Guardiola's 3000 days in charge of Man City – the numbers behind ...
On Wednesday, Pep Guardiola celebrates the famous milestone of 3,000 days in charge of Manchester City.
And, would you believe, all the statistics show just how much success he has had during his time at the Etihad Stadium. He, his staff and his players, no matter who they have been over the years, have won 18 trophies during that time, including a 100-point season, a domestic treble, a ‘normal’ treble and four Premier League titles in a row.
Unsurprisingly there is an army of stats to demonstrate the scale of City’s dominance.
In the Premier League, for example, City have won 30 matches more than their closest rivals — Liverpool, naturally — in these 3,000 days, and 69 more than Manchester United.
In that time, their goal difference is 140 better than Liverpool and 365 better than United’s. Points-wise City have 62 more than Liverpool and 173 more than United.
No surprises there, then, but this one might be: the two players to have combined for the most goals during Guardiola’s time at City in the Premier League are Kevin De Bruyne and… Gabriel Jesus.
With 19 goal combinations, they have three more between them than the more obvious pairing of De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero, and four more than the possibly even more obvious pairing of De Bruyne and Erling Haaland. De Bruyne features in the top four partnerships, having combined with Raheem Sterling 15 times, too.
As a reminder of how different Guardiola’s City teams have looked over the past eight years, the fifth pairing on the list is Sterling and Leroy Sane (13). They wrought havoc in those early, 100-point winning days when life was simpler and wingers went wider, dribbling to the byline and, apparently, crossing across the face of the box for the other one to tap in.
That does seem to be something that Guardiola wants to move back towards this season, by trying to play newer faces Savinho and Jeremy Doku on their ‘natural’ sides, but they took it upon themselves to switch back during the Premier League opener against Chelsea last month. Still, it is something to keep an eye on as Guardiola constantly looks to evolve or, in some cases, go back to something that other teams will have forgotten that they do.
Sterling is still in the top five for league appearances despite leaving City two years ago, which shows how important he was for so long, but the team really has changed so much over the years, both in terms of their style of play and the players themselves.
The fact that Haaland is in the top three City scorers of Guardiola’s reign, having signed just two years ago, helps tell that story. Above him are Aguero and, at the top of the list with 85, Sterling. Haaland only needs 14 more to surpass Sterling, meaning he will get there in about a fortnight.
Another example of the change at City is that Fernandinho, the player once considered irreplaceable in the heart of midfield, has appeared in and started fewer Premier League matches than Rodri.
Like Fernandinho five years ago, one of last season’s main talking points was about how City could not get a result without Rodri — with some justification. But despite the Spaniard playing just 45 minutes this season, City have the only 100 per cent record in the league.
That goes to show how quickly City can confound our expectations: there once was a time when a midfield pairing of Rodri and Ilkay Gundogan was considered a bad thing.
Fernandinho has the most Premier League red cards (four) during this period, including two in four league appearances during Guardiola’s first season, while Rodri and Bernardo Silva have received the most yellow cards (32 each) — two ahead of Fernandinho. The only player to receive more than one red card in the league other than the Brazilian is Joao Cancelo.
Gabriel Jesus cropping up in the goal contribution stakes is a reminder of the impact he had for City during his rather curious spell at the club — the striker still ranks 11th for the most league appearances (159) during Guardiola’s reign, despite having left at the same time as Sterling. He also combined for two goals with Jack Grealish, even though their City careers feel like they exist in different eras. The same could be said of Nolito and Yaya Toure, who combined for one league goal, apparently.
Sixty of Jesus’ City appearances in the league were from the bench, meaning he has been Guardiola’s most-used substitute, although Phil Foden (57) is sure to move past him soon. That is indicative of the utility role Jesus played — sometimes left, sometimes right, sometimes No 9, sometimes false nine, sometimes not playing at all — but only four players have scored more for City than his 58 league strikes.
Goalkeeper Ederson is, unsurprisingly, the City player with the most appearances, starts and minutes under Guardiola, while the modern greats — Aguero, David Silva and Vincent Kompany, who all have statues outside the Etihad — played 293 times in the league for Guardiola between them.
The players have come and gone but City have remained at the top. From the summer of 2016 onwards, Arsenal and Liverpool have scored five or more goals in a Premier League match 17 times. City have done it 37 times.
Of course, no discussion on Guardiola at City would be complete without money, so in his 3,000 days in charge, the Premier League champions have a net spend of €691 million (£584m; $768m at current rates).
For comparison, in the same period, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United all have higher net spends, but Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur’s are lower.
Interestingly, City’s five-year net spend is the lowest of all clubs who have been in the Premier League across those five seasons, which suggests that plenty of money was spent in the early years of Guardiola’s reign and that City have been much more parsimonious in recent years.
Oh, and Aymeric Laporte, the only City player past or present to discuss the Premier League charges in any great detail, made 115 starts for Guardiola in the league.
It has been a wild ride indeed!
(Top photo: Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Sam Lee is the Manchester City correspondent for The Athletic. The 2020-21 campaign will be his sixth following the club, having previously held other positions with Goal and the BBC, and freelancing in South America. Follow Sam on Twitter @SamLee
