Has this Manchester City team adapted to play to their strengths? | OneFootball

It is well-established how Pep Guardiola wants his Manchester City team to play. Guardiola wants his team to dominate possession and pin their opponents deep in their own half, and in a sense, pass them into submission. This gives City the control of games that Guardiola craves, and almost demands, and keeps the play away from Manchester City’s goal. We have now had a decade of watching Pep Guardiola’s City side play, so you can almost go into every City match knowing what to expect regarding how City will play.

But this season feels different. This Manchester City side isn’t built like previous iterations of Pep Guardiola’s sides. There is a more direct threat going forward in this City lineup. After watching Manchester City’s past two wins against Bournemouth and Borussia Dortmund, you wonder if there has been a subtle shift in Pep Guardiola’s approach to matches this season to play to the apparent strengths of his squad.

In their past two matches, Manchester City haven’t had a massive domination of possession.

The possession statistics in Manchester City’s past two matches against Bournemouth and Borussia Dortmund make for interesting reading. Against Bournemouth, City had 48% of possession. That is a rare sight, especially in a game played at the Etihad. Last night, City had 51% of possession as Dortmund had their moments in possession during last night’s match. In those two matches, Pep Guardiola’s side didn’t have its usual dominance of possession. But there is no doubt that City were the most dangerous attacking side in both matches. The way City’s opponents played did play into Manchester City’s hands.

To their credit, Bournemouth and Borussia Dortmund do play expansive and attractive football in possession. In the case of Bournemouth, their high press is one of the most aggressive in the Premier League. Dortmund is an attacking team, and they did play that way last night. Bournemouth and Dortmund’s approach played into Manchester City’s hands. Bournemouth were vulnerable to swift counters last Sunday, and Pep Guardiola’s side took full advantage of this vulnerability. Dortmund plays an attacking style of football, and with their wing-backs pushed up high, there was space for Jeremy Doku and Savinho to exploit on the wings. That stood out in both matches. The strength of this City squad in attack, is their direct attacking threat, and it seems that Pep Guardiola has changed his approach subtly to play to his squad’s strengths.

This City squad is built completely different from any other iteration of Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering teams.

Previous Manchester City squads were constructed to maintain possession and control and then pick their moments to break open a match. That was City’s tried and tested method throughout their era of dominance. It led to an unprecedented level of success, and there is no doubt that Pep Guardiola would want his team to play in a similar fashion. Looking at the current Manchester City squad, the strengths of it are how direct they are with their pace and technical ability.

Erling Haaland thrives with space to run in behind. Bournemouth gave him this, and the results were clear to see. Jeremy Doku, Savinho, Omar Marmoush, and to a lesser extent Oscar Bobb thrive when given space to get in behind an opponent’s defence. In Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, and Phil Foden, City have three players who can turn into space and run directly at an opponent. From there, with their creativity and eye for goal, anything is possible. To play to the strengths of their attack, it does seem that City are sitting deeper defensively to allow their opponents onto them so they can unleash their potential attacking weapons.

Pep Guardiola’s side has sat back when required this season.

We have seen Manchester City sit deep defensively this season and invite their opponents onto them. Perhaps there was no more pronounced instance of this at the Emirates Stadium in September when City fought and scrapped their way to a 1-all draw with Arsenal. Although Manchester City didn’t have a lot of possession on that day, they didn’t allow Arsenal to create many clear-cut chances until Gabriel Martinelli scored a late equaliser. City did similar against Bournemouth and Dortmund. They sat deep when the occasion called for it, but they didn’t allow either of their opponents to create many opportunities. They defended resolutely, Gianluigi Donnarumma made the saves he needed to, and when City had the chance to, they broke with precision, pace and power.

All previous Manchester City sides have had this ability. But it does appear that this City side is leaning into their ability to defend resolutely and attack on the break with lightning precision more often.

Summary.

This Manchester City squad is built differently from previous City squads. There is pace, power and creativity throughout City’s attacking options. They can also sit deep when required and ride out difficult moments. It does seem that Pep Guardiola has subtly shifted his approach to lean into the strengths of his team with devastating effect. It will be interesting to see if City continue to play in the manner we’ve seen recently or if Pep Guardiola’s preferred style of play takes over as the season progresses.