One of
the most anticipated clashes of the champions league knock out stages . This is
a tactical look ahead of what promises to be a thrilling encounter for all
football lovers .
Deconstructing City
I’m one
among many Manuel Pellegrini’s long time admirer . The 4-2-2-2 he materialized
at Villarreal in his final years was just amazing . But unfortunately many tend to remember him only for that feat – but considering where he came from and
transforming Villarreal from “just another liga side” into a team competing and challenging the other two Spanish giants speaks volumes about him . Now he is set to face someone who in a way following
his own foot steps .
Ever
since I have seen him on the sidelines – the most familiar feature about all
his teams is the Double pivot - defensive block . From the days of [ gonzalo – Pena / Josico - Marcos
senna ] to [ wellington-Demichellis / Toulalan-camacho ] that has provided defensive stability for his
sides . It is not to say he strictly follows it , Pellegrini often tries to accommodate his best available players rather than trying to fit his players into a particular formation - like how he tried to get the best out of Riquelme by playing a 4-3-1-2 .
This City side reminds me a lot of his first Villarreal side . which
was also a 4-4-2 with Diego Forlan and
Josep Mari up-top .With city he has yaya
Toure and Fernandinho – very identical box to box midfielders playing different
roles . Both are not holding midfielders – some might point out Yaya was played
in a single pivot at Barcelona , but then you also have to remember why they
sold him . This may sound like a “Lobanovskyi model ” but City have problems defending between their
lines - which is mainly due to their inability to maintain the defensive block .
City's Attacking Prowess
 |
| Manchester city prominent starting line up / defensive block |
City's Attacking Prowess
City
have scored an incredible 115 goals this season ( I don’t know how much it will
be by the time this blog gets done ) . Spent hours watching all of them –
thanks to their well maintained official website . What makes them so dangerous is
their simple but incisive passing with clever movements .
 |
| Manchester city offensive set-up . |
City
have a very lopsided attack . But that doesn’t necessarily mean the chances
created are predominantly form one flank of the attack . 22.2% of their chances
have come form the right flank and 19.2% form the left . which isn’t that big a fluctuation considering those stats
includes dead ball situations – will requires a pro analysis to come to any
conclusion . But the point to be taken is they are equally potent from both
flanks .
David
Silva – the little magician is the heart beat of City . Don’t get me wrong –
the lung busting runs of Yaya Toure , clinical finishing in front of goal from
their strikers are all part of a total package which is orchestrated by him . On paper he is their left sided midfielder in
a 4-4-2 , but in reality he is their no 10 , always drifting inside and
switching flank to flank to overload and to thread in passes for Kun / Negredo
. Which is why their attack is so lopsided ,
the only genuine width on the left coming form Kolarov . He was played in a 442 against Arsenal and in a 4231 against Bayern Munich . This could be an area of concern when playing against higher pressing sides . Having said that David Silva is their most creative player – infact he is also the most creative player in Premier League this season . If you have problems accepting that read this .
 |
| Silva in a 4231 ( left ) in a 442 ( right ) credits - Squawka |
City’s
movement in the final third is very simple and clever . Pellegrini’s early
success in premier League doesn’t really surprise me given the space you get to
exploit in PL is considerably larger than La liga . City are good
at making decoy movements – one such instance against Spurs ( in the pic
below ) Navas temporarily slots into a #10 role , nasri has taken out Sandro (
only holding mid ) , Kun makes a run into that space – navas attracts the only
free CB ( dawson ) which leaves space
behind – Kun makes a simple 1-2 with Negredo into that space to face Lloris 1 v
1 . Almost similar one against Manchester united . Sharp , incisive and clever movement .
 |
| Decoy runs - vs Spurs ( top ) - vs Manchester United ( bottom ) |
Facing city
( especially at Etihad ) is giving your defensive organization a stern test . Liverpool with their hard pressing game and
Chelsea with their compact defensive block are the ones who have stood out .
