#5 The Pep Factor – Viva La Revolución
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Perhaps the biggest advantage City will have this season, is that they will be led by the architect of the best team in the history of club football. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe the impact that Pep has had on European football in his relatively short time as a manager.
He has spawned the most significant tactical revolution that football has seen in the last 30 years. His work at the Camp Nou was the ultimate culmination of the ideas of Johan Cruyff and several South American managers such as Marcelo Bielsa. The result of this was a legendary team whose success and flair will be remembered forever.
That team also happened to feature the greatest player ever. There are many concepts and elements from those Barcelona teams, regarding control and pressing that many teams have adopted today.
Even though there are some skeptics, who claim that he hasn’t had the same level of success since he left Barcelona, it is important to note that his systems have still kept evolving and progressing.
It is also important to note that Joachim Lowe borrowed heavily from Pep’s Bayern blueprint, to win the 2014 World Cup. The reason he was able to do this was because Germany had essentially the same spine as the champions league winning Bayern team of 2013. He has also shown several tactical innovations at City, which have given them more control and possession.
