Manchester City Tactics Vs Tottenham - 2021
Team Setup
During this game, Manchester City adhered to a 1–4–3–3 formation during their matchup against Tottenham Hotspur on the 13th of February 2021. The 1–4–3–3 has been a mainstay for Manchester City throughout this Premier League season, as it appears to be one of Pep Guardiola’s ideal systems. The 1–4–3–3 formation is viable because Manchester City obtains players that match the formation’s profile during this game. This formation is also perfect for bringing attacking football into play as the structure . With a 1–4–3–3, the holding midfielder must be adept with the ball at his feet to control the game’s tempo while being mobile and obtaining awareness for opposition danger, all skills Rodri contains. Manchester City, during this game, played two central midfielders next to Rodri who are versatile and can rotate and interchange in Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan. At the same time, having a complete striker up top in Gabriel Jesus, who is strong airily while being able to stretch defences with his pace and connect with teammates during build-up play.
In Possession-
Starting Foundation On The Ball
As aforementioned, Manchester City’s starting formation was a 1–4–3–3 in a high block when going into this football match; in the same vein, the system changed when Manchester City had the ball. During the first phase of play, Manchester City decided to revert to a 1–2–3–5 where both full-backs, in this case, Zinchenko (left) and Joao Cancelo (right), operated within the same line as the holding midfielder and would invert into the middle of the field. The new positions that the full-backs take up allows the centre midfielders in front of them to push forward and utilise their abilities in the half-spaces and make an attacking unit of 5 upfront. Additionally, inverting the full-backs forced both of Tottenham wingers to move inside to stop passing through the centre of the field from Manchester City. Through this movement from the opposition wingers, the City defenders can now make free and clear passes to either Phil Foden or Raheem Sterling on the flanks, who can now take on the full-back 1v1. During this stage of the game, Rodri, at times, would drop in between the centre-backs and form a back three. Spurs, out of possession, made use of a 1–4–4–2 shape; hence Guardiola made this change so Manchester City could create numerical superiority against Spurs’ front two and bypass their press. As Man City progressed the ball up the pitch, noticeable action was Gundogan spacing in the final third. Countless times, Gundogan stood in the left half-space with no opposition player in his proximity, which made him a significant passing option. Despite the technical skill, the Man City center-backs did not attempt any progressive passes to players like Gundogan in these spaces.
Role Of Gundogan In Attack
Manchester City was victorious against Tottenham, with their Premier league matchup ending 3–0. When examining these goals, it is clear to see the influence and responsibility on Ilkay Gundogan for various reasons. Gundogan scored two out of three goals in this match, with Rodri providing the other goal from the penalty spot. What makes Ilkay Gundogan such a threat is his ability to perfectly time late direct runs into the box from deep. We can see these capabilities through Man City’s first and second goals scored.
Regarding the first goal, interplay begins down the left-hand side of the pitch, and while players are combining, Gundogan makes a darting run down the left half-space, right in between Tottenham’s right-back and their centre back. This run has disorientated Spurs due to both defenders being engaged with a nearby attackers on and off the ball, giving Gundogan a clear avenue to sprint in the box. During this sequence, Gabriel Jesus found Gundogan within this space, which resulted in Pierre-Emile Højbjerg having to make a recovery run from midfield to stop the threat. Gundogan was able to check back onto his stronger foot and bypass Højbjerg, but Gundogan was taken down before he could, and a penalty was awarded. The same type of movement can be seen again for the second goal, combination play occurring on the left-hand side, Phil Foden making a run into the left inside channel which attracts the Spurs defender and leaves the lane open for Ilkay Gundogan to penetrate which ensued a goal-scoring opportunity which he took. . Figure1 demonstrates Gundogan’s threat by showing the number of touches he had in the box, with only Foden and Sterling having more.
Rotations In Attack
When attacking, Manchester City’s primary objective is to stretch the opposition’s defence as much as possible and exploit specific spaces. They achieved this by continually overloading one side of the pitch then suddenly transitioning the ball to the opposite side of the field. This tactic was effective due to the 5-man attack at the top of the pitch occupying Spurs’ 4 defenders, which will leave one winger free on the opposite side of the pitch. Man City’s attacker also took up various positions to create confusion within the Tottenham defensive line. Throughout this match, Raheem Sterling and Phill Foden would switch roles and play on the opposite flank to stretch Spurs twice as much. The switch of position was productive as Raheem Sterling is right-footed on the right side of the pitch and Phil Foden being left-footed on the left side allowed both players to hold their width and dribble down the outside of defenders, which helps other players to make runs into the inside channel due to space not being engaged. Either Gabriel Jesus or Bernardo Silva would drop deep and become a viable passing option in the centre of the field, so at times, City’s shape turns into a 1–2–3–1–4.
