Chelsea v Manchester City: Pep Guardiola explains the differences between Antonio Conte and himself.

It's one of the biggest games in our season as Chelsea take on Manchester City at Stamford Bridge and arguably two of the most talented managers in the game come head to head. 

Plenty will continue to be made of both managers and the comparison between the two leading up to the game as Pep Guardiola's free-scoring Manchester City take on Antonio Conte's well-oiled disciplined side that can defend as a unit but hurt anyone in attack.

It's an intriguing game for many reasons with battles being fought all over the pitch. Both managers will use the game as a benchmark for where they see their teams progress at this early stage of the season.

Speaking ahead of the game, Pep Guardiola spoke of the difference between his tactical approach to football compared to Antonio Conte's and it was more than interesting to hear his take on things. He said:

"The best way to explain what we are at Manchester City is with a glass of wine in front of the TV and watch the team play. When I see Conte it’s like a team that he has to defend compact, 10 players, and after use the counter-attack like a machine with Pedro, Willian, [Eden] Hazard, [Alvaro] Morata, [Diego] Costa in the past. When they can attack, they can attack.

They've been strong since a long time ago, Chelsea. They are all tall and strong. They are a really good team. One of the best teams in Europe. It's a big chance to see what we are. It's a good test for us against the last champions of the Premier League.

Especially what I like the most is they don't create a lot of chances. They shoot four times and score four goals against Tottenham [in the FA Cup semi-final]. When this happens it means a lot, it's a top team. They have that ability - they are killers when they have one chance - one goal. That's why they're a good team." - Source: The Telegraph.

Personally, I respect Pep Guardiola for what he has achieved at Barcelona in creating arguably the best club side in the world at the time back then. I do not feel the same for his time at Bayern Munich because let's face it, he made a choice to join a league and a club that has one or possibly two main threats to their title every year being an easy option. The fact that he came to Manchester City and the toughest league in the world and won nothing at all for the first time in his career is the wake up call he needed.

The again, his comments explain perfectly for me why he didn't win anything over here last year. It's all well and good playing free-flowing football through midfield into attack but you also need to be defensively sound.

You MUST defend well as a unit, as a team to have any chance of being successful. I personally believe that Manchester City have missed a trick this summer as they decided to invest heavily in three wing-backs (with one now out for the season) and not a world class centre back. Without Vincent Kompany in that back line, City are nowhere near the same and will miss him his evening. John Stones is not yet at the level he needs to be on a consistent basis and Otamendi is erratic when really put under pressure as Chelsea demonstrated at The Etihad last season scoring three second half goals to win the game 1-3.

Antonio Conte's title success last year has re-iterated that he is a tactical genius that studies his opponents to set up his team to beat them and counter-act the threat they pose. In doing so, he ensures that his team has the right balance to it through defence, midfield and into attacking areas.

As we know, he commands/demands discipline and hard work from his team all over the pitch and gets exactly that from everyone. It's worth noting that he also is not afraid to make big decisions to replace a player if he isn't giving Conte what he demands.

In addition to being defensively sound, he encourages attacking play and his decision to give Eden Hazard licence to roam as an out-and-out number ten a master stroke in the week.

One thing I will say about his comments about Conte's Chelsea is that I disagree totally when he said that we do not create many chances. Did he not see our performance against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday? Did he not see Conte's Chelsea team dominate Atletico, create numerous chances and become the first English team to beat Diego Simeone's side in the Champions League? Did he not see Stoke last week?

Antonio Conte's style over Pep Guardiola's all day long!