Pep Guardiola will put full force of his mental faculties into Manchester City, and we get to watch

Greg Lea looks forward to watching Pep Guardiola operate in the Premier League and putting his stamp on an ambitious and creative club.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. Phil Noble / Reuters

It was an intriguing and somewhat unexpected answer.

In his first official interview after becoming Manchester City's manager, Pep Guardiola was asked what he hoped to achieve at the club and whether he intended to lay down foundations for the long-term.

A reply consisting of the words “winning” and “trophies” would have been anticipated by many, perhaps followed by talk of creating a team that could excite the club’s supporters, entertain the neutrals and dominate for years to come.

Instead, Guardiola's response was rather introspective. "I came here to learn," the ex-Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss, who has won six league titles and two Uefa Champions Leagues in eight years as a coach, said. "That's why I move on. I came to learn."

It was an interesting insight into the new City manager’s mindset, but regardless of what Guardiola says he will be more teacher than pupil during his stay in England.

“He’s changed the way we see football,” left-back Gael Clichy said last month. Midfielder Fabian Delph has claimed to have learnt more in three weeks under Guardiola than in his entire career up to this point, while David Alaba, who was used in a variety of positions by the former Spain international at Bayern, argued in February that his then boss had reinvented the entire sport, adding: “Pep is someone who thinks about football 24 hours a day.”

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Guardiola is certainly an intense character, someone who is constantly looking for ways his team can gain an edge over their opponents.

His underlying principles remain much the same as when he guided Barcelona B to promotion in 2007/08 – it was that success that earned him the senior job a season later – but Guardiola is much more flexible than he is often given credit for.

Bayern employed many different formations on his watch last term, from 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 to 3-5-2 and 3-4-3, and often changed shape multiple times during the same match.

The so-called tiki-taka dogmatist regularly made use of flying wingers and a target-man centre-forward at the Allianz Arena, with Javi Martinez even deployed as a false No 10 and outlet for long passes as a means to beat Borussia Dortmund's high press in a game in November 2013.

Based on their pre-season matches, City are likely to line-up in a more conventional 4-2-3-1 configuration when they welcome Sunderland to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Guardiola has already spoken of his desire to see his side be “humble” out of possession – “I like to see my teams [play] like a small team from the third or fourth league when we don’t have the ball” – and City are also sure to dominate possession and make full use of the width of the pitch.

While Guardiola is certainly hands-on when it comes to drilling his ideas into the heads of his players, he is keen to allow them freedom of expression on the field too – particularly in the final third.

That is arguably the biggest difference between him and Louis van Gaal, whose Manchester United outfit frequently lacked spark and invention high up the pitch despite their dominance of possession in the last couple of seasons.

The Premier League is often spoken of as a soap opera, with many of its storylines originating from episodes that take place off the pitch.

Guardiola has readily admitted in the past that he does not have much to offer in terms of snappy one-liners or punchy put-downs, but watching his Manchester City side over the coming months will be one of the most fascinating things about the 2016/17 campaign.

Sound business has Spurs better equipped

Tottenham Hotspur were always likely to go under the radar this summer.

The arrival of Guardiola at City, Jose Mourinho at Manchester United and Antonio Conte at Chelsea has inevitably led to those clubs receiving most of the off-season attention, particularly as all three have also bolstered their squads with high-profile, big-money additions.

Tottenham, conversely, have gone about their transfer dealings in a much quieter manner: just two players have been captured ahead of their Premier League opener against Everton on Saturday, and neither is likely to be first choice in his respective position this term.

Nevertheless, the acquisition of defensive midfielder Victor Wanyama and centre-forward Vincent Janssen represents sensible, astute business. Tottenham have added depth to areas of the squad where they were a little thin last year – the lack of alternatives meant Harry Kane started every top-flight match and Eric Dier missed only one – and ensured they are better equipped to compete at home and on the continent, with Champions League football set to pose Pochettino’s side an additional challenge in 2016/17.

It was also important that Tottenham built on, rather than undermined, the significant progress that was made last time out. The campaign may have ultimately ended in disappointing fashion as they slumped to third place after failing to win any of their final four matches, but the fact the Premier League title was in their sights for such a long period is evidence of how far Tottenham came.

A big-name signing could have disrupted the harmony and collective mindset at White Hart Lane, where each player must wholly buy into Pochettino’s methods.

Tottenham have favoured evolution over revolution, and that bodes well for the season ahead.

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