A new beginning or an emotional end? Pep Guardiola’s Man City future still unclear

Pep Guardiola may have added a more cerebral dimension to football management but he had a confession. “I’m not yet artificial intelligence,” said the Manchester City manager. “I’m a human being and I can celebrate.” For Guardiola, the emotion of a Carabao Cup final win was apparent in his own booking for running out of his technical area. Given Guardiola’s unpredictability, replicating his thought process might be beyond even AI.

For the Catalan, defeating Arsenal at Wembley was the sort of result that was rooted in the unexpected element of football. “Not even me gave £1 for the victory today,” he said.

Guardiola has had many a triumph over the years, but few against the odds. He has tended to win with the favourites. His previous two finals at Wembley were upsets because City lost, to Manchester United and Crystal Palace in consecutive FA Cup showpieces. This time he was on the right end of a shock.

open image in gallery

For much of his time in Manchester, there was the automatic assumption that whichever piece of silverware he had just collected would lead to more, often swiftly. Now it is not as clear.

Guardiola has his default answer, that he has one year left on his contract. Arsenal’s six-year trophy drought – Community Shields apart – underlines that most sides, even good ones, can find it difficult to collect any medals; in part, of course, because Guardiola’s charges often hoover them up.

Now there is the question if this is the end of something or a new beginning. Guardiola’s greatest rival, Jurgen Klopp, bowed out with a Carabao Cup that meant more to him because it was earned in improbable fashion.

open image in gallery

There could be another comparison; except that, as Klopp would no doubt point out, Guardiola has won much more than him. One theory is that he would want to bid farewell with one of the big two trophies, and City are already out of the Champions League and nine points adrift of Arsenal in the Premier League .

But there are times when Guardiola seems genuinely excited by the potential of the third team he is fashioning . He believes they are not far off, and that sense may give him greater reasons to stay. “The team has something underneath that I can smell that they can flourish and winning helps to anticipate the process a little bit,” he rationalised.

Whether it is a side that will stay together and win together is another matter. As he stood at the end of the Wembley balcony, looking reflective as he watched his players bounce around in delight, the chances are he derived particular pleasure from seeing Bernardo Silva lift a first trophy as captain. Maybe a last, too, given that the Portuguese is out of contract in the summer and also deflects queries about his future.

open image in gallery

Then, for different reasons, there are two of those Guardiola singled out for praise. Nathan Ake was parachuted in when Ruben Dias was hamstrung but one of Guardiola’s most solid citizens is probably fifth-choice centre-back now. The future has arrived; indeed, when it is Abdukodir Khusanov, his ally in a partnership of old and young, who does everything at startling speed.

Meanwhile, James Trafford’s early triple save meant the opening when Arsenal, in Guardiola’s words, “suffocated” City brought no breakthrough. Trafford returned to the Etihad Stadium last summer, little expecting City to buy Gianluigi Donnarumma two months later . At least the second-choice goalkeeper has some silverware banked from his second spell at the club but he will surely will be gone soon; he is too good to spend another season on the bench.

The rebuilding job is advanced in some areas, incomplete in others, perhaps complicated by probable departures in still more. At some stage, City may actually sign a right-back, though Matheus Nunes has a Wembley assist to show for his afternoon. Whether Nico O’Reilly will be a left-back in the long term remains to be seen; for now, anyway, he has the enviable tag of cup final hero.

Of the 13 arrivals in the last three transfer windows, Rayan Cherki and Khusanov may prove the two best. The Frenchman looked a high-class No 10 at Wembley, just as Arsenal, in the absence of Martin Odegaard and Eberechi Eze , lacked one. Guardiola has spent plenty but Cherki, at £31m, is a bargain.

open image in gallery

Whether the Wembley way is Guardiola’s new blueprint, with two fast wingers, in Jeremy Doku and Antoine Semenyo, remains to be seen. There are times when, unusually for a Guardiola side, they look undermanned in midfield; it was one of their problems in the Bernabeu.

It would help if Rodri were to return to the dominant form he displayed before his cruciate ligament injury. It is far from certain he will. It is a safer bet Erling Haaland, after just five goals in 20 games, will become prolific again.

They could be fulcrums of a third great Guardiola side; or there may not be one. This might be the platform for more or a one-off win for a team in transition. Like much else at City, it comes back to the issue if Guardiola will stay or go. And if it is the latter, AI can’t replace him.