Pep’s exit has robbed City of their aura

 Manchester City may take a long time to regain their aura of invincibility after the loss of Pep Guardiola.

“You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”

Manchester City fans are thinking of that line from Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi right now.

What’s gone is Pep Guardiola. He went at the end of last season, but it seems like he’s only just left.

They gave him a grand farewell, even naming the newly-opened top deck of the North Stand in his honour.

But it’s only now, after they’ve played a domestic game and the familiar figure is no longer on the touchline, that the realisation is sinking in.

The absence of the unmistakable, elegant but manic figure gesticulating wildly on the touchline was keenly felt last Sunday.

Sorely missed by TV viewers as well as fans in Cardiff, but most of all by the players in that Community Shield drubbing from Arsenal.

It was like a family gathering after a death – and it’s the head of the family that’s missing.

City certainly played like they’re missing him. And not just him, but also skipper and star man, Rodri, whose departure was not unconnected.

Losing two towering pillars of the club is already looking like carelessness.

John Stones, Nathan Aké and Bernardo Silva have also left. Although fading forces, they took encyclopaedias of footballing skill and trophy-winning knowhow with them.

And spare a thought for £116 million new boy Elliot Anderson, who thought he would be learning from the game’s guru, only to find those unique insights are no longer on the curriculum.

City have had time to get used to the void created, but the first post-Pep domestic match week could hardly have gone any worse.

Embarrassed by Arsenal, losing skipper Rodri, just as he’s come back to his best, and then Pep pops up on the new Amazon Prime drama, The Beautiful Obsession.

Although revealing some negativity, it’s a reminder of the passion, drama and intensity of Guardiola’s reign, all of which has been lost.
On the evidence of that game, City have also lost their aura.

The thankless task of trying to fill those unfillable Guccis has fallen to Enzo Maresca, a former disciple of the great man, who has tasted success of his own.

Unfortunately for him, his trophies are easy to sneeze at: the World Club Cup and the European Conference League with Chelsea, as well as a Championship title with Leicester.

But the 46-year-old Italian has gone into this with his eyes open, incurring Chelsea’s wrath by approaching City during his stint at Stamford Bridge.

He is no mug, but you can’t help feel he’s a David Moyes in the making – trying the impossible task of following one of the game’s immortals.

And he earned plaudits for bringing on City’s juniors when working at The Etihad.

He does have plenty of talent at his disposal and the exciting Moroccan midfielder Ayyoub Bouhaddi, 18, appears on the verge of signing.

This is an area that clearly needs bolstering and France international Manu Kone is also on the wanted list.

Anderson, whose stats are impressive, cost a lot, but he’s not the sort who sets the game alight and hardly scores.

That they are still frantically wheeling and dealing is not a good sign. And they’re still trying to offload those who haven’t quite made it but for whom they can get a sizable fee.

Tijjani Reijnders has already gone to Saudi. Nico Gonzales, Omar Marmoush and Savinho seem sure to follow out of the door.

But Rayan Cherki, mysteriously underused by France at the World Cup, will be champing at the bit to prove Didier Deschamps wrong.

Phil Foden should also have a few points to prove. He didn’t even make Thomas Tuchel’s England squad but was given a big new contract by City in the hope he can be revitalised.

But just where does such a fly-by-night talent fit in?

At least Erling Haaland is still there, having conclusively proved that he is not a big-game bottler.

In goal, even the great Gianluigi Donnarumma looked dodgy against Arsenal, but then 25 seconds isn’t much time to settle into a new season.

Of more concern is his back-up. Geronimo Rulli, a journeyman 34-year-old Argentinian from Marseille, feels like a downgrade from James Trafford.

City collected a healthy £50m from Leeds for a player rated as a future England No.1. But now they have a man 11 years older who has never made it big.

They’re not quite as secure between the posts as when Ederson was there, backed up by Stefan Ortega.

The squad is nowhere near as deep as Arsenal’s and Jeremy Doku will be out for a while.

Besides last weekend’s statement victory, the Gunners are buying up stars from other EPL clubs, adding Ezri Konsa to Bruno Guimaraes, deals that weaken rivals and make them even firmer favourites to retain their title.

When City were reviving under Pep earlier this year, we certainly didn’t expect this season to be a one-horse race. But that’s what it’s looking like unless Maresca can get the new midfield to click.

In Haaland and Antoine Semenyo, he does possess two of the league’s most dynamic front men.

But he will need time to get his ideas across and mount a challenge to Mikel Arteta’s well-oiled machine.

Whether he gets it either from the fans or his bosses is not guaranteed.

How patient they will be in the new Pep Guardiola Stand, opened for the great man’s final home game last season, is anyone’s guess.

It means that 61,000 fans, instead of 53,400, can attend a stadium that even under Pep was often dubbed the “Emptyhad”.

Maresca, who cut a forlorn figure on Sunday, will be aware of the consequences if it’s anything but full for the new season.

City fans, spoilt rotten by the trophy-laden Pep years, will expect success to continue.

And of course there are still the 130 charges hanging over the club. They deny any wrongdoing, but the wait will soon be longer than WWI.
Whatever happens, without Pep, they are beginning to realise what they had.

Paradise may have been lost, but as the song goes, they shouldn’t put up a parking lot! - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.