The margin for error is so minimum – all it takes is a lapse in concentration
for a moment . City’s ability to pin the opponents down and pick out passes /
make runs into spaces is sublime . two such examples - overloading one flank and creating space for Zabaleta to run into ( Monreal should have done better there ) . Henderson and Coutinho switched off for a moment - only for Navas to run into the space .
.jpg) |
| vs Arsenal ( top ) - vs Liverpool ( bottom ) |
The
biggest test for City this season so far was Bayern Munich – the best side in
Europe . City were thoroughly outplayed by Bayern at Etihad . Two months later
more of a second string City side came back from 2 goals down to beat Bayern at
Allianz .
How did City beat Bayern Munich at Allianz ?
The answer
lies in the formation and personnel . At Allianz
arena Pellegrini played Fernandinho / Javi Garcia in a double pivot with
David Silva ahead of them - at Etihad it was a 4-4-2 with Nasri and Navas flanking Fernandinho /
Yaya . Nasri was asked to tuck in to be
the 3rd midfielder to not get overloaded in the middle . Guardiola's Bayern play a 4-1-4-1 very similar to Barcelona model . In order to match numbers in the center , they had to leaves spaces out wide . In the second half Aguero dropped deeper to mark Lahm ( who was unmarked for most of the first half ) , which inturn reduced City's threat .
 |
| Manchester City vs Bayern Munich at Etihad |
Apart
from the jittery first 20 minutes City did exceptionally well to win against
Bayern in the 2nd leg without Yaya Toure , Kun Aguero and Negredo . Bayern had
their share of absence too . Pellegrini opted for a 4-2-3-1 in that game with
Silva playing behind Dzeko . Stand out performers of the night were James
Milner and Pablo Zabaleta . With this
formation they were able to compete with Bayern for every ball without having
to sacrifice the balance of the team .
The heat map comparisons of both the home and away leg
against Bayern ( below pic ) . Number of failed passes through the middle for
Bayern in the 1st leg was 7 and in the second leg was 15 . Its no
rocket science , City played a more defensive combo of Fernandinho / Javi
Garcia and David Silva often sharing the defensive duties .Which limited Bayern
to more sideway passes in the 2nd
leg . City were much more balanced , usually they give you a lopsided feel . Pellegrini's Malaga had a lopsided attack when Santi cazrola was there (
later replaced by Isco – which turned the side into more a counter attacking
one ) . In the 1st leg city were dragged all over , outnumbered
and for most part of the game outrun . As I did point out before They have
problems defending between lines . One way to minimize it is by pressing in
numbers – for that you need to optimize positional
play . Which I haven’t seen city do this season .
.jpg)
Bayern Munich heat map 3-1 win ( left ) , 3-2 loss (right )
Why
only compare City’s performance against Bayern ? why not against sides like
Liverpool or Arsenal ? – might have popped up for many of you . Bayern ( under Pep ) play a brand of football which
is very similar to Barcelona . They set up a 4-1-4-1 , press higher up the pitch and love possession
. The City vs Liverpool game was played
at a tempo – which we wont see against Barcelona . Just for the simple reason
that it doesnt suite their style and they will slow the tempo to keep up the pressing
rate at different spells .
Injury concerns
Sergio
Aguero will miss the 1st leg and doubtful for the second , same
with Samir Nasri . Two crucial players for Pellegrini . As a football fan wanted
a full strength squads from both the clubs . Given what happened against Bayern
and Aguero’s injury , playing a 5 man
midfield wouldnt be a bad ploy against Barcelona . The space Ivanovic had on the right flank throughout the game against City was alarming - considering city will be up against Dani Alves gives all the more reasons for Pellegrini to play an extra midfielder .
It’s a very
fine line between being brave and being naïve , playing two strikers against Bayern
was a brave decision which turned out to
be naïve . Have to see what the “Engineer” has in store for this big clash .
 |
| Provided all the current lot stay fit – my starting 11 for city against Barcelona |
Barcelona
on the other hand are under constant evolution this season , will try and post
my opinions in the next article .
No comments:
Post a Comment