Pep Guardiola, The Key Behind Manchester City's Success

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. (Photo: Twitter @ManCity)

JAKARTA - Manchester City has been one of the most successful teams in European competitions in recent years. Last season, the club nicknamed The Citizens was able to reach the treble winners.

This cannot be separated from the manager's cold hand, Pep Guardiola. At least that's what City's former player, Shaun Wright-Philips believes.

"I don't think there are any key players in this team. I think Pep Guardiola is building a team, not this team depending on the individual abilities of the players," said Shaun Wright-Philips at Manchester City's Treble Trophy Tour press conference, Thursday, September 28 yesterday.

Wright-Philips said, although a number of star players like Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne were unable to play, that was not a problem. Guardiola has always been able to find a substitute whose role is no less crucial.

"Haaland could not be fielded, this team still had Julian Alvarez. If Kevin doesn't play, Alvarez can replace his role well. In addition, this team has Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden (which performed quite well)," said Shaun Wright-Philips, quoted by Antara.

The owner of 36 appearances in the England national team revealed that it would be very difficult to find a replacement for Pep Guardiola if the Spanish man left the Etihad Stadium.

"I didn't imagine it, but it will be hard (to see Pep leave). It will be very difficult to find a replacement. If that happened, Manchester City as a club I think they have prepared a replacement," said Shaun, who is the original player fostered by the Manchester City academy.

The Citizens won the treble winners in the 2021/2022 season. Manchester City won three club trophies in the last season, namely the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League.

At the beginning of this season, City had already received an additional trophy, namely the UEFA Super Cup.