Lee Dixon has claimed that there is one man at Manchester City that he reckons is quite tough to figure out.
This very trait that City possess is perhaps one of the reasons behind its success as they operate in a manner that is difficult to predict.
The treble-winners’ players possess this quality as well, such as Jeremy Doku, who is such a bag of tricks that it is only natural that defenders seem puzzled when coming up against him.
Lee Dixon says Pep Guardiola is “very difficult” to figure out
The same can be said about where Bernardo Silva plays, as he is often deployed in midfield or on the wing and in City’s 3-1 win against Arsenal last season, he was even utilised as a left-back.
The Gunners will certainly face issues when it comes to trying to figure the Sky Blues out as a team in totality.
But Lee Dixon has explained why Pep Guardiola is as challenging to figure out as he is while touching on how this might be a challenge for Mikel Arteta ahead of the contest between Manchester City and Arsenal.
“But as far as the game is concerned, I think there’s so much going on and so much went on last year, that it’s a real battle of the minds with the two managers. Because Pep [Guardiola], last year, I think did a job on Arsenal and with playing [Kevin] De Bruyne where he did and kind of giving him that free role, ‘go wherever you want’, and played him quite high up at times near [Erling] Haaland”, he said [via Squawka].
Dixon continued, “And I thought he did a real demolition job on Arsenal last year and so that’ll get Mikel [Arteta] thinking a bit about what he’s likely to do, and I think sometimes that’s what Pep likes. He likes the opposition coach to maybe overthink things and try and work out what he’s going to do.”
“And then sometimes he doesn’t do anything and you’re like, ‘Oh’. So, he’s a very difficult one to work out, and I think that’s probably Arteta’s biggest problem at the weekend because his team are playing incredibly well, they’re in brilliant form.”
Pep Guardiola could have surprises in store against Arsenal
In our view, Lee Dixon makes a fair point about Pep Guardiola and in all fairness, one of the many reasons why he has stayed at the top for as long as he has is because it is difficult to predict the decisions he will make.
Guardiola will likely make tactical changes, whether it be ahead of the game or even during the contest to test Arsenal’s resolve.
For instance, the £378,846-a-week man’s decision to move Phil Foden out to the left flank led to his winning goal against Manchester United and he would be open to making such decisions against the Gunners as well.
Similarly, in City’s 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield, Pep Guardiola made the surprising decision to drop Ruben Dias while also fielding Julian Alvarez on the left wing; which goes to show how bold and unpredictable he can be.
With how much is on the line in Sunday’s match, Guardiola could have something up his sleeve, potentially both tactically or in terms of his decision-making to bamboozle Arteta.