What Pep Lijnders Could Bring to Manchester City Under Guardiola

Pep Guardiola's New Rhythm: How Lijnders Could Usher in A Tactical Evolution at Manchester City

It might not be the most headline-grabbing addition of Manchester City’s summer, but Pepijn Lijnders joining Pep Guardiola's backroom staff could prove to be the club's most transformative move yet.

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While fans have been fixated on flashy transfers and emerging talents, Guardiola has quietly brought in a coach with a radically different footballing philosophy, one that could reshape how the Cityzens play in the seasons to come.

Lijnders, once Jurgen Klopp’s trusted lieutenant at Liverpool, arrived in June with a reputation for intensity, improvisation, and chaos, words that are not often associated with Guardiola's calculated brand of football. And that’s precisely what makes this so fascinating.

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The Meeting of Two Philosophical Worlds

Guardiola and Lijnders are cut from very different cloths, stylistically speaking. One is synonymous with structured, possession-heavy control; the other forged his identity through speed, disruption, and high-stakes pressing.

With Lijnders brought in as Guardiola’s assistant at Man City, the signs point to a tactical shift.

For years, they were on opposite sides of a footballing cold war. Guardiola’s positional play sought to suffocate. Lijnders, under Klopp, helped design systems to tear through those structures in seconds.

Now, these worlds collide. And not as opponents, but collaborators.

This is not about compromise, it’s about evolution. Guardiola has never been static. From the tiki-taka roots of Barcelona to the hybrid systems of recent Manchester City teams, the Catalan coach has always adapted.

Lijnders, with his insights into verticality, counter-pressing, and transitional chaos, may offer Guardiola a blueprint for Man City's next leap forward.

Lijnders was Jurgen Klopp’s trusted lieutenant at Liverpool.

Reading the Clues in Man City’s Summer Strategy

Look past the marquee signings and you’ll find the pattern. Omar Marmoush, Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, these are not the classic Guardiola players of old. They’re dribblers, disruptors, carriers of the ball. They’re built for directness.

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The numbers bear this out. Last season, City’s possession dipped slightly while fast breaks surged by over 35%. Ederson was encouraged to go long more frequently. Direct running through midfield became more common. The change was already in motion. Now with Lijnders in-house, expect the dial to turn further.

Ait-Nouri’s arrival from Wolves is another strong signal. Previously, Guardiola had repurposed midfielders as full-backs, a move rooted in control and positional discipline.

Ait-Nouri, however, is an entirely different proposition, a daring, attack-minded wide player whose stats rival those of Premier League wingers when it comes to creativity and final-third impact. Pair him with the explosive Jeremy Doku, and you get a left flank capable of causing chaos.

Guardiola’s coaching reshuffle might turn out to be the most game-changing decision Man City have made ahead of the 2025-26 season.

A New Blueprint for City’s Attack

In years past, City’s shape was designed like clockwork, with each pass and movement preloaded with purpose. Under the emerging influence of Lijnders, we may see a looser, more intuitive system take shape. Dribbling, spontaneity, and aggressive vertical progression could become as important as intricate patterns.

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Imagine a front line with Marmoush drifting inside to carry the ball through midfield, Cherki popping up in unexpected pockets, and Ait-Nouri overlapping with ferocity. This is not a reinvention of Guardiola's ideals but a broadening of his arsenal, moving beyond positional suffocation toward something more instinctive and, at times, more volatile.

Why Lijnders Makes Sense Now

It’s tempting to ask why Guardiola would pivot at this stage of his career. But football’s landscape is shifting. Pressing is no longer the preserve of a few elite teams.

Mid-table sides like Brighton, Newcastle, Brentford and Bournemouth now press with purpose and transition with speed. The old monopoly on ball control is fading. To stay ahead, Guardiola knows he must ride the rhythm, not resist it.

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The Broekhuizen-born Lijnders provides the perfect lens through which to view this evolution. He understands how to train for chaos, how to condition players to thrive in unscripted moments, and how to maintain intensity across a long season.

The Quiet Revolution Begins

It’s rare for a backroom appointment to carry so much tactical weight, but this one feels different. It hints at deeper changes. Not a rejection of Guardiola's philosophy, but an adaptation to modern demands.

What Pep Lijnders brings to Manchester City is not a copy of Klopp's Liverpool. It’s a creative friction, a spark that could light Guardiola’s boldest reinvention yet.

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If City’s summer signings signalled a stylistic shift, Lijnders' arrival confirms it. The question now isn’t whether he’ll influence the team. It’s how far Guardiola is willing to go in rewriting the rules of his own masterpiece.