FA Cup win would underline Pep Guardiola’s dominance in England
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City can complete a historic domestic treble in the FA Cup final against Watford on Sunday.
Wembley has played a significant role in the recent history of Manchester City, a period in which Abu Dhabi oil billions have pumped up the club to their current size and stature. It was back in 2011 that City’s coming of age moment played out under the famous arch, with Yaya Toure’s strike giving them a landmark win over Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson would be United boss for a further two years, but that felt like a passing of the baton.
City went on to win the FA Cup that season, their first piece of silverware in the Sheikh Mansour age, beating Stoke in the final. Wembley has also seen them lift the League Cup four times in the last six years and despite the shock 2013 FA Cup final defeat to Wigan has become something of a home from home for City.
This weekend, it could be the scene of the club’s greatest achievement to date. Victory over Watford in Saturday’s FA Cup final will complete the final leg of Manchester City’s Treble, a feat that would see Pep Guardiola’s side become the first in English soccer history to win all three domestic trophies in one season.
It might not be The Treble, as Manchester United famously won 20 years ago, but it would be an illustration of City’s domestic dominance. Last season saw Guardiola lead his team to a record-breaking Premier League tally of 100 points and yet that would still pale in comparison to the achievement City stand just a game away from clinching.
Watford are a good side coming off the back of an impressive season in which they finished 11th in the Premier League table, just as close to the top six as the bottom three. Their FA Cup semifinal victory over Wolves underlined their quality, boasting players like Gerard Deulofeu, Troy Deeney and Abdoulaye Doucoure with the capacity to change a game.
There’s no rational reason to believe City won’t overcome them, though. This is a team that have won their last 18 domestic matches, a run that first saw them clinch the Carabao Cup and then the Premier League title despite a similarly strong run from Liverpool. This is a team that wins games by overwhelming opponents, by smothering them.
If a soccer match can be taken as a series of key battles across the pitch, there isn’t one individual duel that City shouldn’t win. Deeney will attempt to rough up Vincent Kompany, but the Belgian has the pedigree and nous to cope with that. Jose Holebas will play after having the red card received against West Ham on Sunday overturned, but Bernardo Silva has the tools to get the better of the Greek full-back.
Deulofeu almost single-handedly won the semifinal for Watford and if the Hornets are to pull off the improbable at Wembley the former Barcelona winger will be key, with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kyle Walker the only two potential weak points in City’a armor. Even then, penetrating that armor will be tough.
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When Guardiola arrived in England in the summer of 2016, he was told that things would be different. That the English game was in stark contrast to what he’d experienced in Germany and Spain, that he wouldn’t be able to dominate there like he did with Barcelona and Bayern Munich in La Liga and the Bundesliga.
Of course, those suggestions look somewhat foolish now. Guardiola has changed the landscape of English soccer, dominating a way few thought was possible. His two Champions League triumphs as Barcelona boss, particularly the second one in 2011, might well be the achievement that comes to define the Catalan coach, but victory over Watford on Saturday to complete an English soccer treble would make a stronger point more than any of his previous glories.