Of the myriad qualities demonstrated by Pep Guardiola over the course of his tenure at City, overseeing a second successive route to the Carabao Cup final has confirmed he also deserves the accolode for mining his very own League Cup gold blend.
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Guardiola, of course, has long established a reputation for being one of the game’s great alchemists.
He’s a coach blessed with that rarest of abilities of being able to mould individual elements into a cohesive unit, blending wonder and beauty alongside a lethal and ruthless cutting edge.
Pep provided ample illustration of that time and again during the course of his trophy-laden spells in charge at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
If anything, he has enhanced and further furnished his standing since taking over at City back in the summer of 2016.
Indeed, it could be argued Guardiola’s commitment to high-pressing, possession-based attacking football, first honed at the Nou Camp, has helped redefine the English game.
And the City manager has achieved another notable achievement in guiding the Blues to a second successive Carabao Cup final.
For the Blues boss has been able to achieve that other rarest and most delicate of balancing acts – perfecting an ideal blend of youth and experience via our progress through to Sunday’s showdown with Chelsea.
While many clubs have tended to somewhat overlook the EFL Cup in their list of priorities, from the outset the City manager has treated the competition with the utmost respect.
His selections have consistently demonstrated both a steely resolve to achieve success alongside a willingness to provide a number of City’s exciting youngsters a senior platform on which to further their footballing development.
