The reporter reported coldly It's just a community shield for newcomers, but people rarely see Guardiola's emotions out of control. At half-time, the City boss threw a water bottle in the dugout and expressed his frustration directly with goalkeeper Ederson. Although the cause was Ederson kicking a long ball straight out of bounds, it was essentially the Spain coach's disappointment with City's overall performance. After all, in all five of City's pre-season warm-up games, they failed to win in regulation time in the other four, with the exception of a chaotic Chelsea.

Pep Guardiola is well aware that Manchester City will face the problem of further aging of the core of the central axis in the new season. That's why he's sending four Academy players in the Community Shield, hoping to have some of them take on the rotation in the new season.

Although Manchester City signed Girona's 20-year-old Brazil winger Savinho, they lost their second-highest scorer Alvarez. Compared with Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham, Manchester City is extremely cautious in the ball market. City have suffered more disruption on and off the pitch this season than last season, with lawsuits arising from breaches of the Premier League's Financial Fair Play Act and the realities of an ageing squad and reduced bench depth. What's more, Pep Guardiola's own willingness to stay will likely be one of the factors that will determine City's ability to win five consecutive titles.

Beneath the seemingly calm surface of Manchester City's new season is perhaps the most inconsistent year of Pep Guardiola's era.

There is no reference to citing, and if you don't advance, you will retreat

Even Manchester City fans didn't expect the Blues to have such a sluggish pre-season performance this year. The United States Tour has only won four games against Chelsea, which is still in chaos, losing to Celtic and Milan in a row, drawing with Barcelona, and conceding 12 goals in five games with the Community Shield, an average of 2.4 goals per game. Although the starting line-up of four main players + four newcomers in the Community Shield can still drag Manchester United into a penalty shoot-out and win, Pep Guardiola has already seen a crisis in his team. On the offensive end, Haaland has not scored in 7 finals, and the Community Shield has zero shots on target and zero threatening passes; Defensively, there are goals conceded in every game, which is directly related to the absence of key players, but it also exposes the team's defensive problems. Gvardiol's performance at left-back was particularly disappointing, becoming United's main attacking breakthrough.

Manchester City has invested more than 100 million euros in reinforcements for five consecutive seasons, and the Premier League's financial fair play plan hanging over the head this summer has forced Guardiola to face the current situation that he may not be able to replenish new signings in time. Manchester City sold four players for 126 million euros, but only spent 25 million euros to bring in Brazil winger Savinho, who circulated within the City Football Group, and River Plate's young attacking midfielder Echeverri, who signed at the beginning of the year, will not join until early next year. The Premier League's newly revised financial fair play rules have forced Manchester City to live within their means. The originally planned targets of Rodrygo, Guimaraes and Eze can only be stalled for now.

Pep Guardiola has to admit that if City leaves no one in the first team this summer, the current squad will be the squad for the new season. Ederson and De Bruyne, who have received huge offers from Saudi Arabia, have both confirmed to stay in the team, and in order to ensure the depth of the first-team bench, in addition to Phillips, who took the initiative to ask to leave the team this summer, Guardiola has promoted several new players from the second team, and can only reluctantly make it difficult to have new signings. Nunez, who joined the team last year, will be given more time and Pep Guardiola's hopes are on newcomers Bob, O'Reilly, McCarty and Lewis, who have performed well in the Community Shield.

Gambia-Norway youth international Bob Community Shield had a game-best 51 touches, six dribbles, three chances and one assist. The group photo of the four starters after the game is basically the current situation of Manchester City this season: the original team is almost unchanged, supplemented by a few new stars who may be able to break out. The core of Manchester City's Premier League dominance continues to age: Walker is 35, Kevin De Bruyne is 33, goalkeeper Ederson is 31, and John Stones, Mateo Kovacic and B. Silva are all 30.

Gua Shuai's mind is the biggest unstable factor

Previously, when Manchester City exposed hundreds of lawsuits for violating the Premier League's Financial Fair Play Act, Guardiola had already had the idea of the past. Manchester City voluntarily accepted a late fine before the start of the new season in an attempt to ease relations with the management. However, the contract extension with Pep Guardiola has been blocked, and the Spain coach will continue to wait and see how the Manchester City case progresses before making a choice based on the situation. On the occasion of Manchester City's North American tour in July, The Guardian revealed that Pep Guardiola will make a final decision in the winter. The manager's future hangs in the balance, and it is clear that it will have a decisive impact on the atmosphere in the dressing room and the campaign for the new season.

Pep Guardiola's contract expires next summer, and Guardiola himself admitted that he will not stay at Manchester City for another eight years even if he renews his contract. Moreover, whether he leaves or not depends on the operation of Manchester City's summer market. If the core team that relied on the monopoly of the Premier League is broken up, Pep Guardiola will not stay in the team that cannot compete for the title. From this point of view, it is very likely that the core team of Manchester City will be retained in the new season.

However, Manchester City's structural crisis, which was already highlighted last season, will continue to deepen this season due to the lack of high-quality new signings. The continued ageing of the core players not only increases the risk of injury, but also leads to potential problems with the team's rotation. Ake's injury has left Gvardiol in a left-back position that he doesn't like and doesn't like well, and not only did he not play well, but it also affected the team's performance to a large extent. The same is true in midfield. Jack Grealish has yet to find the best tactical position for him, and Pep Guardiola has yet to find the best rotation for Kevin De Bruyne.

Alvarez's departure has left Guardiola with the need to find a suitable rotation scorer for Haaland. At present, only Foden can barely be used as a replacement in Manchester City's team, but the possibility of Guardiola using newcomers such as Savinho, Bob and Nunez is not ruled out. Pep Guardiola can also continue to wait for the changes that Echeverry can bring to the attacking side of the squad in the winter.

The competition in the Premier League is so fierce, and the Blue Moon Army, which does not advance or retreats, is likely to end the monopoly on its own. Because this season's Manchester City has too many negative trends and uncertainties compared to the previous 4 consecutive championship eras.