The American Cityzen

This game was incredibly interesting tactically, especially as City introduced two new players, Omar Marmoush and Abdukhodir Khusanov. City's setup specifically is more unique to this season, and brings us back to a setup we saw much more last season. The back 4 had both fullbacks push up high and wide to provide the width. Marmoush and Foden, the nominal wingers, pushed inside to form dual 10s behind Haaland. The midfield 3 dropped in a "triple pivot" in front of the two CBs. We saw this structure, or variations of it, a lot last season. City always build up in a 2-3 or 3-2 at the back, and this still achieves that result.

We all know City's struggles in midfield recently, specifically with the lack of presence, pace, and physicality. Additionally, City was giving the ball far too much in the midfield. This setup was out to solve both of those issues. First, it overloaded the midfield. You essentially had 5 people all over centrally, including 3 screening in front of the CBs. That gave Bernardo, Gundogan and Kovacic much less ground to cover in transitional moments to make up for the flaws we've seen. Second, overloading the midfield allows for more passing options for the three pivots, and there is less reliance on one player to set the tempo.

What I also really liked from this setup is that it put the players in the best areas for their skills to thrive. Fullbacks: We all know how dangerous Gvardiol is wide left. This gave him loads of space to attack into, and a lot of dangerous chances came from that side. The same goes for Nunes. He's obviously not a natural right back, but his skills are runs in behind, pace, work rate, and delivery. Having him as the wide right back allows all of those skills to thrive. We saw both of these fullbacks on display for the first goal. Nunes making the run over the top and Gvardiol to clean it up for the goal. 10s: Marmoush's best area is in that 10 position off the striker. His movement off the ball is very good, and he can work behind Haaland to have the freedom to make runs, or to receive it and create. Similar goes for Foden. His most dangerous position is in the pockets behind the striker, and that's exactly where he thrived. Pivots: Kovacic isn't a big goal threat, and isn't the type of player to dictate the tempo from deep. Having Bernardo and Gundogan to handle that beside him allows him to complement them rather than be in a position he's not best at. For Gundogan his legs clearly aren't what they used to be, but their technical ability is still there. This area allowed him to use his technical ability and not have to worry about covering large areas. For Bernardo, it's a mix of both. He can help with tempo and his legs aren't nearly as gone as Gundogan. Having those three as a unit benefitted them all.

I do think City will start going back to this setup for much of the rest of the season. If we play a hypothetical scenario where City bring in Cambiaso and a defensive midfielder (as it has been rumored), then I think it puts a lot of City's players in the best areas to succeed. As the 10s, you can play Marmoush, Foden, KDB, Savinho, Doku, Bobb or Grealish. They can all do well in those spaces and add different qualities. Many of them have shown their abilities in those pockets. As the pivots, adding a defensive midfielder will allow more rotation between those 3 slots. It also doesn't place too much on that signing. You can also play Rico Lewis in that line of 3, like he did at times last season. It allows his abilities on the ball to showcase. Also, the addition of Reis and Khusanov could allow Stones or Akanji to step into one of those slots (assuming they can stay fit) For the fullbacks, Cambiaso can play on either side and thrive. He is used to playing from both wide areas and can help rotate with Nunes and Josko.

Back to discussing the game a little, I thought Khusanov did fine after the two large errors in the first 5 minutes. He looked better on the ball than I expected and showed his pace and power. Marmoush looked very comfortable already. He has that Mahrez quality of bringing a baller type of energy to his game. What I mean by that is he seems to have an aura where he's itching to make things happen on the biggest stages. His movement off ball was very good, and he will only continue to get better as he develops chemistry in the team. You can tell how exciting he is and the energy he brought.

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