Ahead of Pep Guardiola’s 200th Premier League game as a manager, a familiar accusation continues to follow the Manchester City manager around.
He “overthinks” big games, you see. When it comes to the crunch, Guardiola is too clever for his own good and his own worst enemy.
As this is the internet, I feel I should be clear that the previous paragraph was laced with fairly heavy sarcasm. Clearly, whatever the finer details of Pep’s approach is on the eve of big games, his medal collection shows it works more often than not.
On the other hand, when a man whose playing and coaching career stands as a monument to the indispensable value of the holding midfielder decides not to select a holding midfielder for the Champions League final, then it is fair to say he brings plenty of this nonsense on himself.
After a season where he normalised the false nine to an extent picking a recognised centre-forward became an eyebrow-raising departure, much of Guardiola’s work to disarm accusations of overthinking went up in smoke with Chelsea’s celebratory post-match fireworks in Porto.
Crystal Palace are the visitors for the City boss’ double-century match on Saturday and such landmarks are generally times to assess what has been achieved and what remains to be done.
The big trophy is still the only one to have eluded Pep's City, but he was keen not to be led in that direction when asked what else he would like to accomplish in Manchester.
“A tough thing I would like to live: win against Crystal Palace,” he replied.
On the face of it, this might seem like an extreme commitment to the old adage of “take each games as it comes."
But then, think about Pep’s previous pre-match eulogies about the threat Burnley used to possess with Ashley Barnes and Sam Vokes in tandem up front or his fascination with Nathan Redmond that is at once endearing and unnerving.
One offshoot of Guardiola’s football obsession is he genuinely and sincerely views all opponents as hugely threatening. Pep being sure to mention the opposition’s set-piece superiority is one for the bingo card whenever City draw lower-league opposition in the cup.
“I prepared for West Ham in the Carabao Cup like it was Club Brugge [in the Champions League] last week. The same,” he continued.
“I want to beat Crystal Palace. I don’t take a look longer [term]. My happiness will not change with thinking about [winning] the Premier League or Champions League or the FA Cup.
“My happiness depends on if we win against Crystal Palace, that is my only concern. It has worked in my career, thinking like this.
“It’s so important, not to get distracted. I don’t know what is going to happen in the future. I want to beat Palace and then make an incredible step to qualify for the Champions League [knockout stages] by beating Brugge.”
So strap yourself in for some potentially left-field new schemes to tackle the challenge of Patrick Vieira’s impressively renovated Palace. The likes of Conor Gallagher and Wilfried Zaha will certainly have given Guardiola the opportunity to flex his grey matter.
Of course, if it comes off and both full-backs score from the centre-forward position like they did in Belgium the other week, we’ll chalk it down as another routine win and move on.
But remember Guardiola will overthink it just as much as Wycombe Wanderers in the Carabao Cup earlier this season or the Manchester derby next weekend.
By all means, indulge in the 2pm Twitter teamsheet meltdown if you must. But admit it, you wouldn’t have it any other way.
Do you think Pep is guilty of "overthink" in big games or is it just part and parcel of his overall approach? Follow City Is Ours editor Dom Farrell on Twitter to join in the conversation and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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