Britpop legend Noel Gallagher has managed to reignite a debate, and believe it or not, one that does not involve his brother Liam. Recently, following Manchester City’s routing of Arsenal in a match potentially deciding the fate of the two clubs perched atop the league table, the City loyalist made a statement that took social media by storm. He mentioned that City manager Pep Guardiola has revolutionised modern football and that the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson's contribution to football is somewhat overstated “since he didn’t invent anything”.
This hot take on a comparison that is complex, if not impossible, has divided the supporters of the two big Manchester clubs as well as the rest of the footballing world. My Kolkata dives into the world of these revolutionary managers and traces their evolution to figure out where they stand as architects of modern football.
Fergie time
Alex Ferguson started his managerial career with a nascent spell at East Stirlingshire and a three-year stay at St. Mirren. He transformed the stagnant second-division team and helped them win the Scottish First Division Championship by focusing on youngsters playing attacking football, which was not the trend then.
His introduction to fame, silverware and recognition came with his first major stint, with Aberdeen in 1978. He led Aberdeen to their first league win since 1955, in the 1979-80 season, establishing himself as a manager who commanded respect with his style, aggression and philosophy. Earning the epithet of ‘Furious Fergie’, he dotted his Aberdeen stint with silverware, which famously included the European Cup Winners’ Cup and the European Super Cup in 1982-1983. November 1986 saw him travel to England to take on a challenge that would shift the dynamics of European football for decades.
Alex Ferguson after Aberdeen’s 3-0 win in the 1986 Scottish Cup Final
At the helm of a Manchester United team that had finished second last in the previous season, Fergie was aware of the challenge ahead. By infusing a sense of discipline, bringing in new players and focusing on youth development, he helped United rediscover their customary flair. His first trophy in United colours was the FA Cup in 1990. What followed was a 26-year reign, decorated with trophies and records. A Scot had changed the face of English football forever.
Ferguson at Carrington, 1986
Pep : The journey
Following an illustrious career at FC Barcelona, Pep’s first managerial stint came with Barcelona B in 2007. After helping them win the league and promotion, Pep was announced as the successor to Frank Rijkaard as manager of the senior team in 2008. A chunk of the squad was offloaded and Guardiola steered the ship in a way that took many by surprise. Bringing in a set of tactical changes, alongside including fresh faces, Pep stormed through the season with a fresh outlook for the Catalans, winning the treble in his very first year in charge. Over the next four seasons, the tactical mastermind established Barcelona's dominance across Europe.
Pep hoisted by the Barcelona team at Camp Nou
Following a sabbatical, Pep joined forces with Bayern Munich in 2013. Once he had understood the ethos of the Bavarian team in the first few months, Guardiola turbo-charged Bayern into an attacking force to reckon with. His experimentation never affected the consistency of the solid squad. In Pep’s three years at Munich, the team won as many Bundesliga titles.
A players’ favourite: Pep celebrating with David Alaba and Jerome Boateng in Munich
The latest chapter in his managerial career began in 2016, when he set foot on English soil, with Manchester City. With a torrent of changes that upset the prevalent order, as he has always done, Pep reshaped the squad and worked out his plans and strategies, all of which took time. Shunned by impatient English fans and written off after a trophyless season, he resurrected himself by shattering every record in sight and guiding City to their third Premier League title, one that changed the landscape of modern English club football, with dominance of an order that is hard to replicate. By the fag end of the ongoing season it is clear that Pep has transformed Manchester City into serial winners who shuttle only between the topmost berths and casually break records.
Pep with the 2017-18 Premier League trophy
The Taskmaster vs The Madman
When Fergie stepped into the shoes of a manager, the footballing world believed a manager needed an iron hand and a headstrong no-nonsense approach. His focus on youth development, discipline, aggression, commitment and an unrelenting attitude would define him and his team till the last day of his managerial career. He brought in players like Steve Bruce, Mark Hughes and Peter Schmeichel, and then topped that up with French talisman Eric Cantona, and an even fresher set of young players like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and the Neville brothers, creating the legendary Class of ’92.
