Pep Guardiola and Roberto Mancini are the two towering figures of the modern Manchester City and the two celebrated tacticians are generally noted for their contrasts.
A very strange year where Mancini - once noted for his typically Italian pragmatic streak - led his country to Euro 2020 glory playing in a free-flowing Spanish style and Guardiola’s majestic City team started to be labelled as “boring” might have muddied the waters a little.
However, Mancini did always have a touch of romance about his footballing vision. A majestic, off-the-cuff forward during his imperial playing days at Sampdoria, at City he eschewed the traditional English approach of orthodox wingers in favour of giving David Silva and Samir Nasri license to roam in tandem from the flanks.
