Coach Pep Guardiola did not break his philosophy even in a situation where there was concern about power loss.
I heard the shocking news of the transfer. Manchester City’s key defender Joao Cancelo has left the team. The destination was Bayern Munich. After the transfer in the 2019-20 season, the news of Cancelo’s transfer came as a shock to many people beyond Man City fans, as he was an undisputed main player except for one season. Why did Cancelu, who is considered the best player in the world beyond the league, be sent with a tight schedule left in the second half?
The reason was the feud with manager Guardiola. Cancelo’s position in the team has greatly decreased since the World Cup. His offensive power was still devastating, but he created a sense of insecurity in the defense, with an increasing frequency of big mistakes. In response, Guardiola chose Nathan Ake as the left fullback rather than Cancelo. In fact, among the six league games played after the World Cup, Cancelo played full-time only once.
This has been the cause. Cancelo was dissatisfied with his position and asked Guardiola to play. This led to discord. Reporter Jack Goheon, who is familiar with Man City news, told the British media ‘Daily Mail’, “The relationship between Cancelo and Guardiola deteriorated, and their heated discussions led to a shock loan. Cancelo has been dissatisfied with his playing time in recent weeks. I embraced it and raised my voice.” 안전놀이터
In the end, the feud was settled by transfer. Guardiola sent Cancelo a sign saying he could leave and pushed for a quick sale.
Although his position has declined recently, Cancelo is still a key player for Manchester City. Would he have had to send him to the point of causing trouble in a situation where there were no suitable alternative resources?
It was a decision that contained Guardiola’s ‘philosophy’. In managing players, he never retains players who are willing to leave the team or encourage discord. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a prime example. In the past, during his time at Barcelona, manager Guardiola ate with him.
He got good grades. Ibrahimovic scored 21 goals and 13 assists in 45 games, including the Cup. However, relations with manager Guardiola were not good. Tactically, the inclinations of the two were completely opposite, and their personalities did not match. After one season, Ibrahimovic left for AC Milan. Even after that, he also made negative remarks about Guardiola.
Also Raheem Sterling. He has grown tremendously at Manchester City, enough to be called Guardiola’s ‘favorite disciple’, and has led the team’s attack for a long time. However, his position decreased slightly last season, and he was dissatisfied with it. In the end, the transfer was promoted after the season, and Guardiola did not hold Sterling at all in the process.
In a way, Cancelu can be said to be a mixed case of the two players. This is because he was dissatisfied with his position and pushed for a transfer, and at the same time, a discord with manager Guardiola arose. From Guardiola’s point of view, this is an attitude that is unacceptable even for a player who is important to the team. Of course, Kanselu’s departure will be a big hit for Man City. However, with experience dealing with situations like this, Guardiola is looking for a new ‘solution’.