"Pep Guardiola normalised the absurd": Man City manager hailed before "tricky" Premier League title hurdle against Bournemouth

Ahead of tonight’s Premier League clash between European-chasing Bournemouth and title hopefuls Manchester City, hear what the Sports Mole team have to say about the upcoming battle at the Vitality Stadium.

Oliver Thomas, Senior Reporter: ‘Semenyo vs. Truffert in tricky game for Man City’

I think it's possible (Bournemouth beating Man City). You look at how incredible Bournemouth have been. 16 games unbeaten. They have been fantastic for several months now.

But for City, spirits are understandably high after winning the FA Cup at the weekend. The final was certainly not a classic, not many clear-cut opportunities. I thought Chelsea performed reasonably well in that game, especially out of possession, nullifying City's threat.

But in the end, they got the job done. [Antoine] Semenyo scored that brilliant improvised backheel flick. This game was crying out for a special moment, and thankfully for City, Semenyo provided that.

Semenyo, of course, was signed from Bournemouth. As we expect, he'll be back to play against his former club. I think both Semenyo and [Marc] Guehi have made a huge impact for City since arriving in January.

Semenyo has scored 10 goals for City, 20 goals in all competitions including 10 that he scored for Bournemouth in the first half of the season.

I expect Semenyo to start. I expect Guardiola to name a strong team for this one as it's a must-win, with Arsenal winning against Burnley on Monday.

I think it'll be interesting to see if Semenyo does play on the right. He would likely come up against [Adrien] Truffert at Bournemouth, who's quite an attack-minded left-back who likes to push forward.

I think it'd be interesting to see if Semenyo will have a lot more space to drive forward on the right, or whether Truffert will have less freedom to roam forward if he's tasked with staying back and marking him, so that would be an interesting one to watch out for.

In terms of the title race, of course, City are still breathing down the necks of Arsenal, but a lot of City fans may be a bit frustrated by how that 3-3 draw at Everton came about and how that's shifted the narrative in this title race.

If they'd just avoided defeat in that game, they'd be so much closer now. Maybe the momentum and the confidence would be more with City, and City would probably have the edge on goal difference as well.

But it now looks like it's going to be Arsenal's title. I think even if City win this against Bournemouth, it's going to be difficult.

I think it's worth noting going into this one that City are unbeaten in 21 games in domestic competitions with just one defeat in 34, which is quite remarkable. Their last defeat coming against Man United back in January.

But that draw against Everton, at the moment, looks like could be a really damaging one for the title, so we'll have to wait and see. This game against Bournemouth is going to be a tricky one.

Oliver Thomas, Senior Reporter: ‘Guardiola is a genius who normalised the absurd’

This news for Man City is huge (Guardiola reportedly leaving). There's no way of sugarcoating this news from a Man City perspective, and from a football perspective.

I think in some ways, Man City fans have had the chance to prepare for this moment because of all the ongoing speculation. This has been going on for some time. Even though he's still got this contract until 2027, the rumours of him leaving a year earlier have been rife for a while now.

Now it looks like it's going to happen. It looks like Guardiola will leave after City's final Premier League game of the season at home to Aston Villa on Sunday. So, of course, from a Man City point of view, it's a huge disappointment that his time at the club looks to be coming to an end, but what a ride it's been for Man City, for Man City fans.

Since joining a decade ago now, Guardiola's won 20 trophies as Man City manager, so an average of two per season, six Premier League titles – who knows, maybe a seventh this season, I doubt it but we just never know – a record five League Cups, three FA Cups, including his latest win at the weekend against Chelsea, and one Champions League title as well as part of a historic treble winning season.

As well as all that, Man City became the first team in history to collect 100 points in a Premier League season, an unprecedented Centurion season, became the first team to win four English top-flight titles in a row, the first team to win all four domestic competitions in the same season, so records have just been tumbling in for City under Guardiola.

They've dominated English football for the vast majority of Guardiola's tenure and have been one of, if not the, strongest team in world football at some time, and it's all thanks to Guardiola.

Yes, people may turn around and say, well he's been given all these funds to sign a lot of new players, but we all know that several other clubs have had that luxury too.

There are a lot of managers as well who have joined top clubs and have not been successful. Guardiola simply doesn't fall into that category. He's been nothing short of sensational as a Man City manager.

He excelled at Barcelona, he's excelled at Bayern Munich, and he's certainly excelled at Man City.

What's interesting for me is I think a lot of City players have come out and have used the same word to describe Guardiola, to sum him up really as a manager, and that word is hunger.

From day one, Guardiola's had that hunger to win trophies, to be successful and to prove a point as well, because I think a lot of people were not necessarily convinced he'd succeed in England, but he's definitely proven those doubters wrong.

When you assess Guardiola's legacy, he's normalised the absurd. He's revolutionised football in ways that not many people would have expected, he’s made lots of bold choices that no one would have expected.

From a tactical standpoint, his style of football, what he's brought to the game, that's now implemented and replicated by lots of other managers in world football, at elite level, but also at grassroots level. You see kids on the parks trying out these tactics that Guardiola's created, really.

He's introduced things like the inverted full backs. He's made the false nine a bit more prominent, particularly in the English game, and he won a league title with a false nine as well. He's transformed players into world-class superstars, moved players into new positions that you wouldn't expect.

Look at Mateus Nunes, for example, playing at right-back. City needed a right-back this season to replace Kyle Walker, a club legend, and no-one expected Nunes to be the man chosen to do that, but Guardiola saw something in him.

He didn't quite like him playing in tight spaces in midfield, his natural position, but he's come on leaps and bounds as a right back playing in that defensive role. He's probably saved his career by playing so well in that position - again, that's thanks to Guardiola.

There are so many other examples. Off the top of my head, if you go back to the Centurion season, you've got Fabian Delph who played at left-back, naturally a midfielder. [Oleksandr] Zinchenko moved to left-back. He was signed by City to play as a winger initially. [Joao] Cancelo played as an inverted full-back. He was normally an advanced right-back but he's played a lot on the left.

Bernardo Silva has been so versatile for Guardiola, playing all kinds of positions. John Stones has drifted into midfield at times. That performance in the Champions League final was incredible. Many City fans will remember that.

Guardiola has just rewired English football. He's broken a plethora of records. He just sees football in a different way. He'll be sorely missed by, not just City fans, but I think English football fans.

The Premier League would be better with Guardiola in it, but I think now he just wants to take a step away, which is very disappointing from City's perspective.

Whether he's the greatest manager in Premier League history or the greatest of all time, that's up for debate. He has to be in the conversation. For me, he probably is.

Regardless of that, he'll be remembered as a genius by everyone associated with Man City.

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