Within the attacking stage, Manchester City was more inclined to attack through the wings rather than creating chances through the centre of the field. Because of this, Gundogan was the only player to generate more the five passes within zone 14. Man City developed six crosses from open play, with a 50% success rate. The origin of these crosses started in different areas, but one constant similarity was the cross’s destination. All crosses, successful or unsuccessful, were all aimed for zone 17.
Out of Possession and Defensive Strategies-
Defensive Shape
During this game, Man City did well regarding controlling the tempo and taking the initiative. However, brief periods transpired were Spurs knitted together passages of play. With the attacking quality Tottenham has within their disposal, such as Son Heung-min and Harry Kane, who can cause harm to any defence, the opposition will continue to be a threat throughout the match. To nullify Tottenham’s attacking prowess, Manchester City utilised a narrow low to middle block 1–4–4–2 shape located within Spurs’ half. During the first half of this match, Manchester City had a large amount of possession, so their defensive mechanism did not truly come into play until the second half due to them being 2–0 up, wanting to slow the game down. Through previous research, we can see that Pep Guardiola was correct in his decision to bring this shape into play for various reason. Especially in the second half when Man City are looking to contain Tottenham rather than attack them, Pep Guardiola’s team will take no issue to allow Spurs’ midfielders and defenders more time and space on the ball, which will result in their most influential and game-changing players, Harry Kane, and Son Heung-min off the ball. This sentiment can be seen through the stats throughout the game. Harry Kane only recorded 46 touches (the lowest amount for players who played 90 minutes between both teams) and Son Heung-min, who amassed 52 (2nd lowest amount for players who played 90 minutes between both teams).
While in this 1–4–4–2 block, all City players did an excellent job in not allowing their adversaries to progress the ball through the middle of the field. They achieved this by positioning themselves, so they are all near every Spurs midfielder and attacker, eliminating various passing lanes.
Manchester City’s High Press
When Manchester City lose possession of the football, their initial intention was to press and recover the ball within their final third. This tactic was utilised to “disrupt the opposition” and not allow them to create passing avenues . While the Tottenham defenders had the ball at their feet, trying to build up from the back, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan were instructed to push up from midfield and lead the press with Gabriel Jesus. Because of Bernardo Silva’s excellent body positioning, he was able to harass the opposition defenders while keeping Pierre-Emile Højbjerg within his cover shadow, which relinquishes him as a passing option, which is a significant detriment to Spurs as he is one of their primary sources of progressive passing in the middle of the field and is a pivotal contributor to their build-up play structure.
In reference to Man City denying Tottenham from creating chances in attack, they excelled, only allowing Spurs very few attacks through the match’s duration. It is clear to see that Manchester City showcased defensive superiority over Tottenham and Manchester City’s ability to apply pressure high up the field against their opponents is a huge factor for this. Simultaneously, Manchester City did cause themselves problems at times through the way they pressed.
Referring to my previous observation, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva are instructed to push high and vacate their positions to join the attackers. Because both central midfielders have moved forward, this leaves space in Manchester City’s midfield area, which Tottenham exposed and played through at times. When spurs did access this space when transitioning, they did not make the most of it due to Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela’s loose passing, which led to them not being able to combine well with each other.
Set Pieces-
When observing and evaluating Manchester City’s set-piece routines, whether offensive or defensive, it is clear to see they have preferred ways of attacking the ball and stopping the opposition. When against Tottenham, Man City made use of a man-marking/zonal marking system where John Stones and Aymeric Laporte are placed on the line of the 6-yard box and Sterling (2), Rodri (3), and Mahrez (9) were used as blockers for the opposition. Both Stones and Laporte being stationed in these positions while being Manchester City’s most dominant player in the air signifies the import of the 6-yard box and protecting this section of the pitch when defending set-pieces.
When Man City had the opportunity to attack from a corner against Spurs, they selected the same configuration each time (corner 1). Gabriel Jesus would always be situated inside the 6-yard box, which is useful to City due to his ability to trouble the opposition goalkeeper with his fantastic jumping ability. Laporte and Stones started on the edge of the box before splitting off make making runs to both posts respectively.
