Pep Guardiola has hit a new low at Man City

Arsenal 1-1 Man City (Martinelli 90+3′ | Haaland 9′)

“I love midfield players,” Pep Guardiola once said. “They are the most intelligent players. If I had my way, I would have 1,000 of them in my squad.”

So it’s only fair to ask whether we have now entered the age of a Guardiola team built entirely of defenders? Probably not.

But Manchester City’s manager had overseen 600 top-flight league matches and never once recorded a possession statistic lower than 33 per cent. In his 601st, a new low by this measure.

Some of this has been coming, just over the hill: 58 per cent possession vs Wolves on the opening weekend, 46 per cent against Manchester United. But not quite this. Never before like this.

By full-time at the Emirates. Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Nathan Ake and John Stones were al