The England-wide impact of Man City’s manager
IN AUGUST 2024, then-MK Dons defender Dean Lewington walked up on stage at the Manchester Opera House to accept his PFA Merit Award. He was asked about the change he had seen in English football over a career that spanned more than 20 years and close to 1,000 appearances.
The English Football League (EFL) stalwart paused for a second before pointing to a man who was sitting a few rows back: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. He was in attendance to watch Phil Foden pick up his PFA Player of the Year Award, but briefly became the center of attention.
“Whether consciously or subconsciously, we are all in awe of him; I don’t mind saying that,” Lewington said as Guardiola squirmed a little in his seat. “We always speak about the things he was doing and his ideas. Whether he realizes it or not, it’s definitely become part of the way we wanted to play the game.
“He’s had a huge influence on the way the whole game here has evolved.”
WHEN GUARDIOLA, a pioneer of positional play, calls it a day at Manchester City — possibly as early as this summer — he will leave England as one of the most successful managers the country has seen. Six Premier League titles, six domestic cups, a Champions League, a UEFA Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup trophy put the 54-year-old in the same conversation as Sir Alex Ferguson, Bob Paisley and Bill Shankly.
What’s harder to quantify is Guardiola’s impact on the English pyramid. Historically, the lower leagues were about physicality, long balls and ferocious tackling. Now, on any given weekend in the EFL, you can see third- and fourth-tier teams that pass out from the back while playing with false No. 9s and fullbacks who move inside to become midfielders in possession — all ideas popularized by Guardiola.
He has often been uncomfortable talking about his influence on other teams and other leagues. Ahead of an FA Cup tie against League Two side Port Vale in January 2020, the City boss was asked in a news conference about whether he felt he had changed the game in England.
“Don’t make me say that,” he answered. “This club tries to play in the way we like. Believe me, English football has its own idea. Managers make their team play in the way they believe. Not because they watch TV and say, ‘I want to do that,’ and copy and paste. That doesn’t work.”
The clip was picked up by former England striker turned television pundit Gary Lineker, who took to social media to say what perhaps Guardiola didn’t feel he could.
“He’s had, arguably, the most positive influence of anyone, ever on our game,” Lineker posted. “Total respect for Sir Alex’s achievements, and, of course, he’s the most successful, but that’s an entirely different thing. Guardiola has changed the way we play and think about the game, from our obsession with direct play to total football. And they said it couldn’t be done.”
GUARDIOLA FACES ANOTHER EFL opponent this weekend when League One side Exeter City visit the Etihad Stadium in the third round of the FA Cup (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET on ESPN+). Gary Caldwell has managed Exeter since 2022 and spent time as a player in the EFL with Coventry City, Derby County and Wigan Athletic. For him, Guardiola is one of the best.
“I think more than just winning trophies, he’s changed the game and how people view the game, and he’s changed that across the world,” Caldwell told ESPN. “How people view positional play, how you can rotate players in possession, out-of-possession shapes. He’s affected how people look at the game, how coaches look at the game and how you can utilize players.”
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This week, Caldwell has faced the tough task of preparing for a Guardiola team. After three consecutive Premier League draws and injuries mounting, City are likely to make several changes, but it doesn’t make the assignment easier.
“It’s very difficult. I’ve found that out this week,” Caldwell said. “We have done a lot of work — the staff and the analysts — to prepare, but they have so many different options, so many different ways of playing. They’re a possession-based team, but it’s how they get that possession and the structures that they use, the threats that they have. There’s so many different ones.
“We’re trying to make it a game that we feel like we’ve played before, even if it’s going to be a game like no other for many of the players.”
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On Wednesday, Exeter’s players spent the day working on their defensive shape when City are in possession. On Thursday, the focus was on what they can do when they get the call. Friday will be used to recap the key points and nail down the plan. Exeter will arrive at the Etihad as heavy underdogs, but after five wins and a draw from their past eight games, there’s a glimmer of hope for Caldwell and his players.
“We’ve got better as the season has gone on,” Caldwell said. “We split the season up into blocks this year, eight different blocks, and actually the December block was one of the harder blocks on paper, but the team have taken to that really well.
“We’ve had a good run. We’re winning and we’re in as good a place as we can be going to one of the best teams in the world. We will go there full of hope, full of optimism, full of energy to try and cause a huge upset.”
Caldwell has been part of a City cup upset before, when he was in the Wigan squad under Roberto Martinez that shocked Roberto Mancini’s team in the 2013 final at Wembley. If the same thing happens to Guardiola, he will have been beaten by an Exeter team he has inadvertently influenced.
“I’ve watched all the documentaries, I’ve read books that he’s had at Barcelona and Bayern Munich,” Caldwell said. “But I think the biggest thing in management is you have to be your own man.
“I can’t play like City because I don’t have the quality of player that Man City have. I have to have my own ideas that are obviously influenced by the great current managers.
“It’s an incredible game to be involved in, for me personally, against one of the greatest managers of all time.”