Manchester City, for most Premier League fans, is the downright favorite to win the Premier League title. This City team made us doubt them to start last season, and in fairness, it did take several months for Guardiola to establish a new shape and formation of play to accommodate and maximize their personnel, especially their Talisman.
Once City found their form, they applied a serious professionalism in the manner in which they closed out Arsenal to win the league by 5 points; their form continued to look unstoppable.
With their strong reinforcements, City losing captain Gündoğan and mainstay right-winger Mahrez has not slowed them down, until they had to travel to Wolverhampton this weekend.
If there is one thing that Manchester City and Pep Guardiola are elite at in this sport, it's controlling a game. Guardiola’s philosophy of seeking control of a game has always been the same; however, the Catalan manager has evolved enormously in his methods since the days of the early 2010s when Barcelona sought to win +80% of the ball possession.
City today are much more direct; they are also electric and dynamic in the way they initiate a counterattack and change the tempo of a match. With more teams knowing how Guardiola wants to win, the team has had to adjust, not by becoming more elaborate in the way they unlock defenses, but instead by becoming more aggressive and forceful in dominating the game.
This makes Wolves the perfect matchup. If you watch Wolves play and think closely about what their plan is, you might start to see similarities with 7th place West Ham.
Wolves understand the danger areas extremely well; they set up very compact in the middle of the field and hold a strong and tight shape regardless of the opposition’s attempt to break them, and City tried.
On offense, Wolves understand that their chances will come few and far between, so they attack with pace and drive thanks to Pedro Neto & Matheus Cunha.
Neto had nearly become a forgotten name, having missed so much time over the past 18 months with ankle and muscle injuries. Once linked with moves to Manchester United and Liverpool, Neto may have been Liverpool’s original Wolves target ahead of Diogo Jota. At 23 years old and playing with the type of hunger and determination he’s shown, this looks like the year Neto may play himself into a top 6 team.
It's important to note that Manchester City lost this game missing arguably their best player through suspension in Rodri, as well as having their manager serve a suspension and have to coach from the stadium stands. This is also City’s second consecutive loss after being knocked out of the EFL Cup by Newcastle last week.
I’m not sure if this Wolves loss is an inflection point or more of a blip for what’s to come from Manchester City’s Premier League season; however, the nature of two back-to-back losses cannot fly under the radar without mention. Let’s see how the ever-adapting Manchester City reacts.