The Deadly Duo: Eric Cantona (left) with Alex Ferguson
What had helped Pep was the confidence Barcelona president Joan Laporta had in his team. Pep’s approach to football remains intensely mathematical till date. Experimentation, implementation and preparation make up his formula for success. He is never afraid to buck the trend and relies on one-on-one sessions with his players to ensure everyone is on board with his plans.
Both managers wanted things a certain way, and made sure they got as close to it as possible. Pep's decision to leave out club legends Samuel Eto'o, Ronaldinho and Deco from his plans, and eventually, striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic also, so that Lionel Messi could operate freely in a central attacking position resulted in a tectonic shift in Barcelona's style over the next decade. Similarly, his arrival signalled an overhaul at Manchester City.
Both managers delegated well, and found extremely dependable assistants — Brian Kidd and Carlos Queiroz for Fergie and the late Tito Vilanova for Pep. Change is the constant that binds them both.
History in the making: Pep with Lionel Messi during a 2008-09 league match
Battle of strategies
As far as primary strategies are concerned, possession and press constitute the central tiles of the mosaic for both managers, but their overall approach diverge.
For Fergie, the initial years saw subtle tweaks and an attempt at fluidity with the 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 formations, banking on counter-attacking spurts down the flanks, long balls by David Beckham and Paul Scholes, calculated risks to unsettle the opposition and a Scottish offensive approach. With the turn of the century, the team helped him relax and experiment a bit more, with the arrival of a sweeper keeper in Edwin Van der Sar. In his most successful run with the club, 2007-2009, Fergie’s fluidity was pinned on the backline and the defensive mids. In their build-up, the team would fall on a compact 3-2-2-3 with Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand holding guard and defensive mids Carrick and Scholes shuttling between advancing and holding roles in single pivot, fullbacks Patrice Evra and Wes Brown taking wide positions to help with long balls and advancing play, and the attacking trio of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez manning the front line. There is nothing the team feared, and there is nothing that could stop the machine that Alex Ferguson had created with his belief in a pressing and counter-attacking brand of football that was simplistic, unsubtle and readable, yet difficult to control.
Central Cog: Beckham and Ferguson, 2002
For Pep, the journey through the three clubs has seen him experiment with geometric precision. To attribute Pep's build-up and positional play with aimless tiki-taka passing would be foolish. His understanding of positional play and angular passing within tight spaces contributed to the block advancing into an attacking position, leading to a flurry of goals. Pep's deployment of Messi as a false 9 at Barcelona, revolutionising Phillip Lahm's role as a single pivot and his handling of the front three, using double false 9s at Manchester City mark his evolution as a tactician.
The Pivot: Pep and Lahm, 2015
With his strong dislike for two defensive mids, Pep's use of the single pivot (Sergio Busquets at Barcelona, Philipp Lahm at Bayern and now Rodri at City) is significant, the centrepiece to his orchestration, while often employing a shifting double pivot to facilitate spaces for the overlapping or the underlapping high and wide fluid and fast-paced wing play. Unlike Fergie, Pep’s focus on pressing is economical and aggressive, not suffocating the opposition, but teasing them to win back possession swiftly and then advancing with the ball. Pep did away with the dogmatic 4-3-3, twisted it and employed numerous formations that he designed according to his arsenal — a 3-4-3 diamond, a 3-2-4-1 or a 4-1-2-3. The weirdest bit about Pep's tactics is one cannot determine whether certain formations are because of gaps in the squad’s abilities or his compulsive experimentation. A back three without a defender or a front three without a striker, for instance. It is in change, an eccentric understanding of the game, precision and adaptability, Pep rests his ideology. And he keeps upping the intrigue, every time his team walks on to the pitch.
Records
Alex Ferguson:
- Most trophies as a manager (50)
- Record EPL titles as a manager (13x)
- First Manager to win three consecutive league titles (2x)
- Most league match victories in top division and in European competitions
- Most games as a manager (2155)
Pep Guardiola:
- Most Points in a single EPL Season (100 in 2017-18)
- Most Goals scored in single EPL Season (108 in 2017-18)
- Most Wins in a single Premier League Season (32 in 2017-18)
- Most Consecutive league games won in the PL, Bundesliga and La Liga
- Head to Head: 2-0 in favour of Pep (2-0 and 3-1)
