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Patience is a virtue in Pep Guardiola’s footballing philosophy.
But the argument began that Manchester City actually tended to be very patient, more often than not.
Perhaps no football club in Europe has such an unwavering ambition to make the image of a match as controlled and undramatic as Manchester City.
After all, they have also been very good at doing this in recent years. Whether it’s by washing down on the opponent and punching a match, a double encounter in the first quarter, or simply by unscrewing the valve and patiently waiting for the opponent to run out of air.
After losing a sloppy point to Nottingham at the weekend, in which there was a lack of ability to turn a controlled game into goals, one can still imagine City would want to go out energized and hungry for revenge in a boiling Red Bull arena and use the first. Way to dismiss the skilful RB Leipzig.
but not. Here they wanted to unscrew the valve.
Battle of patience
Safe and controlled patient was the passwords during the first half. Knowing that the opportunity will appear sooner or later.
Certainly, Leipzig were more or less invited into that match picture by opting for (or feeling forced into?) such a withdrawn approach as they did. Of course they were very patient.
But when Xaver Schlager lost a minimal blood alcohol concentration after just under half an hour, the guests immediately took advantage of it.
Grealish’s quick pass. Smooth Gündogan joint. Quit Silva Mahrez.
Every now and then, the lead seemed almost secured, given how controlled the match picture already is. All that could have been expected was that goal-happy Erling Braut Haaland (whose touch of the ball could count as one-handed until then) would be rewarded for his patience with another goal.
If there is any team that can radiate that security, it is Manchester City.
Although it has been proven wrong recently.
It can’t be safe against Leipzig
After a disastrous start to the season, RB Leipzig really hit the ground running under Marco Rose, who took over as coach a month into the season. From mid-September to mid-February, Rasenballsport did not lose a single match. And despite a disastrous start, RB Leipzig is putting up an incredibly even battle for the Bundesliga.
In other words, RB Leipzig is a gritty team that can actually threaten the best. A team you can’t afford to feel insecure about no matter what the match looks like, especially not just with an individual goal advantage.
Slowly, slowly, the German positions began to climb during the second half. Slowly, slowly, that tie drew closer. More and more risks were taken. City’s once-extremely long pass combinations are getting shorter and shorter. And when the hugely gifted Josko Gvardiol topped it off with a well-aimed Halstenberg cross, the valve tightened again. At least enough for a fully live rematch that we look forward to in a couple of weeks.
There are no one-time events
Manchester City and Pep Guardiola? They can say that they have lulled themselves back into a false sense of security and have fallen in love with him.
Just as Chris Wood scored 1-1 for Nottingham in the dying minutes of last weekend’s Premier League match. Just like when Demarai Gray found Everton’s receipt after just over an hour’s play on New Year’s Eve.
It is becoming increasingly clear that these are not one-off inconsequential operations for City.
Are they very ineffective? It is hard to accuse a team whose strikers scored 26 goals in 23 league games of incompetence.
Are they collectively worse at creating chances with the direct attacking personality of Erling Braut Haaland as the centre-forward? It’s hard to blame them for that either, with the same obvious counterarguments. Although some want to describe their occasional fears with this analysis.
Addicted to Kevin De Bruyne? Maybe, but there’s no immediate lack of creativity even when it’s missing, like this evening.
Do they, believe it or not, have a lot of patience with their offense? Do they often feel safe?
There we may already be close to the answer.