"There have been only four Premier League seasons in which Manchester City and Liverpool have finished in the top two positions in the table (and one of those occasions was 2013-14 when the managers were Manuel Pellegrini and Brendan Rodgers, which is not a duel anybody is writing books or making documentaries about). Yet for most of the decade that Pep Guardiola has been at City, it has felt that English football was defined by his struggle with Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool,"
"They are in transition, recrafting their squads for a new age that is yet fully to take shape, and the rivalry is diminished as a result. Liverpool are out of the title race, and defeat at Anfield could in effect take out City as well. The issue with the Guardiola/Klopp revolution was perhaps that it was too successful. Once everybody accepted its principles, and holding them, almost no matter how efficiently you could execute them, was no longer enough."
Great rivalries are more about feel than numbers. Manchester City and Liverpool have finished top two in only four Premier League seasons, including 2013–14 under Pellegrini and Rodgers. For much of Guardiola's tenure at City, English football felt defined by his struggle with Klopp and Liverpool and by mutual tactical development. Klopp's departure and possible future exits signal transition as both clubs rebuild squads and the rivalry diminishes. The Guardiola/Klopp revolution became widely adopted across the league, leaving pressing and possession overloads as status quo. The key question remains what tactical evolution will replace that revolution.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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