India, Oct. 6 -- After Pep Guardiola's 601st match as the manager of a top-flight club ended, one statistic glared more than any other. His Manchester City team had been held to a 1-1 draw by Arsenal, in their Premier League match a fortnight ago.

It was not the first time a Guardiola team had conceded a late goal. Certainly not the first time they failed to get three points. What was shocking was the possession statistic.

In all his time as manager of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and now City, the 54-year-old manager has set his teams to play attacking, possession-based football. But against Arsenal, he substituted attackers with defensive players, and got his team to drop back and defend a narrow 1-0 lead. At the end of the match, City ma...