Manchester City – Tottenham Hotspur: Frank’s Formula Overcomes City (0-2)

Thomas Frank made his name at Brentford with organized pressing and dangerous, direct attacking play. This was the formula he used to beat City here, exploiting the space behind City’s high pressing and pouncing on mistakes in buildup to earn two first-half goals which were enough to collect three points at the Etihad Stadium.

Tactical analysis and match report by Josh Manley.

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Manchester City got off to a winning start last week away at Wolves as they try to rebuild after last season’s disappointments. Tottenham Hotspur were similarly dominant against Burnley in Thomas Frank’s first Premier League game as manager. Frank now had the task of replicating what Spurs have managed to do quite a few times in recent years – cause an upset against Pep Guardiola’s City.

The home side lined up in a 4-3-3 shape here, with a back four of Rico Lewis, John Stones, Rúben Dias, and Rayan Aït-Nouri. Nico González was the deepest midfielder, with Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders ahead of him. Meanwhile, Oscar Bobb and Omar Marmoush flanked Erling Haaland up front.

Spurs started with a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, and Djed Spence at the back. João Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur were the central midfielders with Pape Matar Sarr playing a more advanced role ahead of them. New recruit Mohammed Kudus featured in the frontline alongside Richarlison and Brennan Johnson.

Frank’s direct play

In his time at Brentford, Frank showed his ability to coach his side to play direct football in a way that is smart and potent, using long passes to pose problems to opposition defenses throughout the game. This game was an early example of him implementing this at Spurs too, as the away side constantly troubled City’s high defensive line.

City usually pressed in a 4-3-3 shape and tried to push high up the pitch. Meanwhile, Spurs’ buildup started from their 4-2-3-1 shape. The match-up of formations meant that Cherki and Reijnders usually had access to Spurs’ midfield double-pivot and could restrict their space.

The buildup to the first goal, where Spurs play direct down the right side. 

However, Spurs were still smart in using Palhinha and Bentancur for bounce passes with their backs to goal during buildup. A typical pattern for Spurs was to use the fullbacks as outlets, since City’s wingers would often indent towards Spurs’ center-backs, leaving space out wide.

Once Spurs had the ball with the fullbacks, the strategy was simple but effective – seek longer passes down the wings and try to get in behind City’s high line. This was what led to Spurs’ first goal. Porro’s long ball down the right was flicked on by Sarr, releasing Richarlison in behind City’s defense and eventually leading to Johnson firing the ball past James Trafford as he arrived to meet Richarlison’s low cross.

Spurs’ strong pressing

The true foundation of Spurs’ success in this game was their pressing. With City having the majority of possession, it was imperative that Spurs’ game against the ball was tight. Although City weren’t completely without chances, the away side overall pressed quite well.

When the situation was right, Spurs would attempt to press high against City’s buildup. Richarlison led from the front, while Sarr would usually be around City’s number six area. Sarr’s excellent running power gave him a big radius of action in Spurs’ pressing, and he was instrumental in stifling City’s play in this area.

The scene leading to Spurs’ second goal. Trafford tries unsuccessfully to thread the ball into Nico.

Palhinha and Bentancur could naturally engage high up against their opposite numbers Reijnders and Cherki. On the occasions where it was necessary, Spurs’ center-backs also showed a lot of bravery in stepping far out of the backline to mark City’s options closer to the ball, for example tracking Haaland when he dropped deep, or stepping up onto one of City’s number eights if Palhinha or Bentancur had jumped forward.

City’s buildup in these situations sometimes looked a bit shaky, with Trafford in goal not radiating confidence. The most consequential example of this came just before half-time, when Trafford’s loose pass towards Nico was pounced on by Sarr, and the situation resulted in Palhinha blasting the ball through a crowd of bodies just inside the box and finding the net, making it 2-0 to Spurs at half-time.

City frustrated

Of course, Spurs could not always press high, and they showed good adaptability to press in a mid or low-block where necessary. In these situations, they often played in something of a 4-4-2 shape, with Richarlison and Sarr screening the midfield. Palhinha and Bentancur also showed their value here, as they acted intelligently as the central midfield pairing to screen the Spurs defense, and were also strong in physical duels.

Guardiola’s side attacked starting from a 4-3-3 shape, although sometimes formed a back three in possession as the left back would often stay deeper alongside the center-backs. Aït-Nouri was forced off early through injury, so Nathan Aké took this role for most of the game.

Lewis meanwhile acted quite flexibly from right back, sometimes staying wider, and sometimes coming into central midfield. Marmoush held the width on the left, and Bobb attacked from the right, while Cherki and Reijnders essentially played as number tens, getting into quite advanced positions.

Spurs’ deeper defending was well-organized.

City also had some attempts to play direct, but were unable to quite make it work as Spurs had earlier. In the second half, Doku replaced Marmoush on the left, and became a promising attacking outlet for City, creating some of their more dangerous moments in the second half with his agile dribbling. However, last-ditch defending from Spurs was often key, with Palhinha and Bentancur coming back into the box to assist the center-backs.

The likes of Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden also made entrances in the second half, as well as Rodri replacing Nico at number six. In the end though, they were unable to make the difference. City were frustrated, while Spurs left the Etihad Stadium with all three points.

Takeaways

City were perhaps not quite as bad as the scoreline suggests, and were arguably unlucky to leave goalless. However, they still did look shaky at the back at times against Spurs’ direct play, showing traces of last season’s defensive vulnerabilities. The goalkeeping situation remains as a question, and Trafford’s mistake for the second goal did not help matters. Overall, City’s rebuild continues to provide as many questions as answers.

For Frank’s Spurs it has been a perfect start to the Premier League campaign with two wins and two clean sheets. They showed what they are capable of even in these early stages under the new coach with potent, direct attacking play paired with a well-organized pressing game. The new arrivals Palhinha and Kudus were also excellent, while Sarr played an important tactical role.

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