Football Season Guide

An inconsistent Man City paid for a poor run of four draws and a loss in five games to open the calendar year and finished behind champions Arsenal despite responding with a 15-game unbeaten streak. The Pep Guardiola era ended with the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, making it 20 major trophies for his decade in charge. His departure was followed by the releases of experienced players Bernardo Silva and John Stones, along with the sales of Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji. Guardiola has been succeeded by one of his protégé’s in former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, whose style has been heavily influenced by his predecessor, featuring a similar reliance on possession, structural control and tactical shapes. Man City also spent big to bring in one of England’s brightest talents in Elliot Anderson, while Rodri, one of the team’s pillars over the last few years, is expected to depart. No Premier League player has scored more goals than Erling Haaland since his arrival, with the Norwegian striker forming a formidable attacking trident alongside dynamic wingers Jérémy Doku and Antoine Semenyo. Yet, the fact that a league-most 19 players participated in the World Cup has disrupted their pre-season preparations, meaning that the new manager didn’t have the opportunity to properly work with his squad ahead of this season.