Manchester City Anticipates Turbulence at the Start of the Season

WOLVERHAMPTON, FRIDAY — Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has already warned ahead of the new season that his team will not be welcomed with the usual red carpet. There are many factors that could potentially disturb the comfort of City's "flight," especially at the beginning of the English Premier League season.

City will begin the 2025-2026 season with an away match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux Stadium on Saturday (16/8/2025) at 23:30 WIB. Guardiola's team arrives with the shadow of last season's failure, having finished without a major trophy for the first time since 2016-2017.

"The Citizens" are eager to rise again. They are undergoing a complete overhaul during the off-season by bringing in many new players, including midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri. Behind the scenes, Pepjin Lijnders, a former assistant coach at Liverpool, has also been recruited.

The new era of City is marked by the departure of two veteran players who were the face of the club during the Guardiola era, namely Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker. Jack Grealish, who once led City to glory in the UEFA Champions League, has been loaned to Everton. Guardiola is restructuring his squad.

Change, especially drastic change, certainly requires an adaptation period. City does not have that. "There is a positive feeling, but this is not like a season that is welcomed with a red carpet. There will always be problems, and we must be able to overcome them. The target for this season is to challenge ourselves," said Guardiola.

The biggest question mark arises from De Bruyne's departure. How will City fill the void left by a player who has contributed 108 goals and 177 assists? De Bruyne was the main brain in Guardiola's attacking system. Striker Erling Haaland heavily relied on the ball supply from De Bruyne.

The gap will be attempted to be filled by two new players simultaneously, Reijnders and attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki. At AC Milan, Reijnders has become the driving force of the team's attack through his active movements into the penalty area. The Dutch national team player scored 10 goals and provided 5 assists in Serie A last season.

When Reijnders plays as a "number 8" midfielder like Ilkay Guendogan, Cherki takes on the role of a pure playmaker. Cherki relies on creativity and precise passes to create opportunities. This was evident as he recorded 20 assists across all competitions with Lyon last season.

However, the adjustment will not be as easy as imagined. Reijnders and Cherki both come from different leagues. They also have to meet the high standards set by Guardiola. During the preseason training session, Cherki was reprimanded by the manager for being careless every time he lost the ball.

Reijnders has looked more promising so far. The older brother of Indonesian national team player Eliano, immediately contributed two goals in the preseason match against Palermo last Sunday. The player, who only played for 45 minutes, even came close to scoring a hat trick in City's emphatic 3-0 victory.

The recruitment of Lijnders as Guardiola's assistant is particularly intriguing. Lijnders, under Klopp at Liverpool, was renowned for his hyper-aggressive playing style known as gegenpressing. When out of possession, they sought to win the ball back quickly and attack as quickly as possible in the chaos.

That philosophy is quite different from Guardiola's, who relies on possession and a well-structured positional play. The manager appears to want to create a new idea. Throughout last season, Guardiola often praised the straightforward playing style of Liverpool and Newcastle United as embodiments of modern football.

Reijnders stated that they are currently focused on training to deal with opponents who prefer to "park the bus." "We are looking for ways to counter teams with very low defensive blocks. We are also being trained to react when losing the ball. How to regain possession as quickly as possible," he said.

Details of the tactical approach could also be altered. Guardiola has Ait-Nouri, a full-back. City lacks the profile of a wing-back, who tends to support the attack. Josko Gvardiol, a center-back, is usually the left-back.

Non-technical factors are also disrupting City's adaptation. Due to the 2025 Club World Cup, City only began their preseason training camp in early August. They have also played only one preseason match. Meanwhile, competing teams, such as Liverpool and Arsenal, have been preparing since last month.

City's star midfielder, Rodri, is still unable to play after being absent for nearly the entire last season. The 2024 Ballon d'Or winner is still in recovery from an injury sustained during the Club World Cup. Rodri is likely to return only after the international break in September.

Despite these limitations, City is still quite fortunate. Their first opponent, Wolves, is in a worse situation. Wolves are doubted to perform at their best in the new season after losing Ait-Nouri and striker Matheus Cunha. Both players played a crucial role for them last season. (AP/REUTERS)