How Guardiola transformed the Premier League tactically
Ten years on, it would be more controversial to suggest a top-flight team doesn't need a No 1 who is comfortable with the ball at their feet. By the early 2020s, most Premier League teams had replaced traditional shot-stoppers with impressive passers - with varying degrees of success. At Manchester United , David de Gea was succeeded by Andre Onana.
Aaron Ramsdale was replaced by David Raya at Arsenal , and Chelsea went from Edouard Mendy to Kepa Arrizabalaga to Robert Sanchez. The list goes on. Yet Guardiola has been at City so long, we have started to see a reversal of the trend.
With the rise in man-to-man high pressing from goal-kicks, the risk associated with building out from the back is higher than before. Space for attacking sides is further up the pitch. At City, Ederson - a player who embodied Guardiola's tactics - was replaced by Gianluigi Donnarumma, who is a less capable passer.
Donnarumma's one-against-one goalkeeping had been pivotal to Paris St-Germain's Champions League success last season, and Guardiola believed a change in style made his signing worthwhile. Gianluigi Donnarumma and Erling Haaland - City's goalkeeper and main forward this season - are vastly different to those such as Manuel Neuer and Lionel Messi who Guardiola coached earlier in his career Against high-pressing sides, City have - at times - still built up short by asking midfielders such as Bernardo Silva and Rodri to drop deep and pick up the ball directly from the goalkeeper. It is reminiscent of five-a-side football - and a trend we might see others copy over the next few seasons.
The upside of having an elite goalkeeper became - in City's mind - more valuable in tight games, and rivals taken the same view, with Manchester United replacing Onana with Senne Lammens - a more traditional keeper - in what feels like a decade-long full-circle moment. Against Leeds' high press, to compensate for City's less technical keeper and central defenders compared to the likes of Ederson, John Stones and Aymeric Laporte, Guardiola used Bernardo Silva and Rodri in centre-back positions from goal-kicks City broke the record for Premier League points in 2018 - amassing 100 as Guardiola won the competition for the first time. Injuries to big-money signings left City without options at full-back early in the season, so Guardiola had to adapt.