‘Things I’ve Seen Suggest Manchester City Might Even Have Plan B and Plan C’: David James Pips Pep Guardiola’s Men to Oust Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern Munich

The UEFA Champions League, the tournament that keeps on giving, has conjured up yet another fixture for the ages as English champions Manchester City have been pitted to play against German Giants Bayern Munich.

As the Abu Dhabi-owner English outfit goes in search of the prized possession that yet remains elusive to them, under the tutelage of tactician extraordinaire Pep Guardiola, probably the greatest footballing brain of the modern era, former England goalkeeper David James feels this side from the blue half of Manchester could potentially go on to win the grandest title in continental football.

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Especially amid the whirlwind of changes that have transpired in Bavaria after the untimely sacking of former Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann due to a plethora of reasons cited by the Bayern board ranging from an apparent lack of player development to a leak of confidential team information to the media.

The replacement brought in by the Stern des Sudens to fill in the vacuum, Thomas Tuchel, a Champions League winner with Chelsea, will seek to please the Munich higher-ups with a statement victory over Guardiola’s well-drilled unit.

But, despite Tuchel’s accolades and reputation, the 52-year-old former Portsmouth custodian, James, feels that getting past City could be a step too far for the German mastermind.

“It is a surprise appointment obviously with the sacking in the first place,” James started.

“Especially at this stage of the Champions League and this point in the Bundesliga, when the title hasn’t been decided yet.”

“When you look at Bayern and their success in the UCL a few years ago, with the COVID restrictions in place, it was a different format of single knock-out games which suited them. In one game they are more than capable of beating any team in world football,” the 52-year-old opined.

“In recent times, in the double-legged knock-out games in the tournament, one game has effectively cost Bayern dearly.”

“So, coming up against a tough Manchester City side in a doubleheader, who might not necessarily be in their best touch in one game, you can almost assure that they’d be in fine fettle in the other game,” said the FA Cup winner.

“Especially with Erling Haaland in the kind of goalscoring form that he is in, and City as a whole unit, I think over two legs, Thomas Tuchel’s appointment will not be enough to see Bayern Munich go through,” James asserted.

Pep Guardiola, a two-time Champions League winner, both at the helm of his beloved FC Barcelona, has found continental glory hard to come by since his departure from Catalunya. He has tried and failed on multiple occasions during his previous stint at Bayern and is yet to lead City to the elite trophy.

And the former Liverpool and Manchester City player, James, feels that this could be the year that Guardiola breaks the hoodoo and lifts the most coveted title in all of the European lands.

The immense depth of the side bankrolled by the oil-rich Sheikhs from the Middle Eastern nation of UAE could be one of the reasons why the English team could go on to achieve their crowning moment in the UEFA competition, in addition to challenging Premier League champions-elect Arsenal for the domestic title.

But James is of the opinion that the key factor in City’s claim to the trophy in the ongoing edition of the tournament is the combination of Guardiola meticulously conjuring of a Plan B in case his usual gameplay doesn’t provide dividends on any given day and the fact that the 52-year-old manager isn’t maybe as overtly dependant on his starting eleven to deliver on every game day as much as in the previous seasons.

“We know how the Champions League works, you can play loads and loads of players, especially in the group stages, which would give you an impression of depth. But, the necessity to win the last couple of group games isn’t all that important, once they have qualified for the knockouts,” James explained.

“Therefore, you can bring more players in just to fulfil a fixture. And if you have done well in the group stages, then the last couple of fixtures aren’t that important.”

“Conversely, if you look at the Premier League, Guardiola has used just 18 different starters this season in 30 PL games. The fewest among the teams, even fewer than Arsenal.”

“When you look at it, Pep has got a nucleus of players that he uses, and he isn’t going through massive depth in squad numbers” he added.

James did touch up on how well the Santpedor-born genius has rotated his squad and has handed the star names that grace his roster to his will.

“But, one thing he has done exceptionally well this season is his rotation. He has used more subs this year than he has done in the previous seasons, which could mean his reliance on the starting eleven hasn’t been as complete as it has perhaps been in the past,” the former Kerala Blasters player-coach asserted.

“But he knows who his favourite players are and he’s been using them more often than he has in the past.”

“And despite Haaland’s impact this year, City have managed to win games even in his absence. But when he’s playing, he is part of the goalscoring in those games.”

“He has taken like 6,7 months to get a point where he is confident that his side knows how to get the answers to score goals to win the games.”

James took the example of City’s 3-1 win against the Gunners at the Emirates to elucidate how the Manchester-based side have found the knack of digging out the result despite however unfavourable the conditions of a particular fixture may be in terms of their standard approach to football.

“Looking back at City’s visit to the Emirates a couple of months back, which they ended up winning 3-1 against table toppers Arsenal, it was the long ball tactic that worked out for them. It is not something that I’ve seen Manchester City do under Pep,” James reflected.

“It wasn’t the prettiest game of football, but they found an answer to end up getting the result against the league leaders away from home. They found a solution.

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“In the past, City have received criticism for not having a ‘Plan B’ and how predictable they might seem. But this year it is evident that they have got a functional Plan B and I’ve also seen some other instances that suggest that they might even have a Plan C as well,” he elaborated.

“And this is an opportunity for Manchester City to put themselves in the best possible position to lift the Champions League trophy this year.”

“Of course, Real Madrid will have an argument somewhere down the line but I’m enjoying what I’m seeing with City and what Pep’s got to offer” the English shot-stopper concluded.

Watch the LIVE coverage of UEFA Champions League 2022/23: Quarter Final (Leg 1) – Man. City vs Bayern on Sony Sports Ten 2 (English), Sony Sports Ten 3 (Hindi) & Sony Sports Ten 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels at 12:30 am IST on 12th April 2023

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