Man City revolution may take time, warns Guardiola

Their spending on new players this offseason has nearly reached the $400-million barrier.

The striker’s pace caused havoc among Premier League defenders and many just did not know how to cope.

Make no mistake: The Manchester clubs mean business.

French centre-back Eliaquim Mangala, meanwhile, is out of favour, having been omitted from City’s squad for their Champions League play-off tie against Steaua Bucharest. Standards slipped, rivals stole a march, a big reaction was needed. The major powers can not just have a bad season and expect to coast into a top four spot.

Liverpool vs. Arsenal, 8 a.m., Sunday, NBCSN This may be the game of the opening weekend with new Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp overhauling the Reds in the offseason and Arsenal yet again standing largely pat, much to the frustration of the club’s fans who want to see American billionaire and Rams owner Stan Kroenke open his checkbook. “We have the players and we have the quality to do so”.

Guardiola wasted no time in rebuilding what was a below-par City squad, with Ilkay Gundogan becoming his first signing from Borussia Dortmund. After all, old bean, how much tactical and technical acumen is required to lead teams stacked with as much talent as Barcelona and Bayern Munich? Over the last five seasons, out of the 15 teams promoted to the Premier League, 10 have managed to survive relegation in their first season.

Trophy-hunters such as Mourinho will wrinkle their noses at that, making the renewed rivalry and its proximity all the more delicious; second is nothing to Mourinho with his mantra of “winning football” and, you suspect, the same applies to Guardiola.

Since then, United hasn’t finished higher than fourth place in a post-Alex Ferguson era characterized by questionable managerial appointments and haphazard player recruitment.

Ranieri could hand league debuts to several players on Saturday.

Mourinho and Guardiola will shake things up.

“They help me, the big coaches, and Jose is one of them”.

“Most of them are longer term than we expected”. They are winners, pure and simple. They all have their philosophy but are often willing to adapt pragmatically along the way.

Guardiola was linked to Manchester United and Chelsea, but the decorated boss eventually signed with City in February. On the other hand, the champions have spent considerably on their team and have tied down a number of key personnel, including Claudio Ranieri, to new, long-term contracts.

At United: Will the one-paced strike partnership of Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney be a success? The Swede so loathes Guardiola from their time together at Barcelona – Ibra called him “a spineless coward” in his autobiography – that he relishes their proximity as an opportunity for payback. It is not easy to look past Aguero when it comes to being the club’s most important player. The Premier League returns today (Saturday) with all the glitz, glamour and glory, the glittering cast list and, amid the intriguing new narrative of a world championship of the best managers, there is a different impresario; another way, perhaps. Maybe even both, considering Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and even Liverpool are live contenders for the title, not forgetting defending champion Leicester.

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