How Guardiola made Man City title contenders again – tactical analysis

Midway through the season, Manchester City sit two points off Premier League leaders Arsenal with both sides having won 12 of their 17 league games so far.

After last season’s disappointing campaign, when the club that had won six titles in seven years only secured third place on the final day of the season, and a difficult start to the current campaign that saw them lose two of their opening three games, Pep Guardiola’s team have roared back into form.

There is a widespread belief about what a Guardiola team looks like, but every league title the Spaniard has won has been secured with a unique system.

The current version of Manchester City is unlike anything we have seen from them before though, so just how has Guardiola reinvented his team tactically?

Over the past few weeks, Pep seems to have settled on a side that looks like this:

The only real change seen to this City side is when Tijjani Reijnders plays in Jeremy Doku’s absence, with the Netherlands midfielder taking Foden’s central position and the England man moving to the left.

Let’s take a close at what these 12 players have been asked to do.

When Guardiola reinvents his system, changes are made based on the players he has rather than a predetermined idea of what system he wants to play.

City have options at full-back this year – Nathan Ake offers a pure defensive profile, as he did in City’s Treble-winning season, while Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rico Lewis give City positional versatility and attacking quality in small spaces.

But Guardiola instead uses Nico O’Reilly and Matheus Nunes in those roles, in part because of their ability to cover large distances at pace in both attack and defence.

Their physical profile helps them dominate defensive duels as well as get back to defend counter-attacks too.

It also allows them to push high up the pitch, acting as attackers, usually in one of two ways.

Both full-backs can play wide, which frees City’s wingers to move centrally, a tactic that has been very successful this season.

On the ball, they can play crosses from these positions on their stronger foot too.

Alternatively, when wingers take a wider position, both full-backs have the ability to underlap the wingers, getting into dangerous areas centrally.

O’Reilly in particular has shown a strong sense for goal through these late runs into the box which are hard for opponents to track, as the defender directly responsible for the City full-back is often the opposition’s winger.

Their experience as attacking midfielders provides a level of comfort when operating in the opposition’s final third in this way, while the variety of solutions they offer alongside the wingers creates unpredictability in City’s play, making it harder for opponents to prepare for each attack.

Guardiola’s use of his wingers this season has been another change and one that works partly thanks to the versatile full-backs.

In certain games, Guardiola has empowered players like Doku, Rayan Cherki and Foden to take up central positions, close to each other.

This licence to roam and interact with each other with more freedom is a big change from what we’ve seen from City in the past and there are a few reasons for this change.

The first comes back to the rule we established at the start of the piece; Guardiola platforms his players according to their strengths.

After Bournemouth’s 3-1 loss to City, Cherries manager Andoni Iraola said: «Even when you are tight and you don’t allow them a lot of spaces, Cherki and Foden can play one-touch. [Their] coordination is amazing.»

Both players mentioned have also scored impressive goals from outside the box this season.

Aware of the danger these players possess, defenders are drawn towards the City attackers, which in turn frees up space in the wide areas, allowing Nunes and O’Reilly to receive the ball unmarked.

Another benefit to packing the middle of the pitch with many bodies is that it ensures City are well positioned to press or win second balls.

Out of possession, if City lose the ball, numerous players in the centre of the pitch prevent opponents from progressing down the middle. This reduces the number of dangerous counter-attacks City’s defenders face.

In possession, it has also worked by giving Erling Haaland nearby team-mates to play passes into, following long balls up to him – allowing City to create counter-attacks of their own.

Generally, City under Guardiola have prioritised ball possession and slower passages of play to maintain control and energy while reducing the number of turnovers and chances conceded.

Though this is still a priority, this season we have seen City lean into attacking in transition with more pace.

Guardiola has played on the strengths of players like Haaland, Foden, Reijnders and O’Reilly by attacking quickly over long distances.

As a result, City have scored from more fast breaks this season than during the 23-24 and 24-25 seasons combined. Their 27 total fast breaks is more than any other side in the Premier League this season too.

This is partly because of the skillset of their players but it is likely in response to the rise in intense man-to-man pressing.

By playing long and direct, opposition pressure can be bypassed and the space that opens up high up the pitch can be taken advantage of.

The introduction of Cherki to the side has brought about a level of passing and creativity from deep that helps City play over this pressure for attackers running in behind, a trait they missed following Kevin de Bruyne’s departure.

City have won seven of their past eight Premier League games so it appears the changes are working, but Guardiola has unrelenting standards and sees potential areas for improvement.

Despite winning 3-0 against West Ham, he was still not entirely happy.

«If the players were in their positions, we could create more and concede less [but] we didn’t do it,» he said – suggesting he wants his players to occupy specific zones on the pitch in a similar manner to what we have seen from City in the past, at least against a team like West Ham.

Another tell about perhaps wanting to slowly reintroduce more familiar ideas came from the same news conference in which he praised City’s intensity.

«I love [how much we run], last season we didn’t have that. But it’s not enough, we have to play better [so] we could run less.»

By attacking in a more structured way, City would likely lose the ball less, resulting in fewer periods that require intense defending and fewer chances conceded.

It feels like Guardiola is looking to strike a balance – wanting his team to pick the right moments to use their exciting, new tactics, while ensuring the control and structure of past seasons remains.

City did not win four league titles in a row under Guardiola without this attention to detail, while the number of solutions that he can now choose from, paired with their impressive squad, combine to put City in a promising position.

For as good as they have been, it is scary to think that this is not yet their final form with midfielder Rodri returning and Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo potentially joining in January too.