With Man City flying high at the top of the Premier League once more, it’s difficult to question Pep Guardiola’s way of working, however, he’s fallen out with a number of players across his managerial career and, once that relationship is broken, it appears there’s no way back from the Catalan’s point of view.
Joao Cancelo remains one of the more high profile players to get under the manager’s skin to such an extent that he was sent packing.
The Times (subscription required) recall the team talk where the Portuguese put his headphones in whilst his manager was giving a team-talk, and within days he was loaned to Bayern Munich.
Whilst it’s clear that Cancelo overstepped the mark, Guardiola’s man-management skills in that instance could arguably have been better.
Drop him from the squad by all means. Fine him too. Get rid of him immediately? That shows a bit of a knee jerk reaction and is reminiscent of the times that Samuel Eto’o and Zlatan Ibrahimovich were treated with the same contempt.
After just a handful of games on loan at Barcelona, the full-back is showing just why the Catalans wanted him so badly, and on Saturday night he was the match winner in a brilliant fight-back from the blaugranes against Celta Vigo.
There’s every chance he’ll be permanently sold next summer if Barca can raise the funds, and perhaps his current form shows that Guardiola needs to be more forgiving in future.