There was something a little withering to Pep Guardiola when discussing the vagaries of Manchester City’s style and any possible changes to their tactics given the appointment of Pep Lijnders as No 2.
His put downs, the content and delivery, has always been up there with the best of them and when the idea that the defensive line might be even higher than usual, Guardiola was well within his right to point out that ‘we’ve been doing that for nine years’. He just about stopped short of rolling his eyes.