A lot of it's nostalgic rubbish, harking back to when men were men, but in general I'd be inclined to agree with the overriding sentiment that football just feels a little bit less fun nowadays; Pep Guardiola has a hell of a lot to answer for.

If this season has been his long overdue reckoning, the FA Cup final was his Judgement Day.

Losing to a team with 22% possession, who peppered his side with long throws and scored from a punt up to the big man. Thanks Ollie Glasner, we've got our country back.

To cap it all off, Eberechi Eze sank to the Wembley turf at the final whistle and exclaimed "thank you God," for at least a brief moment even a convinced atheist such as myself was willing to consider the possibility of divine intervention.

And then as Palace celebrated ending their existence-long 120-year wait for a major trophy with the club's iconic Glad All Over anthem ringing around Wembley there could hardly have been a more befitting set of lyrics - who wasn't rooting for the upset?

Aside from the current pack of City themselves, this final was everything the FA Cup should be: a proper underdog story.

No wonder a Total Football acolyte such as Pep threw a tantrum at full-time when faced with the offer of a handshake from footballing heretic Dean Henderson.

Put simply, Guardiola isn't used to not having things all his own way. Especially not for this long.

While his petty refusal to shake hands with Palace's goalkeeping hero, whose penalty save and superb handball have guaranteed him a lifetime of pension-delivering after-dinner speeches, will be quickly forgotten, another wonderful display by Eze will not.

It's not beyond the realms of possibility he is wearing sky blue next season, so strong was the speculation of him moving to the Etihad 12 months ago, but how sad a sight it would be were such a free-spirited footballer to go the same way as another English number 10 in Jack Grealish, who never left the bench for a second FA Cup final defeat in a row.

From the council estate cages of south London to an FA Cup-winning goal at Wembley, Eze has never wavered from the fundamental intention to entertain.

He plays how we'd all love to do it. How it should be. How it used to be.

But he is no Pep player. Such creative license must be left at the door if a player chooses to worship at the church of Guardiola.

His display, and this match as a whole, exposed the loosening grip of an undeniably great manager once considered almost beyond scrutiny. The best there's ever been. Defined by being the innovator among a generation of innovators.

Did City just miss lots of chances, or was this another example of how out of step Guardiola has become? Of how slow and laboured City were for large parts of the game in both build-up and defence? Of how a more adaptable, less precious coach can take advantage of such stubbornness?

Of how philosophy has given way to adaptability.

There is no escaping the fact this victory, at least in its immediacy, will be laced with the controversy of Henderson somehow avoiding a red card. While the sheer magnitude of Palace's achievement will wash that away in time, it may also mean Guardiola's increasing desperation for control goes unnoticed.

Why was Erling Haaland? Why was a teenage Argentine never previously named in a squad thrown on in the dying minutes? Why was their so little individuality from his team?

Guardiola would no doubt have felt vindicated by his micro-management had Marmoush scored from the spot, or Claudio Echeverri not scuffed straight at Henderson, but it would still have laid bare that this is not the Pep Guardiola we once knew. This is no blip.

This season has seen his wider influence recede as a new breed of coaches have a growing impact on the game, moving us towards athletic, transitional, adaptable football, allowing teams to disrupt in a way scarcely seen in the Premier League era.

Guardiola's omnipotence at City makes adapting to those changes almost impossible. He must be the one to accept it.

Quite rightly this is a day to be celebrated as a special one in the history of Crystal Palace, a triumph for the underdog, a day to marvel at the joy with which Eberechi Eze plays the game.

Many may claim this was no enormous shock given the context of the current season, but the Manchester clubs, Liverpool had won all but four of 33 FA Cups since 1991, so it is objectively seismic.

But I can't shake the feeling that it was also the day that spelled the end of the Guardiola era.

Whether that's with or without him.

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