As Manchester City have continued the rebuild of their squad after an era of dominance, a new group of players with a different set of strengths has been tasked with leading City into a new era. Club legends like Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Kyle Walker, Ederson, and various others have left the club. Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, Antoine Semenyo, Jeremy Doku, and Omar Marmoush, just to name a few, have come into Pep Guardiola’s squad. Manchester City’s next batch of key players has a completely different set of strengths than those who formed Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side.
The question appears to be: Should this City team play to their strengths and embrace the chaos that their attacking players need to thrive?
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Should Pep Guardiola set out his side to fully utilize their strengths in the final third to mask what the players cannot do?
When looking at players such as Rayan Cherki, Antoine Semenyo, Jeremy Doku, Omar Marmoush, Erling Haaland, and Phil Foden, they thrive when given space to get in behind an opponent’s defence or when there is space for them in which to operate. The problem is typically that the teams Manchester City play against don’t allow them the space they need to thrive. Pep Guardiola’s side regularly contend with low defensive blocks at the beginning of games. Recently, a trend has emerged where team’s sit back against City, and come at them after halftime. It is a tactic that has worked against City as we saw for Tottenham in Manchester City’s 2-all draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last Sunday.
The notion that Manchester City cannot live with their opponents when they come at them doesn’t fit with the players City have. It would be assumed that Pep Guardiola’s side would thrive as games become more stretched. Especially given the attacking players that City have. As Spurs pressed last Sunday, there was space for City to exploit, but they failed to do so. Pep Guardiola’s side gave away possession too easily, they also failed to win the duels they needed to get at Thomas Frank’s side. City also wasted too many opportunities with poor passing and decision-making. That has been a constant theme for Pep Guardiola’s side recently. When games become stretched and City’s opponents come at them, they seemingly wilt. That shouldn’t be happening with the players that Manchester City have in their squad.
Manchester City have the weapons up front to wreak havoc.
It does seem that when City get pressured, as they were against Tottenham, the Manchester City players can’t handle it or get confused as to how they should play. Do they try and control matches, or do they embrace the chaos and play to their attacking players’ strengths? You’d like to see Pep Guardiola’s side handle such moments and play to the strengths they have up front. Of course, to do this, City have to win their duels to utilize the space that Tottenham gave them. If they do that, they should be able to unleash Semenyo, Haaland, Marmoush, Foden, Cherki, and company to do what they do best. It does look like if City win the physical battle, which they lost resoundingly in the 25 minutes after halftime against Spurs, the rest should come.
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Perhaps instead of focusing on controlling games, it’s time for Pep Guardiola’s side to embrace their attacking strengths and go back at their opponents. Manchester City have the attacking weapons to do so. Instead of focusing on controlling matches, and going back into their shells when their opponents come at them, it’s time for City to back themselves and play to their strengths and back the players up front to exploit the space when Manchester City’s opponents do come at them. Perhaps playing that way will see City hold onto two goal leads, or push their opponents back to stifle their momentum. It’s food for thought if nothing else.
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