Inside Guardiola’s Manchester City 2.0: The Tactical Evolution That Broke slot’s Liverpool | OneFootball

For years, the 4-2-4 press has been considered one of the few reliable ways to challenge Pep Guardiola’s possession play. Yet, at the Etihad, Manchester City unveiled an evolution that rendered it almost obsolete. This was not the typical Guardiola blueprint of inverted full-backs and a structured 3-2-2-3 buildup. Instead, City played with a refreshing unpredictability – deep full-backs, tucked-in wingers, and a five-man central overload that suffocated Liverpool’s midfield. Arne Slot’s side tried to adapt, but City’s new approach dismantled their structure piece by piece.

Liverpool’s 4-2-4 Press – and Why It Failed

Liverpool’s defensive shape was familiar: a 4-4-2 when pressing high, with Dominik Szoboszlai stepping forward alongside Hugo Ekitike, while Mohamed Salah and Florian Wirtz remained wide to block passing lanes. In theory, it should have been perfect against City’s usual 3-2-2-3 structure, cutting access to the pivots and forcing the ball long.

But City didn’t play by those rules.

Instead of the expected 3-2 buildup, Guardiola kept his full-backs, Nico O’Reilly and Matheus Nunes, deep and wide. This simple adjustment broke Liverpool’s pressing rhythm. With both full backs hugging the touchline and staying deep, Manchester City stretched Liverpool horizontally. If Salah or Wirtz pressed the wide defenders, gaps opened centrally. If they stayed narrow, City’s full backs were left free. Either way, Liverpool’s pressing lanes collapsed under City’s manipulation of width and timing.

The result? A lopsided press that left Liverpool’s two midfielders – Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch – stranded against a swarm of City bodies.

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Manchester City’s Unorthodox Build-Up Shape

During the build-up, Manchester City’s shape looked almost anarchic. Sometimes a 5-2-3, sometimes a 4-1-5, but always fluid. When Liverpool pressed high, one of Bernardo Silva or Nico Gonzalez would drop into the backline, briefly creating a temporary back three. This ensured City retained a numerical advantage in the first phase.

O’Reilly and Nunes’ positioning was key here. By staying deep, they forced Liverpool’s wingers into awkward decisions – push up to press and risk leaving the midfield exposed or sit off and concede progression. Guardiola’s refusal to use inverted full backs in this game was deliberate. He wanted the wide zones to act as bait.

Once the press was engaged, the ball would be shifted centrally through Gonzalez or Bernardo. Liverpool’s two pivots could not step up without leaving massive gaps behind them. Every time they hesitated, City’s interiors – Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki, and Jeremy Doku – moved into those spaces. The effect was devastatingly consistent: bypass the first wave, find the free man, advance.

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The 5-vs-2 Midfield Overload

This was the tactical crux. Guardiola’s adjustment created a central overload that Liverpool’s 4-2-4 simply couldn’t cope with. With Cherki and Doku both tucking in from wide positions, City had five players – Gonzalez, Bernardo, Foden, Cherki, and Doku – occupying central spaces against Liverpool’s two midfielders.

Liverpool’s double pivot was outnumbered, outmanoeuvred, and outpassed. When Mac Allister pushed forward, Gravenberch was left alone. When Gravenberch tried to cover space, Mac Allister had to choose between marking Foden or blocking passing lanes. City repeatedly broke through by finding Foden or Gonzalez between the lines.

This overload also enabled City’s full-backs to stay wide and available. As Liverpool’s midfielders collapsed inward, space opened up for Nunes and O’Reilly to progress the ball unopposed. The cycle repeated: drag Liverpool narrow, switch wide, attack the vacated zone.

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Doku and O’Reilly: Tormenting Liverpool’s Right Flank

Few battles defined this game more than City’s left-sided combination of Jeremy Doku and Nico O’Reilly against Conor Bradley and Szoboszlai. Doku, in particular, was a nightmare. Operating as an inside forward rather than a touchline winger, he constantly found himself drifting into half-spaces. O’Reilly would overlap or underlap depending on the moment, creating a constant state of uncertainty for Liverpool’s right side.

Whenever Bradley stepped out to press O’Reilly, Doku darted infield, exploiting the channel between Bradley and Konate. When Szoboszlai tracked back to help, the overload reappeared in midfield. Guardiola’s rotations on this flank were intelligent and relentless. Doku attempted nine dribbles and completed eight – numbers that reflect how isolated Liverpool’s defenders were.

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Liverpool’s Mid-Block and Their Attempts to Adapt

To Arne Slot’s credit, Liverpool tried to adapt. They dropped into a more conservative mid-block out of possession, allowing City to have the ball in deeper areas while compacting the centre. Wirtz and Salah tucked in more, forming what resembled a narrow 4-4-1-1. The idea was to close central lanes and force City wide.

But even this adjustment couldn’t hold. City’s midfield superiority meant that every time Liverpool’s line stepped up, a pocket opened between the midfield and defence. Haaland and Foden occupied those spaces with clever movement, dragging Van Dijk and Konate into uncomfortable positions. Szoboszlai, tasked with supporting transitions, found himself penned back. His influence faded as City dictated the tempo.

In possession, Liverpool aimed to release Salah early down the right. Van Dijk’s diagonals towards him were a recurring theme, but with O’Reilly quick to recover and Gonzalez shading across, those moments rarely developed into clear chances. Ekitike, isolated up front, was a peripheral figure. The Frenchman struggled to hold play up or threaten in behind, neutered by Ruben Dias’ physical dominance and Guardiola’s compact defensive setup.

