They were written off. After a third place finish and a stuttering start this term, the dynasty looked dusted. But don’t bet against the genius. Pep Guardiola, the relentless reinventor, has done it again. Manchester City are not just back in the hunt, they’ve mutated into a terrifying new beast, sitting just two points off the summit and ready to pounce.
Last season’s “failure” by their own ludicrous standards has sparked a revolution. Gone is the patient, possession obsessed automaton. In its place is a swashbuckling, direct, and brutally fast City 2.0. And it’s all by design. “We had to change,” a club insider muttered this week. “Pep saw the league adapting. So he adapted first.”
The Madness of the Midfield Full Backs
Look at the team sheet and you’ll see the most glaring clue. The full backs? They’re not full backs. In recent weeks, Pep’s settled on a wild setup: Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal; Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly as the ‘defenders’ out wide; Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol central; Bernardo Silva and Nico Gonzalez holding; with Rayan Cherki, Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku buzzing behind Erling Haaland.
Nunes and O’Reilly are the symbol of this new era. Both are attacking midfielders by trade, grafted into defence for their engine and technique. They don’t overlap, they underlap, surging into central areas like extra number 10s. O’Reilly’s knack for late arriving goals has been a secret weapon. “They are killers from deep,” one baffled opposition analyst admitted. “You set up to stop Foden and Haaland, and a bloke you think is a left back is smashing one in from the edge of your box.”
The Wandering Wizards & Haaland’s Playground
This chaos out wide allows the real magicians to run amok centrally. Guardiola has unleashed Foden and Cherki with a freedom they’ve never had. They roam, they swap, they play one touch football in the crowded heart of the pitch. Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola summed it up after a 3-1 defeat: “Their coordination is amazing. You try to be compact, but they find spaces that shouldn’t be there.”
This isn’t just pretty football. It’s a tactical trap. By packing the centre, City lure defenders in, leaving oceans of space on the flanks for their marauding ‘full backs’. And when you push up to stop that, they go long. Which brings us to the most frightening change of all.
Counter Attack FC: Pep’s Deadly New Trick
The most unGuardiola stat of all: City have launched more fast breaks this season than in the last two combined. Their 27 counter attacking goals is a league high. The architect of tiki taka is now winning games with blistering, direct football.
The signing of Rayan Cherki has been key. With Kevin De Bruyne’s visionary passing gone, they needed a player who could hit a 60 yard dagger. Cherki does that. He finds the runs of Haaland, Foden, and the galloping O’Reilly from deep. “We have the players to run,” Guardiola said recently with a smirk. “So why not use it?”
The Boss’s Grumble: It’s Still Not Perfect
Even after a 3-0 win over West Ham, Pep was grumbling. “If the players were in their positions, we could create more and concede less,” he moaned. It’s a telling complaint. He loves the new energy but craves the old control. His quote, “I love how much we run… but it’s not enough. We have to play better so we could run less,” reveals the endgame. He’s building a hybrid: a team that can both smash you on the break and suffocate you with the ball.
The Scary Part? They’re Not Even Finished.
City are top without hitting top gear. Rodri is nearing a return, which is like adding a Rolls Royce engine to a rocket ship. And the potential January arrival of Bournemouth’s rapid Antoine Semenyo points to Pep doubling down on this vertical, physical style.
The message to Arsenal and the rest is clear. The old City was hard enough to beat. This new, unpredictable, direct version forged from Guardiola’s bruised pride and tactical arrogance, might just be unstoppable. The master has remixed his own masterpiece, and the Premier League should be very, very afraid.
