Early returns unpromising for Sky Blues

It is a question whose answer will shape the near-term future of English football: “How will Manchester City deal with the departure of Pep Guardiola?”

Early returns are not exactly promising.

Last Sunday, in its first competitive match since Guardiola’s resignation back in May, City was whipped 3-0 in the Community Shield by reigning Premier League champion Arsenal. It was a scoreline that flattered the well-beaten side.

Now, it was also just one match, and no doubt incoming City boss Enzo Maresca will make some adjustments ahead of Bournemouth’s visit to Etihad Stadium this weekend (Sunday, 8 a.m., FuboTV). He’ll try, anyway. His starting 11 that took the field at Wembley was close to his strongest available team, so whatever changes he devises will not involve personnel.

Not that tactics are anywhere near City’s biggest concern.

Guardiola, who led the team to six titles over a decade and a league, FA Cup and Champions League treble in 2023, remains the most prominent figure associated with the club — ever — and replacing him will be a matter of disquiet until the Sky Blues return to the top of the English game.

And that could be a while. Maresca and company have only to look across town to understand their predicament.

It’s not an exact comparison, but Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 left Manchester United as hollowed out as City is about to find itself. Charismatic and successful, the Scot had grown over his 26-year tenure to occupy so much space that he made a big club even bigger. Exactly how big became apparent when he exited that space, and the entire apparatus collapsed upon itself.

Thirteen years later, United has yet to fully build back. It could well be longer at City.

Before Guardiola’s 2016 appointment, City had won only four top-flight titles. Two had come on the heels of a big-money takeover by the United Arab Emirates’ sovereign wealth fund eight years prior, but overall the return on investment had been underwhelming.

Guardiola’s arrival changed everything. Here was the mastermind of tiki-taka, the coach who’d launched Lionel Messi into superstardom, come to conquer English football. Which he did. And in so doing, he made Manchester City a formidable prospect, a perennial winner and an international brand.

Perhaps only José Mourinho has so completely personified a Premier League club, and his first spell at Chelsea lasted barely three years. The London outfit languished in his immediate absence, as well.

Where City is different is that, absent Guardiola, it has no sense of itself; not much history on which to draw, little in the way of collective memory.

Is it still a contender? Given that Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Tijjani Reijnders, Manuel Akanji and, crucially, Rodri have followed their manager out the door would suggest not. Is it pleasing to watch? Time will tell, but that Community Shield performance was truly dire.

Is it simply a big-money enterprise? Well, yes, so long as its owners are interested.

There’s also the matter of those 100-plus alleged violations of Premier League financial rules that remains before an independent commission. “Cheater” is hardly an ideal identity to take on, especially as it would overlap with the Guardiola era. But that’s for another day.

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For now, Manchester City must confront the fact that its talismanic figure, its source of inspiration and innovation, is no longer present.

Its new reality is one where it is merely a collection of players, some of them good and few of them special, guided by a coach who resigned his Chelsea post halfway through last season.

All things considered, the Premier League stands to be far more competitive in Guardiola’s absence.

City? Not so much.

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