the more i compare pep's bayern, city and barcelona's teams im beggining to realize that barcelona's edge was that they improvised a lot more on attack. city and bayern are very well oiled machines although a bit predictable due to the lack of freedom from positional play/individual brilliance.
Like, Sterling, Jesus and Mahrez are very good players but i wouldnt consider any of them all timers, i know theres not a lot of players out there that are but realistically with pep's style and having to face parked buses week in and week out i think city needs a bit more to be dominant in england and europe.
Thats where i disagree on pep's hesitance on playing Foden, as i see him as an world class talent that brings the flair and improvisational ability that city needs up front. Of course, nobody should expect for him to be the new messi but i think he could be one of the missing pieces.
At barcelona pep had the advantage of coaching players that had been drilled in the barça way already, so guys like xavi, iniesta, busquets, messi could do advanced reads with ease, while at city only de bruyne and silva have that ability (bernardo and rodri are able too). Basically, City is a very well oiled standard tunes jazz band, specialized on reading music but not on improvising, while peak barça were alsovery well drilled but improvised like a master jazzman.
Im in no position to say that that happens because the players are not good enough or not capable of providing that flair and criativity in the final third, or if its just peps becoming tactically more and more orthodox. But that is my opinion, i think that pep needs either to acquire a top top player upfront or try to continue to improve what he has while giving Foden a bit of a free reign to explode and go at defenders. peace