The Manchester City fans spelt out their wishes ahead of Saturday’s game against Fulham: “Pep Guardiola, we want you to stay,” a banner hoisted from the south stand read.
It had been designed by the 1894 Group, with more than £1,000 ($1,300) raised with help from the 93:20 podcast. Not only did it convey exactly what every supporter wants, it did it in Catalan: “Pep Guardiola, volem que et quedis”.
On either side of the sky blue banner hung two ‘Estelada’ flags: not just the Catalan flag, but the one which represents the fight for independence. It was designed, no doubt, to pull at the manager’s heartstrings: to show that Manchester is home, too.
As much as Guardiola will always be a Barcelona fan — last week he was asked by a Mexican reporter how City can get more fans in Mexico, given everybody there supports Barca or Real Madrid, to which he replied: “As long as they support Barca, that’s fine” — he loves City and, in a way, the city itself.
According to sources — who wish to remain anonymous to protect relationships — it had been decided at the end of last season that Guardiola would leave next summer when his contract ends. City will continue to try to change his mind, and there have been whispers he is considering it. As those close to him always say, “With Pep, you never know”.
During pre-season, the manager excited fans by talking like a man who was ready to sign a new deal. However, when he was asked about the banner during Friday’s press conference, it did not inspire quite the same level of hope.
“They have to bring me the bill,” he said. “I will pay, I don’t want them to spend money for that. What can I say? Thank you so much. I fell in love since the first day I was here. What’s going to happen is going to happen.”
He did discuss his feelings for the club in response to the next question though, as he was asked about the need to defend City these days, amid the 115 charges and critical comments, publicly and privately, from rival clubs.
“I am part of this club, deep inside my bones,” he said, later adding: “I’m part of this club, not just the manager. I love this club and it will always be this way. It cannot be different (given) the way they treat me from day one. It is impossible.”
Sceptics will say things could be viewed differently after the outcome of those charges, although City have always maintained their innocence. The club has told their players not to worry, so if the outcome goes their way, the biggest analysis of Guardiola’s achievements will come the day he announces he is leaving. The scale of his impact is simply inconceivable now.
“The best way to defend the club is by winning games and doing my job as well as possible,” he added. “We cannot misunderstand the reason I am here. At the same time, I’m the person who talks more through the media and sends a message to fans.”
He is not just the City manager, but a City statesman. No wonder they want him to stay.
But if he is spending his money on anything after the 3-2 victory over Fulham, it might be on dry cleaning for his presumably expensive trousers — he dropped to his knees almost every time Marco Silva’s men launched a counter-attack, and there were plenty of them.
The big issue to resolve over the coming months is whether Guardiola will stay for a 10th year and beyond, the smaller issue — although one which will dictate how his potential final year might play out — is whether City will be able to win another trophy or two to give him a fitting send-off.
City always come good — we know this by now — and, usually, their wobbles come much closer to the run-in anyway. So worrying about them after seven games, as they sit one point off the top of the table, seems a little overboard. They do look a little vulnerable at the moment, though.
They look good, just not as good as normal. That said, if you go back to last season, it was often said they did not look as good as when they won the treble. If you go back to the treble season, they did not look as good as the year before, when they had a false nine knitting things together. If you go back that far, they did not seem to have as much control as the previous campaign.
They won the title in all of those seasons, perhaps highlighting that they go through these periods of evolution while we still cling to previous expectations.
At the moment, they are looking for solutions to the Rodri problem. The imposing Spaniard will miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury and a striking — and repeated — sight from Saturday’s game showed three or four relatively small City midfielders sprinting back to chase Fulham’s fast-breaking forwards.
𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝟑-𝟐 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐡𝐚𝐦
Man City (W41 D9) are just the fourth different English top-flight team to go 50 home games unbeaten in all comps.
City also equalled their longest unbeaten run in league football (30 games; W24 D6), previously doing so in Jan… pic.twitter.com/32GLWj36nw
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) October 5, 2024
It was not long ago that City were winning so routinely without Rodri that their previous struggles without him had ceased to become a talking point. They have been solid this season, overall. Perhaps the mind is playing tricks now because Rodri is not returning anytime soon, but it does seem they are missing him again.
Guardiola did not want to discuss too deeply any suggestion of defensive frailty after the Fulham victory, however.
“I would say except (Bryan) Mbeumo against Brentford (who scored in the first minute last month), the other games we were playing good,” he said. “It’s not nice to come back from 0-1 but we created chances to go 1-0 and 2-0. Sometimes I give credit. The first goal, who expected (Raul) Jimenez to do this incredible touch? Why don’t we give credit to them rather than defensively? There are actions we can defend better, but step by step we will improve.”
There was talk of a hard-fought game against Fulham two years ago which helped persuade Guardiola to sign his most recent contract extension. In reality, he was at least 90 per cent sure he was going to stay, having already discussed it with his family and coaches, but the effort and commitment of his players — who had seen Joao Cancelo sent off in the first half — was absolute confirmation he was in the right place and that his players were with him.
That was in November 2022, just before he signed his previous contract extension. In that sense, it feels like there must be a decision coming soon but you cannot always predict the future based on what has happened in the past.
Guardiola expressed that himself on Friday by asking a journalist, “Was yesterday the same as today?”.
At the moment, there are more questions than answers.
(Top photo: Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
