The dust has settled on this weekend’s Premier League and the most striking aspect was the new and creative tactics Manchester City employed against Everton.
Many thought coming into the season that Pep Guardiola would finally be tested outside of the safe cocoon that Barcelona and Bayern Munich provided. Despite Manchester City having unlimited resources, unlike Pep’s previous gigs, many other clubs in the league also find themselves in a similar financial tax bracket.
On the heels of the first two disappointing results of the season, a draw away to Celtic in the Champions League, and a 2-0 loss against Tottenham, Pep was given an entire international break to make some changes.
And changes he made, playing a formation that is rare by Premier League standards. For a fairly conclusive look at the Manchester City playing style in the first two months, look here. With Pep’s original style somewhat found out against Tottenham, Manchester City took the field in what many called a 3-4-3, with wingbacks of Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane. The other two players considered midfielders by the pregame team sheet were Ilkay Gundogan and Fernandinho.
On paper, this extremely attacking lineup looked to be geared around wide play from Sterling and Sane, while the front three was given freedom to create fluid madness. What actually happened was something very similar to that as Manchester City could be seen all afternoon attacking in waves, to the tune of 878 touches to Everton’s 478 per whoscored.com. This incredible disparity is highlighted because up until that point, Everton had won the possession battle in five of their first seven matches.
Again on paper, the formation read a 3-4-3, but, in reality, it looked much more like a 3-2-5. The “wingbacks” if they should be called that at all, had almost no defensive responsibility and Sane, in particular, had the majority of his touches on the edge of the Everton box.
This tactic, of course, left Manchester City extremely vulnerable to the counter as evidence by the Lukaku goal. The Everton counter was rarely a problem however as the front five worked tirelessly in winning the ball back immediately following a turnover and the midfield pairing was extremely disciplined.
The second point to highlight based on this formation and the associated heat maps is just how much freedom the middle troika was given. David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne combined for over 200 touches and while most were not on the wings, a vast majority came within 10-15 yards of the box. This combining and creative power, combined with Iheanacho playing somewhat of a false nine, meant that despite the congestion from having so many forward players, Manchester City was able to create in and around the box all match. Silva, in particular, is known for his intricate touches around the box and that could be seen in winning a penalty and producing seven key passes throughout the match.
Finally, the last note on this match should be to mention just how ruthless Pep can be. With the top Everton left-back Leighton Baines still nursing an injury, Pep and Manchester City made a conscious effort to attack the replacement Bryan Oviedo. Now Oviedo has his strengths, but they rest primarily in attacking play.
I believe the primary reason Pep set up his squad in this manner was to keep Oviedo and other attacking-minded Everton fullback, Seamus Coleman pinned back. It was easy to see early on Manchester City knew they were on to something as Sane destroyed Oviedo in one on one matchups and could have created a few goals as a result.
Later on in the match, Pep moved Sterling over to enjoy torturing Oviedo for a spell. Check out the pair’s heat map. You know something is going right if a large chunk of yellow is in the box for a winger.
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Despite all these attacking tactics, Everton drew 1-1, due to a few key decisions of their own. Knowing that time and space with the ball would be limited, Everton manager Ronald Koeman sent out a very defensive three midfielders to lock up shop.
Gareth Berry, Idrissa Gueye, and Tom Cleverly spent their day snuffing out problems all over the field. In the balance of play, Manchester City should have won the match, but the gritty play by Everton and a few lucky bounces meant the score would be merely 1-1.
Fans of the Premier League are incredibly blessed to have such a great collection of highly regarded managers, who are evolving with their squad week to week. Gone are the days when a simple 4-4-2 can be trotted out to great success. Every match a manager needs to make new decisions, so keep coming back and we’ll dissect them all year-long.