On Sunday, it was surprising that a team like Leicester, second last in the Premier League, won possession of the ball. at Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. And many criticize the Catalan coach for finally stopping his deep crisis of results by winning 0-2 at the King Power Stadium even though he rejects one of his main principles of his football philosophy.
City only had 46.4% possession against Leicester certain to Guardiola’s 500th game on the Citizens bench since it arrived in summer 2016. It’s the first time it’s happened this season, but there’s more to come, more than meets the eye.
Indeed it is the 14th meeting, among 323 with Guardiola as coach, that City have lost possession of the Premier League. Of course, only five of the current English champions have fewer balls.
Fewest possessions of his entire career
In particular, 46.4% of the King Power Stadium was surpassed only in the Premier 36.5% in 2023 against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, which happens to be the game with the least possession of the ball in Guardiola’s entire career as a coach.
37.3% against Brighton in 2021, 38.1% against Wolverhampton in 2019, 44.1% against Liverpool in 2021 and 45.4% against Chelsea also in 2021, all in the Premier , they also surpassed City’s 46.4% possession in Leicester.
In two of these matches, City suffered and were left with a player sent off in the first fifteen minutes of play: goalkeeper Ederson against Wolverhampton (12′) and defender Joao Cancelo against Brighton (10′). The matches were lost from home in both cases by 3-2
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
