Tuesday 10 April 2018 07:44, UK
Manchester City have challenged Premier League teams to be tactically better this season with their style of play, says Liam Rosenior.
Pep Guardiola's side have blown sides away with their attacking, possession-based performances and has seen them on the verge of winning the Premier League title.
Brighton defender Rosenior believes that it has helped other teams in the league to improve their own tactics and perhaps embrace a new style themselves.
"The legacy of Manchester City this season will be that they have challenged our Premier League teams to be tactically better, to understand the game better and maybe play a different way," he said on The Debate.
"I think that is one of the best things Guardiola has bought since coming to this country. He is actually challenging coaches and challenging other teams."
Football journalist Matthew Syed says that Premier League sides may have heeded the warnings of Leicester's title-winning style of play two years ago, but says next season will not be as easy for Man City.
"Going back two seasons, the one time it happened belatedly was with Leicester. People thought they would fizzle out and didn't change how they set up against Leicester's approach to the game," he added.
"Next season will be tougher for Man City. Everyone will go away, think over the summer, hopefully trial different ways of combating that particular philosophy and then we'll be excited by what happens.
"Man City have had two bad games but if you look at the arc of their season, it's an extraordinary achievement. What Guardiola has done in terms of changing the way they train, there's much more training with the ball to build up that shared mental model so they can anticipate each other seamlessly.
"Building up that shared understanding does take time, it takes some level of managerial genius and I think even if, as is probable, they go out of the Champions League, they will win the Premier League and I think it is another stage in football's evolution.
"I think one of the joys of this game is that you can see the way managers come in and disrupt the way that team think. Other teams have to adapt and react to that.
"Jurgen Klopp now has found a tactical strategy that is very difficult for Guardiola. As a fan, it is one of the things I love about the game."
