O Manchester Citychampion of Premier League for the fourth year in a row, it is a constellation of stars at the service of a group perfectly assembled by coach Pep Guardiola: lethal attackers (Foden, De Bruyne and Haaland), reliable reserves such as goalkeeper Stefan Ortega and a newcomer Josko Gvardiol who has integrated very well good.
Phil Foden, brilliance in attack
The left-footed player from Stockport (on the outskirts of Manchester) lit up City’s game with his dribbling, accurate shots and statistics (19 goals, including a double in Sunday’s title win against West Ham, and eight assists).
The number 47 shirt, which he has tattooed on his neck, was a perfect interim in the absence of maestro Kevin De Bruyne, who spent the first half of the season recovering from injury.
At 23 years old, Foden is no longer the joker that Guardiola used in moments of emergency, like last year. This became clear when De Bruyne recovered and Foden maintained his role in the starting team.
This season he sat at the table of the most experienced and was voted the best player of the 2023-2024 Premier League season.
Ortega, a plan B that worked
England’s second-best defense, behind Arsenal, relied throughout the season on Ederson, their Brazilian starting goalkeeper. But his replacement, Stefan Ortega, responded well when given the responsibility of taking over the role.
The 31-year-old German had to go into emergency mode against Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and especially Tottenham on Tuesday. This last duel was crucial to winning the title and Ortega shone with several saves, especially one in which he came face to face with South Korean striker Son Heung-min in the 86th minute.
“Ortega, tonight, allowed them to win the Premier League title (…) If he hadn’t made those saves when it was 1-0, Arsenal would have won the championship”, analyzed Jamie Carragher, former Liverpool player and now commentator Sky Sports.
“It’s really, really, really good,” praised Guardiola when he arrived in mid-2022 from German side Arminia Bielefeld, who had been relegated to the second division. “Our goalkeeping coach made an incredible decision to bring him here,” he said.
De Bruyne-Haaland, infernal duo
Kevin De Bruyne, injured since the first round, only reappeared in the Premier League in January, but made up for lost time. The attacking midfielder scored four goals and provided ten assists in the 17 games he played.
The 32-year-old Belgian became the second best assistant in the history of the English Championship. He achieved that milestone on Tuesday, against Tottenham, with a pass to Erling Haaland to open the scoring.
His 23-year-old Norwegian partner knows how to make the most of ‘KDB’s work better than anyone. Haaland scored 27 goals in 31 games played in this Premier League and, for the second consecutive season, he was the tournament’s top scorer.
Furthermore, he has a special merit, as he missed two months due to injury. At some stages he was criticized for his lack of effectiveness, but he finished the season strong: nine goals in seven games.
Gvardiol, getting better and better
Manchester City, which was the European champion, invested almost one hundred million dollars (around R$554 million at the current price) according to the press to sign Josko Gvardiol, then 21 years old and a RB Leipzig player, in the middle of last year. At first he had difficulty adapting and even Guardiola admitted it.
“He came to a team that had just won the triple crown and at the beginning he was a little shy, as if he didn’t want to ruin the structure that existed. His adaptation is a matter of time”, predicted the Catalan coach.
He improved throughout the season, managed to adapt and ended up convincing himself in the role of link man in midfield and even in finishing, with four goals scored since mid-April.
Rodri, the talisman
The 27-year-old defensive midfielder is a fundamental piece of the ‘citizen’ team, where in attack he has good numbers (8 goals, 9 assists) and for many he is a talisman.
With Rodri, the man who scored the historic Champions League title-winning goal in the final against Inter Milan a year ago, Manchester City have not lost a Premier League game since February 5, 2023, against Tottenham.
City have only lost three times this season in the league (against Wolverhampton, Arsenal and Aston Villa) and in all three cases Rodri did not play because he was serving a suspension.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