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Foden’s Front-Foot Leadership and City’s Pressing Trap

If City’s build-up was innovative, their pressing structure was equally intriguing. Guardiola deployed a dynamic 4-4-2 out of possession, with Phil Foden playing a pivotal role alongside Erling Haaland. But unlike a traditional two-man press, Foden operated asymmetrically – dropping deeper when needed to block access to Liverpool’s pivots.

City’s pressing trap was cleverly designed. They deliberately allowed Ibrahima Konate to receive the ball, knowing he was less comfortable under pressure than Van Dijk. Haaland occupied Van Dijk, cutting off the passing lane back across goal, while Foden curved his press to shadow Mac Allister. When Konate looked up, his only forward option was often Salah – who was immediately confronted by O’Reilly.

This forced Liverpool into hurried long balls or risky passes through midfield, both of which played into City’s hands. The pressing triggers were perfectly timed: once Konate released the ball wide, Cherki and Foden would spring forward, with Gonzalez stepping up to compress the space. City’s coordination and discipline in the press reflected hours of meticulous preparation.

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Guardiola’s Defensive Evolution

When Liverpool managed to advance into City’s half, Guardiola’s men dropped into a compact 4-1-4-1. Bernardo Silva often pushed higher to join Foden in closing central lanes, while Gonzalez anchored the midfield just in front of the centre-backs. Cherki and Doku, who started narrow in possession, tucked in even further to deny vertical progression.

This defensive shape created a funnel effect, forcing Liverpool’s play towards the flanks. Once there, City’s wide defenders engaged aggressively, supported by Gonzalez or Bernardo providing cover. This ensured that even when Salah or Wirtz received the ball in advanced areas, they were isolated and facing multiple defenders.

City’s ability to maintain compactness without losing width was a standout feature of their defensive organisation. Every passing lane through the centre was blocked, leaving Liverpool’s creative players – particularly Szoboszlai and Wirtz – starved of space and service.

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Guardiola’s Fluidity: The Back Three, the Back Four, and Everything In Between

Throughout the game, Manchester City’s defensive and offensive shapes morphed constantly. In possession, they would often resemble a back two (Dias and Gvardiol) with both full-backs deep but wide. Out of possession, they reformed into a solid back four. This constant shapeshifting made it impossible for Liverpool to establish pressing triggers.

Nico Gonzalez’s positional intelligence was central to this. He dropped in when needed to create numerical superiority at the back, and pushed up when City regained control. Bernardo Silva mirrored his movements, ensuring City always had balance regardless of the phase of play.

Pep’s side, then, oscillated between a 2-3-5 and a 4-1-4-1, yet at no point did they lose structural coherence. This was Guardiola’s evolution in real time – not rigid positional play, but controlled chaos, where flexibility was the new order.

: Inside Guardiola’s Manchester City 2.0: The Tactical Evolution That Broke slot’s Liverpool

Liverpool’s Struggles in the Final Third

Despite occasional flashes, Liverpool never truly looked like breaking City down. Salah found pockets on the right but was largely contained by O’Reilly. Wirtz’s movements infield were well-read by Nunes, while Ekitike offered little penetration against Dias and Gvardiol. Szoboszlai’s usual dynamism was neutralised – City’s compactness forced him into lateral movements rather than vertical ones.

Slot’s attempt to overload City’s flanks with overlapping full-backs faltered because of City’s excellent spatial control. Every time Liverpool committed numbers forward, City were ready to spring transitions through Foden or Doku.

: Inside Guardiola’s Manchester City 2.0: The Tactical Evolution That Broke slot’s Liverpool

Guardiola’s City 2.0: Freedom Within Structure

This match may go down as one of Guardiola’s most tactically significant in recent memory – not because of dominance, but because of evolution. Gone are the strict positional roles of his treble-winning side. In their place is a team that thrives on controlled fluidity. Full backs stay deep to hold width. Wingers drift centrally to overload. Midfielders rotate seamlessly to maintain superiority.

Against Liverpool’s 4-2-4 press, it worked to perfection. City bypassed pressure, dictated rhythm, and suffocated their opponents in the middle third. The 5-vs-2 overloads weren’t just a numbers game – they were the visual representation of Guardiola’s revamped footballing ideology. Liverpool’s pressing principles – aggression, compactness, control – were all dismantled. Each time they adjusted, City adapted quicker. It was Guardiola’s flexibility against Slot’s rigidity, and only one could prevail.

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The Broader Picture

This was more than a tactical victory; it was a statement of evolution. Manchester City no longer rely on rigid positional play but on dynamic occupation of space. Full backs hold width instead of inverting. Wingers like Doku and Cherki operate as hybrid interiors. Midfielders interlock rotations to maintain dominance.

Liverpool’s plan was brave, even logical, but City’s precision dismantled it. Every pressing cue was countered, every passing lane manipulated. Pep’s City now embody freedom within order – a system not based on positions, but on the intelligence to redefine them. Against Slot’s aggressive 4-2-4, Guardiola found the antidote.

Final word

This was Guardiola’s Manchester City 2.0 – unpredictable, fluid, and tactically mature. The future of positional play might not be about positions at all but about mastering the moments in between. Welcome back Pep Guardiola – the master is still here to rewrite rules and script history.