Manchester City Dynasty reached a crossroads

Guardiola's words often contain exaggeration or irony, or both, so his words can always trigger different interpretations. However, when he evaluated the worst season of his coaching career, he declared: "I am very happy to fail." If this "failure" is placed in the background of his previous 15 years of coaching career, he will win 12 league championships, win various triple championships, win three Champions Leagues, and set many records. Then, this is exactly the extraordinary benchmark that Guardiola sets for himself.

Time goes back a year ago, and it is generally believed that Manchester City will win five consecutive championships in the English League without an unprecedented victory. However, the reality is that Manchester City finally stumbled to third place. They only ranked 22nd in the Champions League group stage, lost to Riyadh Crescent in the Club World Cup, and lost to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final. The team suffered five consecutive losses, losing nine in 12 games. In one of the other three games, Feyenoord was tied with a 3-0 lead. The performance throughout the season was much lower than any reasonable expectations.

At this time of storm, Guardiola chose to renew her contract. Despite witnessing the collapse of the strong team and knowing that his capable ally Begiristan will step down as football director, he is shrouded in the shadow of the hearings of the Premier League's 115 (more precisely, 130) allegations. This is an extraordinary manifestation of loyalty, or it may be a kind of stubbornness.

Guardiola has confirmed that he will rest for a while after leaving Manchester City. He once again showed his exaggerated style, saying that it may last for 15 years, suggesting that he may have returned to the coaching seat in his seventies, but this famous coach who had no need to prove anything seems to have an unfinished career.

Part of this is the collapse of Manchester City last season. Today, Liverpool is regarded as the number one hottest and has huge investments. The era of Manchester City's domination may have ended, or last season was an exception. As the great empire builder, Guardiola needed to recover lost land.

He is the longest-standing coach in the Premier League, and his situation is quite comparable to the first two "evergreens". Ferguson successfully built three great Manchester United dynasties, while Wenger created two generations of glory at Arsenal; while their successors performed well, they were hard to be considered great, and often stopped at third or fourth place.

Now, it is undoubtedly the third generation of Manchester City Legion created by Guardiola. His second-generation lineup has disintegrated. De Bruyne did not receive the new contract, Kyle Walker was sold to Burnley, and Gallish became an abandoned son. This is equivalent to losing two captains and a signing worth £100 million. The third former captain, Gundogan, may also fade out of the starting eleven players. Revolutionary goalkeeper Ederson enters his final year in his contract and will also face competition from returning Trafford.

Manchester City has spent 300 million pounds to reorganize the lineup and signed ten new players in 2025. Both figures are of great significance: not only show the huge scale of reconstruction, but also confirms Chairman Mubarak's reflection. He admitted that the club was not "strong" enough in the transfer market last summer window, and underestimated the urgency of the aging of the lineup and urgently needed a blood change. But their budget had to be diversified: when Liverpool spent £100 million to sign Wilz, the transfer fee of only Marmush of Manchester City was more than £50 million.

Among the four new players in the winter window, perhaps only Marmush can be ranked among the top eleven, and it has not been confirmed yet. Among the six generals in the summer window, Reindez and Cherky have both strength and cost-effectiveness. However, they will be compared with Gundogan and De Bruyne at their peak: even if they are excellent enough, they will still be downgraded. Another problem is that despite the large number of newcomers, Walker's position still has no clear successor. In addition, although Guardiola has a group of excellent players (even more than he expected), there may be too few core candidates who can lock in the starter. He has the right to choose, but last season it wasn't always possible to make the right choice among the diverse options. He has six central defenders candidates, and there are at least six contenders in midfield and wing positions.

Only two people can firmly sit in the main force. Haaland missed 40 days last season and played for a team with a poor performance, but still scored 34 goals. The most imaginative suspense is: if Rodri stays healthy, can he cover up the team's flaws and give the team to the championship throne on his own? Now, the Golden Globe winner has made a strong return. Manchester City is also eager to see Phil Foden's recovery: this 2024 footballer actually played a lot last season, but rarely had the courageous state of the previous season.

Guardiola, Foden, Haaland, and Rodri could have become the cornerstone of winning the championship again. However, for a team that is in the interweaving period of recession and transformation, if it cannot regain the chemistry that has driven the glorious past, the new season is likely to be another mixed season.

Because, for Manchester City, who is used to the protection of the past, this is already an unknown era.