Txiki Begiristain and Pep Guardiola shape Man City U23 thinking more than ever

When swapping the battles of lower league football with Rochdale for Manchester City's academy last summer, two things Brian Barry-Murphy thought or had been told were quickly proven to be untrue.

The first was that Pep Guardiola has a big first team squad. It is spoken about as vast because of the quality running through the squad, but the manager prefers a small, versatile group to be able to solve problems in multiple ways and avoid as many awkward conversations with players about not getting picked as possible.

Secondly, linked to the first point, the idea that moving away from a competitive league towards a development project would make Barry-Murphy's life breezier than before was very much mistaken.

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"I would say that the perception from the outside in academy football is people say to you that it's great having a break from results," the coach told the Manchester Evening News. "I've never felt more responsibility to deliver the results both individually and collectively in terms of preparing the player for the next game, the next part of what they're working on, providing players for the first team in an elite environment.

"I feel as if the expectancy and demands on ourselves as staff in this building is really high. That's part of what I've enjoyed the most really, working the way we do and providing results individually and collectively is a brilliant challenge. The more you win and do things as a group speeds that process up."

Taking a step away from first team football has left Barry-Murphy feeling more visible than before thanks to the constant presence of academy director Jason Wilcox and sporting director Txiki