Is Pep Guardiolas -football style outdated or is it more complicated than that?

Manchester City has a bad season, there is no doubt about that. But there is a difference of opinion when it comes to deciding why this is the case.

Your more informal observer can put it down on the absence of Rodris with a long -lasting knee injury, and of course there is a lot of truth.

Maybe you throw it somewhere in the middle and nods your cute on various factors. Yes, Rodris injury was the first Domino to fall, but it exposed an old midfield in Pep Guardiolas words and a defense completely destroyed by injuries.

But there is still a thought school, one that looks beyond the boundaries of the city. What if Guardiolas becomes outdated the entire playing style?

This is a theory that has become mainstream in recent months, justify a discussion The overlap and a in -depth article On the BBC Sport website.

Nowadays, modern football is the way Bournemouth plays, that Newcastle Play, Brighton Play, Liverpool has always been like that, as we were, Guardiola said herself in an interview with TNT at the end of last year. It is modern football. Modern football is not that positional.

Naturally, of course, Neat Guardiolas describes the entire approach JueGo de Posicion, as it is known in Spanish and that comment was the one who was picked up for the conversation about the overlap: here is Guardiola suggesting that modern football is going away from his style, so perhaps that has struggled his last 30 competitions.

That was the theme of the BBC article after the lukewarm performance of the cities in the Santiago Bernabeu, where it was suggested that their problems were injured this season, aging players, under -performing stars, were not very trust, were no symptoms, no causes.

During discussions on this subject online, it was emphasized that the city's playing style is very different from the rest of the competition. And that's it. But here is the thing: it has always been.

In previous seasons, their very different approach has stopped the rest of the competition as a reason for their dominance. Their slower style is seen as part of the reason why they control games. As the graph above shows, Citys Style is certainly not an Uitbijter in the Guardiola era this season.

So it feels a bit reductive to say that the style no longer works now that the city is not doing well. Given that there are so many obvious factors, low trust, low trust, loyal, loyal such as Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan who play far below their best, is it not reasonable to say that those things have made the style less effective, would it be a style in the same way, would it probably be a style?

And this was Guardiolas Point in that TNT interview, not that the competition will get away from the city.

We have to rise incredibly to the rhythm, he said too, and we couldn't, just couldn't because we didn't have the players.

He continues to refer to the amount of injuries at clubs in Europe and ultimately offers a solution to the problems that he is confronted with this year and it does not relate to the playing style.

I think we should (have) a longer team in the future, he said. I have always believed (it must be done) with few players, but the team cannot survive with that.

Only last season did he indeed say that he would rather not be a manager than having a big team, but that has changed this season, and although he discussed the changing face of the Premier League in that interview, he believes that the solution is not to tear his style, but to get his players back first and, secondly, to keep fit by having more options.

The message is clear: get the injuries from the comparison and his style would still work.

Oscar Bobb has been a big loss for Guardiola (Stu Forster/Getty Images) this season

He can be wrong about the constant effectiveness of his own style, and he would probably not admit it, even if he felt it, but it would be wrong to suggest, based on what he said at the end of last year, that he thinks the city will stay behind.

The discussion has also described the evolution of the cities in recent years, which was something else that Guardiola spoke about in that interview.

When giving examples of other teams direct approach, he also included City: as we were.

He was also recently asked about this and he spoke extensively about the changes in the competition, as well as the same two points: that the injuries have undermined the season of the city and that they have evolved over time.

I personally saw that more teams such as playing more man-to-man, more aggressively in your structure, a few of them play so, he said. In terms of being more direct, English football has been more direct (forever), it has always been, not playing much in the middle and play long balls.

But in recent years many teams from behind, Tottenham play is an example and many, many other teams.

He then emphasized a process that the city went through in 2022-23; Initially that season when they struggled against teams that pressed them man-to-man, but they gradually became more effective because they embraced long balls to Erling Haaland. Something that was also seen this season, especially against Chelsea in January.

Guardiola is convinced that his team can return to the top (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Normally, when you make a positional match against man-to-man, it is completely different, but we have treated ourselves really well against teams playing man-to-man, we were not worried about that, he continued, and then he came to the biggest problem with this season, in his eyes.

It is more always that we are sorry this season, I often said, what would have happened to (only) one, two, three muscular injuries during the season, three or four weeks out? But we have finished central defenders (who are) eight, 10 weeks, we don't have Rodri for six or seven months, Oscar (BobB) is five or six months out.

I can imagine that we would have been more competitive than we have been, but if we have the team, we can play that way. We can do it.

Although I am the manager, we will adjust something, depending on the quality of the players or the problems that the opponents (pose), but I think we will try to play the way the team has defined for many years, that was successful.

The only difference is that there are more teams that (do) man-marking in our target kick, they are more aggressive. Before they were more careful. Now his teams are so brave, that's a bit different. I would say that's the only one, the rest if you had your team, you could compete and you could play as we played in the past.

Rodris Long-Term Absence continues to cast a shadow over City's season (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

It is something the city has adjusted, even if they retain their overall more patient, slower approach in most games. The change may not bring them closer to the other teams in the images, because the majority of opponents are still deep against the city, and when they do that, Guardiola gives up his players to take a coffee, make more passes and be more patient, to prevent counterattacks.

That approach has been enough to win the title in the past four seasons, so why would it have suddenly stopped? Is it because it is no longer effective, or because for countless reasons the players have not been able to implement it properly?

(Header photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)