a £35m buy from Benfica, has been a revelation for City. He has given the team reliability and, at the same time, banished the uncertainty that left the defence on edge all last season with the erratic Bravo behind them.

But it has been Ederson's ability with the ball at his feet that has given City such a crucial advantage over their rivals. He distributes the ball well and his defenders have full confidence in giving him the ball, but his anticipation and ability to turn defence into attack has also been a huge plus for City. Yes, Guardiola has invested heavily in defenders by recruiting a whole new back line, but Ederson has been the key that has made it all work.

Does Sergio Aguero still have a future under Guardiola?

Sergio Aguero now sits on 199 goals for City after his strike in the Carabao Cup final and it is only a matter of time before the Argentine becomes the first player to break the 200-goal barrier for the club. But how long will he be around beyond that?

Aguero's record speaks for itself, but Guardiola's signing of Gabriel Jesus and his attempts to add Alexis Sanchez to the City squad emphasise his determination to find another way of playing up front and Aguero has been the fall-guy on several occasions when being dropped by his manager. With his 30th birthday approaching in June, Aguero is now reaching a crucial stage of his career and he will not want to spend the next two or three years rotating with younger teammates. Guardiola's initial reticence over using Aguero was down to his workrate in the final third, but the striker has clearly upped his game in that regard. However, a player of Aguero's quality will always expect to start the biggest games and if he continues to be used in rotation once Jesus returns to full match fitness, his frustration may well boil over.

High point

Guardiola was brought to the club to win trophies and so far he's managed to claim one inside his century of games by winning the Carabao Cup at Wembley.

That should be followed by the Premier League title, while setting a record of 18 consecutive victories -- in such a stylish and exuberant manner -- is another highlight of his reign. He is also trying to establish City in Europe and finally masterminded a victory over Barca, after five successive defeats to the La Liga club, while impressive away wins at Feyenoord, Napoli and Basel this season felt like landmark moments.

Low point

Bruising 4-0 defeats at Barca and Everton -- the equal worst results of his managerial career -- showed how much work Guardiola had to do in transforming the squad -- especially in defence. Subsequent defeats in cup competitions showed that he also needed to bring a winning mentality to his side. City were knocked out by Monaco in the Champions League after a timid performance in the second leg, while they were beaten by an unimpressive Arsenal in an FA Cup semifinal which was, at the time, their best shot at silverware.

The fan view

You'll struggle to find a Manchester City fan that doesn't back Guardiola. How could they not, with regular displays of some of the best football the club has ever played and a record-breaking second season in charge, which has seen the team open up an unprecedented points lead at the top of the Premier League?

It was a rocky ride at times in the Catalan's first season, but it is now obvious what foundations he was putting in place. The style of play that supporters have seen City use to wipe the floor with so many opponents was developed throughout 2016-17 and the embarrassing defeats at the likes of Leicester and Everton were a necessary learning curve for his players.

Those wrongs have been put right in style in the months since, as City now perform at a level which hasn't been seen for years in the Premier League -- possibly never before.

No team has come close to their goals tally and, combined with a much more solid defence, City have been the team that have frightened the living daylights out of pretty much everyone they've faced.

Are the fans enjoying what Guardiola is bringing to the Etihad? You bet. And then some. -- David Mooney.

The future

The next step for City and Guardiola will be to extend his contract, which is due to expire at the end of next season. Despite spending just three years at Bayern Munich, having had four with Barcelona, there is no sense yet of Guardiola wanting to make his stay at City similarly brief. Indeed, there is a belief within the club that the Catalan can build a dynasty at the Etihad Stadium and he will be given every resource available to City's Abu Dhabi owners to take the team the very top. City have already become one of the elite during the 10 years of Abu Dhabi ownership, but Guardiola's challenge has been to oversee a period of dominance and he appears to be well on course to achieve that.

What happens in the summer?

City will spend big again, but it will more likely be a case of quality over quantity. Guardiola has invested in several defenders and his key players, such as Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling, are in their mid-20s. Bernardo Silva has already been signed to eventually replace David Silva and Brazilian defensive midfielder Fred is being lined up to phase Fernandinho out of the team. So it will be strategic additions to an already impressive squad, and it will be top players who arrive this summer.

Where will City be once Guardiola gets to 200 games?

The ambition, and perhaps even expectation, is that Guardiola will deliver Champions League glory during his time as City manager. That could even happen this season, with the team justifiably billed as one of the favourites to win the trophy in Kiev in May.

After winning his first trophy as City -- the Carabao Cup at the weekend -- Guardiola will almost certainly add the Premier League title too this season. But if the Champions League eludes City this time, don't bet against them winning it next year.

^ Back to Top ^