Two wins from two is exactly what the doctor ordered and Guardiola will have been pleased with the results at the end of the game. However, City were not as totally dominant against Sheffield United particularly, and in some respects Fulham, as the Catalan coach wanted.
Against the Blades, City showed great character to pick up the three points but when the hosts equalised it felt as though lessons had not been learnt from Nottingham Forest the season prior. As for Fulham, if not for a blatantly poor decision from VAR, City would have gone into the break level and we could have seen a very different outcome.
Therefore once Guardiola returns to Manchester, there will be certain things he will want to work on. At the training ground, you expect him to be hard at work making tactical tweaks ahead of West Ham but perhaps the biggest bonus City will receive is his man-management.
Guardiola&aposs ability to rouse his troops sometimes slips underneath the carpet in favour of focusing on his tactical brilliance but it should not be ignored how vital this is to City&aposs form. Erling Haaland spoke at the weekend about this and how it helps raise his game.
He told L&aposEquipe: “Pep demands a lot from you. You can&apost get sloppy with a coach this demanding.
“That&aposs his way of managing. In any case, to develop and progress, it is better to have the whole truth in a very direct way. We can say it, sometimes it&aposs brutal. But I like that. It shows that he is totally involved and passionate.”
Unfortunately, there is only so much Guardiola can portray on video calls to his players in comparison to putting his point across in person. This benefit should City push from strength-to-strength in the next few weeks.
