It is difficult to give a coach or a team credit after losing 6-0, especially in a cup final. However, against this extremely dominant Manchester City team, any kind of new ideas on how to defend are significant. Javi Gracia, who proved himself as one of the most successful coaches of the season by overachieving […]
Brighton were no match for Manchester City, who crowned themselves Premier League champions for the second season running. This game served as a prime example of how we will remember most of the domestic matches by Guardiola’s City: demolishing an opponent that sits back in a low block with positional play, quick combinations and dribbles […]
Leicester almost turned the Premier League title race on its head. They nearly managed to steal a deserved point from the Etihad, striking a fine balance between stubborn defending and composed possession play. Despite being repetitive and well-contained, City’s attacking ways generally manage to find an exploitable weakness one way or another. In this game, […]
Manchester City found it tough to create clear chances against United’s deep defense in the first half and had some minor scares on the counterattack due to the speed of United’s strikers. However, once they found the breakthrough in the second half thanks to Bernardo Silva, City had relatively little trouble seeing the game out, […]
Manchester City scored early through Phil Foden, but struggled to break down Tottenham Hotspur’s 5-3-2 defensive block. Pochettino’s clever formation choice also proved to be useful against City’s 4-1-4-1 high press, until Paulo Gazzaniga’s passing ability was exposed. Tactical analysis and match report by Om Arvind. Pep Guardiola’s legacy is under some serious pressure, whether […]
Tottenham went through to the Champions League semi finals after Mauricio Pochettino’s tactical choice led to a record-breaking opening stage that produced five goals in twenty-one minutes. Despite gradually gaining control and having reached the score line that would see them through, Manchester City found themselves at the wrong end of two VAR decisions and […]
Manchester City were nowhere near their accustomed attacking flair as Pep Guardiola’s choice of a double pivot led to a lot of unambitious possession play. Tottenham successfully stifled City’s midfield, and despite losing their talisman, they managed to capitalize on Manchester City’s weak link and get an important first leg victory. Tactical analysis and match […]
In German football slang, a week that includes European football is called ‘ein Englische Woche’, which translates to ‘an English week’. We’ll just call this Champions League Tuesday an English day however, as three of the four teams in action are from the UK, and both matches will be played in England as well. Preview […]
It’s only February, but Manchester City already won their second trophy of the season. It was by no means a walk in the park though for Pep Guardiola’s men. Kepa Arrizabalaga’s on-pitch antics and his refusal to be substituted will probably make the headlines, bit below that story actually laid a decent performance by Chelsea. […]
All the traits that got Schalke in the Champions League last season – passionate and disciplined defending paired with quick counterattacks and dangerous set-pieces – made life difficult for Manchester City. Guardiola’s side was not capable of creating many goal scoring opportunities with their center-focused approach. To win, they needed a free-kick goal and the […]