Manchester City spent over 70 million euros more in winter than all clubs in the Bundesliga. Pep Guardiola got his will – but the problems remain.
The winter transfer window is closed in the most important European leagues – and the whole associated excitement ends. And if you look at the result in the Bundesliga, you could come to the conclusion: it wasn’t that exciting. The very big spectacle failed to materialize, although the 18 German clubs spent more than 170 million euros in history that were this winter.
Marmoush and Co. do not yet provide the city turn
It was much more remarkable what happened to Manchester City. Pep Guardiola had already drawn his attention to his club managers towards the end of last year that he absolutely needed reinforcements to somehow save the messed up season. And of course the club delivered what the supposedly best trainer in the world called. For 243 million euros – 73 million euros more than the entire Bundesliga – Guardiola received new stars. And now?
On the last day of transfer, the “Citizens” struck one last time when they bought Nico Gonzalez from FC Porto for 60 million euros. At that time, Omar Marmoush (came from Eintracht Frankfurt for 75 million euros), Abdukodir Khusanov (for 40 million euros from RC Lens) and Vitor Reis (for 37 million euros from Palmeiras) have long been there – of improvement in Manchester But no trace yet.
At Arsenal there was the next city pack last weekend, the 1: 5 was again surprisingly obviously showing that Guardiola is currently not training a top team in England. And that he is apparently currently unable to form his team into one. The long crisis is over, but there is no more than positive straw fire.
Champions League is Guardiola’s great opportunity
Now every new addition must also be granted that it needs a little familiarization time – but Manchester does not have this time. The Premier League is now concerned with the minimum goal to at least qualify for the Champions League. Fourth place is currently the Chelsea FC with two points in front of the “Citizens”, which are also fifth with Newcastle United, a much more shaped team. In the end, this place should also be enough for the premier class. Only Manchester has to do that first.
What else remains on national terrain is the FA Cup, where on Saturday (08.02.2024) it goes to the third division club Leyton Orient to move into the round of 16. Under no circumstances should Guardiola allow a embarrassment. Nevertheless, what happens in the following eleven days is much more important. In the Champions League playoffs, City meets Real Madrid twice, the old rivals from Guardiolas for a total of 14 years as a player and coach at FC Barcelona. According to the UEFA statutes, however, he can only register three of his newcomers.
Guardiola criticizes his team for the first time
In the past few months, the Spaniard had repeatedly protected himself to his team, such a phase was normal, after four championship titles in a row there would be a sporting descent at some point. But after the Arsenal disaster, Guardiola burst the collar for the first time.
“We had a plan and just didn’t implement it because my players wanted their pride and wanted to find a solution. But that’s not the right way”said the 54-year-old. “At this level you have to have a certain seriousness and adhere to agreements.” Guardiola has for 65 minutes “Seen really good game from our side”What came after that disappointed him.
Weeks of the truth in Manchester
Perhaps this experience hit him so much because it could have realized that buying new players as well “Not the right way” is. The problems are very obviously much lower than in the quality of the squad, and the top player is still unusual on every match day. But it was the solution that Guardiola publicly thrown into the room.
Accordingly, the three -time world coach of the year is under pressure. After his club delivered new players – and certainly also the players he wanted – he now has to deliver results. The Champions League would be the perfect competition and Madrid, especially for Guardiola, personally the perfect opponent. If the newcomers still take a decisive influence on success, almost everything would be perfect again. It can go that quickly. However, if the success fails, it should soon be exciting in Manchester shortly after the transfer winter.