The Beginning of the End of Guardiola or the End of the Beginning?

The arrival of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City in July 2016 already seems a lifetime ago.

The project at Manchester City set up following the takeover by Sheikh Mansour, was created in many ways for Pep Guardiola. Like everything which has come from Abu Dhabi, it has been a long term vision, which they have been walking towards since 2008.

Yet Guardiola is like the brightest candle in the dark. The consequence of his effervescence is that he burns quickly, and here we are some 42 months in and there are signs the light may be dimming.

Of course Guardiola is a very clever man, and acknowledges that once his intensity stops working with the players, once they become relaxed to him, his time is done.

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Fans have watched this season unfold, fearing the tiny signs being displayed. Guardiola has seen his family depart for Spain. He has become even more irascible in the press conferences. His joie de vive seems to be evaporating.

There are clearly lots of contributing factors at play here. The steady deadening of his soul everytime Jamie Jackson from The Guardian asks a question in the embargoed section of the Press Conference. The latent anger he must feel from the way the press has sought to denigrate his achievements, somehow inexplicably believing that Liverpool’s Cup win eclipses the domestic treble.

The latest clue to Guardiola’s state of mind comes with the departure of Assistant Mikel Arteta. Guardiola has of course lost assistants before, lots of times.

Yet something feels different this time. The decision to not replace Arteta being the clearest clue yet that Guardiola is in his last campaign at Manchester City.

If Guardiola was staying then permanent plans would be in place for a new assistant. It is not as though the departure of Arteta is a surprise. He was courted by both Lyon and Newcastle in the Summer.

It should be noted that the public statements being made by Guardiola are completely contrary to the idea he will depart soon.

He insists he is open to lengthening his deal and will in fact see out his contract, both this season and next. But the tiny signs are all there to see, creating doubt.

If he really does stay beyond this season then I believe he will extend his deal further and stand to create a real legacy. That would make the departure of Arteta as the end of the beginning. As Guardiola moves into an unprecedented second phase.

More likely though is that this all just indicates the coming of the end of days, as Guardiola’s inevitable leaving edges closer. The beginning of the end may well be upon us after all.