According to the Daily Mail, the day before the match against Manchester United, Manchester City trained at the Etihad Stadium, which was the first time Guardiola has appeared since coaching.
Post reported that Manchester City never trained at Etihad the day before the game, which continued from the Pellegrini era, but they did so last Saturday. Some people in the club think this is for family portraits, but usually the family portraits are taken at the training ground, which (training in Etihad the day before the game) is a really unusual move.
And last Thursday, Guardiola did not command the team's training. He hid in the office to develop a layout plan for key tactical drills, and the team training was directed by members of the coaching staff. 24 hours later, Guardiola appeared at the press conference with apologies. He was 24 minutes late because the meeting with the coaching staff members continued.
In the end, Manchester City arranged a four-player combination in the midfield to form a numerical advantage in the early stage, and then gradually adjusted to a more conventional formation. The original intention of this formation design was to give Duoku more space, and the Belgian player also repaid his trust and helped the team win with two assists.
Manchester City had a chance to score six goals, and although the team still had a lot of room for improvement, and Guardiola scratched his head as the defender rushed to clear the ball, what he wanted to see was the team's victory in this derby game.