Of course all these players have huge ability, that’s why we bought them. The same as all big signings into our rivals.
The fact remains though that collectively, the development under Guardiola is unparalleled. He is the single most important factor in their improvement. Other managers do not get the same collective levels of progress in other clubs with big signings, maybe Klopp aside but it remains to be seen if this season was a one-off. Guardiola has been doing it season in, season out at 3 different clubs.
Perhaps most importantly there is a line of elite, world class players all of whom attribute their improvement to Guardiola. From Xavi to Lahm.
Yes the talent is there but no other manager gets 100 and 98 points out of that squad in consecutive seasons, no where near.