“You have to gradually reach your best form throughout a season.” Ruben Dias’ words may reveal Man City’s secret to Win the Premier League. Early this season, Man City was quickly excluded from the race to Win the Premier League, but after 17 rounds, the Citizens are only 2 points behind leaders Arsenal, rekindling their hope to Win the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta has squandered promising starts in two previous seasons, letting Pep Guardiola overhaul and claim the Premier League title. Now, a third such occurrence seems realistic, which would once again hand Guardiola another chance to Win the Premier League.
During Guardiola’s tenure, Man City has won 6 Premier League titles in 7 years, a remarkable feat in their pursuit to Win the Premier League. Only the first title was secured by leading the entire season, finishing with a perfect 100 points to successfully Win the Premier League.
For the other five titles, Man City came from behind to Win the Premier League. Streaks of 14 wins in 2019, 15 in 2021, and 12 in both 2022 and 2023 fueled their comebacks to Win the Premier League.
The Daily Mail analyzes that focusing on mid-to-late season performance, which is crucial to Win the Premier League, Guardiola first prioritizes full rest for his squad in summer. Usually, clubs give international players from summer tournaments 3 weeks off.
But Guardiola’s Man City sometimes grants them a month’s rest, with some players yet to return even as the Community Shield approaches. He accepts early-season losses, treating the first weeks as preparation. This, he believes, helps maintain form in the season’s crucial mid-to-late stages, laying the groundwork to Win the Premier League.
This summer, Man City competed in the Club World Cup until June 30. After exiting in the round of 16, Guardiola still gave the players a month off. As a result, they only played 2 pre-season games before the Premier League kicked off on August 16. In the 2nd and 3rd rounds, Man City lost consecutively to Tottenham and Brighton, a shaky start that raised doubts about their ability to Win the Premier League.
A key reason this time was that Guardiola’s newly formed coaching staff lacked sufficient time to make players understand new tactical nuances that are vital to Win the Premier League. Gradually, though, the Liverpool-style pressing brought by new assistant manager Pep Lijnders has been grasped by the players. Bernardo Silva set an example with greater running coverage.
He has led young new signings to adapt to the new tactical requirements, a key step in their bid to Win the Premier League. Recently, Man City has secured 5 consecutive league wins and 7 in all competitions, a resurgence that has put them back in contention to Win the Premier League.
Man City & Arsenal
Arsenal, by contrast, has slowed down and seen a slump in form, clinging to their narrow lead with successive narrow victories. Watching Man City notch convincing 3-goal wins regularly, must Mikel Arteta be worried about losing his own chance to Win the Premier League?
Summary:
This article examines Man City’s 6 Premier League titles in 7 years, uncovering their core winning strategy: prioritizing mid-to-late-season strength over early momentum. Under Guardiola, the team allows summer competition players a month’s rest instead of intensive pre-season training, reserving energy for key stages to secure 5 comeback titles. This season, after a sluggish start due to late summer competitions and tactical tweaks, Man City recovered with consecutive wins to rejoin the title race, with Arsenal’s slump highlighting their edge and putting Guardiola back in control.
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