One of English football’s most gifted footballers, Hoddle spent the majority of his playing career at Tottenham Hotspur, playing close to 500 games over a 12-year period.
He also won 53 England caps before moving into management with Chelsea, Spurs, England, Wolves, Southampton, and Swindon Town.
Hoddle watched Sunday’s absorbing 4-4 draw with Chelsea and was happy to give his thoughts on City to our Pitchside Matchday Live team.
“Have I got an hour to talk about City?! I could talk about City all day!” said Hoddle.
“I think they’re the best team in the world right now and I’d include any international team in that.
“The football they play, the squad they’ve got is phenomenal.
“City lost their best player in Kevin De Bruyne and you could never tell that in a million years, the way they play - and they do it with any XI they put out.
“The way they pass and keep the ball is quite incredible, I don’t think we’ve ever seen that anywhere else, besides when Pep at Barcelona and there, if it wasn’t going well they could just give it the little magic man Messi and he’d do the rest.
“They are a fantastic football team. They’ve improved on the defensive side since Pep has come in too, because at the start, they didn’t have the right keeper and playing out from the back is difficult for a lot of teams - but not for City anymore because they’ve put that right as well.
“It’s not easy to play the ball out from the back as well as City do.
“It’s also very difficult to play against City because when they have the ball, how do you then set up to go and give them problems?
“That is the big question. City are a wonderful team.”
Hoddle believes the flexibility within the City squad means Pep Guardiola can swap and change his starting XI without fear it will impact his team’s playing style or effectiveness.
He said: “You’re asking players to take a risk in front of their own goal and lots of teams are trying to copy that style, but they can’t do it because they’ve not got the right goalkeeper or centre-backs, whereas if City have defensive injuries, they still have the players who can come in and still play that way.
“In management, when you haven’t got your best team out and some of your spine is suspended or injured, you have to tweak your system.
“City don’t have to do that because Pep has the players who can fill in just as well.”
And asked where he would have liked to have played in this City side, Hoddle smiled: “Anywhere. You could play anywhere. I’d love to have played in this City team – on these pitches today – wow, we could do some damage!”
