Why Pep Guardiola moving to Manchester City should worry Old Trafford

After months of speculation, Pep Guardiola will be taking over as Manchester City’s new head-manager. For many people, they believe this to be an obvious choice. But what they do not know is the amount of transformative change and rebranding needed to make that dream a reality. For the past five years, Manchester City has undergone a culmination of changes. From the new administrative management of the board to the new style of play on the pitch, Manchester City has made it their job to shape every aspect of their game. This in turn allowed the club to be handed the golden ticket as one of the most elite and dominating soccer clubs in the world. While all is good on the City-side, Manchester United will now have to face the repercussions for their failure to act these past few years.

Since the post-Ferguson era, Manchester United has struggled tremendously to be the team that they were once known for. Though it has only been a few years, both the Moyes and Van Gaal eras have hindered and squandered any chances of United reaching its full potential. And now with Pep Guardiola waiting his welcoming to the English Premier League, we at Old Trafford are only looking to see more problems. To put it simply, Pep Guardiola going to our city rivals is not just an act of making a statement on the league. In fact it is a personal attack on the fans and the entire club at Old Trafford.

Let’s look at this in three categories:

1. Style of Play

2. New Players

3. Brand Name.

Style of Play

While we can criticize Pep for going to clubs where his reputation will not be tarnished, we have to acknowledge the skills, talent, and passion he brings to each of the places he goes to. It is like what Sir Alex Ferguson said about Liverpool, “Liverpool fans still find every opportunity to talk about me. They call me bacon face, they call me red nose, but we all know that they would have loved to have a manager like me. That is a fact.” While we can now officially hate on Pep, what we at United need to understand is that Manchester City will completely change under the Guardiola system. As a former player, Pep simply understands the game. He understands how players should perform at high level games and what players should expect every time they touch the ball. In fact his time and Barcelona and Bayern Munich proves immediately how valuable he is as head-manager.  To go up against Pep is not just threatening, but also just intimidating on all fronts.

New Players

At times, new-life within a team can be sparked simply by a single player. We have seen these transfer picks countless times at Manchester United, like with Wayne Rooney or Cristiano Ronaldo. While we can hope for the best, we have to be realistic. Many players go to specific teams based on the name and the manager. With Pep Guardiola going to Manchester City, there has already been huge interest from some of the top football-elites such as Neymar, Sergio Busquets, and Pogba. To have the power of gaining first pick is something United has had since Sir Alex Ferguson was running Old Trafford. Now, that power is gone. Not only are we fighting to grab the interest of top prospects, but also we are now officially coming second to Manchester City’s pickings.

Brand Name

With Pep going to Manchester City than to Manchester United, the decision speaks loudly about the brand of the club. Yes, we are still seen as one of the elites within the football world, but compared to City, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid, we are not even in their stratosphere. This is simply disappointing. We are the biggest club in the world. We can still perform within high-pressure games. But compared to the other clubs, we are just a club fighting for a spot at the top four.