5 dramatic changes at Manchester City that allowed them to succeed in 2017/18

#4 The older stars have adapted to Pep’s newer ways

City's older stars like Sergio Aguero (left) and David Silva (right) have been reinvigorated this season

While Guardiola removed some ageing stars from City’s squad in the form of their full-backs and longtime goalkeeper Joe Hart, the treatment of his side’s other older players has shown that he’s not the type of manager to make changes for the sake of it. He’s also shown that he’s a patient man who’s willing to wait for older stars to adapt to his new way of playing the game.

Vincent Kompany, David Silva and Sergio Aguero have all been at the Etihad for years now – Kompany since 2008, Silva since 2010 and Aguero since 2011, and after 2016/17 it looked like their time might’ve been running out at the club. Kompany only managed 10 Premier League appearances due to injury problems and the rumour was that Aguero and Silva would be phased out in favour of new Guardiola signings Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Jesus.

That hasn’t been the case, though. Instead Guardiola has recognised the need for experience in his squad, and he’s given all three time to adapt to his style, something they’ve been successful at doing.

Kompany has made 20 appearances in all competitions this season – 6 more than the previous one; Aguero has scored 21 goals in 25 league games – a better average than his 20 in 30 games last season, and Silva has scored 9 in the league and made 11 assists – an improvement on 4 goals and 7 assists last season despite playing 6 fewer games this time around.

The stronger output from these older stars has definitely been a positive change from 2016/17 and has clearly contributed to City’s success this season.