New Delhi: Manchester City have exited yet another tournament and one of the best teams in Europe would really be upset with their recent performance. Madrid in the midweek were ruthless as Man City exited the UEFA Champions League from the playoff for the knockout stage. They will be hosting Premier League toppers Liverpool at home. City are in an unfamiliar territory, coming on as minnows for the first time.
Across competitions, they have lost 13 of the 26 games and for Pep Guardiola, the problems have just kept on mounting, with City slowly moving out of contention for a title finish. The squad is ageing and riddled with injuries and the side are making mistakes totally out of their routine, which in turn has affected their confidence. With key players often misfiring, the side is not able to show the consistency it once was known for.
Guardiola recently pointed out that they needed to not just improve their tactical plans but also needed to update it. Guardiola rightly pointed out that much has changed and it was necessary to embrace that change. Guardiola recently pointed football had become “positional” and you had to balance with the rhythm. This comes from someone who dominated world football with “positional play since his Barcelona days.
Pep Guardiola’s road to fall with Manchester City
Attacking rapidly following a transition, while possession goes from one team to the other, has slowly started to undermine the Spaniard’s philosophy in the top level of football. It is now more centred towards direct football that runs purposefully and is a departure from possession and territory.
Liverpool for example have been successful due to being less chaotic and having more control over the pace of the game and Tottenham with their rapid and linear football has been able to turn themselves around even though suffering with a poor squad. Since Guardiola’s title win in England, there has been an increase in high turnovers while pressing is falling, making the Premier League go faster than before.
While there is still time for judgment, Guardiola has shown some updates in Man City’s playing style. He has restructured his first team to be more strong in domestic competition before turning the side more physically capable with players like Erling Haaland. During City’s 3-1 win over Chelsea, they made longer passes over the opposition defence regularly with someone like Omar Marmoush making quite a few runs alongside Haaland.
🔵🇪🇬 Pep Guardiola: “Mo Salah already has done excellent things for many years in the toughest league in the world, and now Omar Marmoush is coming here to prove himself”.
“Omar has done unbelievable in Germany. His performance will dictate the level”. pic.twitter.com/G6NxWQxfQh
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 22, 2025
Guardiola’s use of two players making runs behind the defence in the same forward line was a big tactical shift. He revisited this approach in last weekend’s 4-0 win over Newcastle United and used it to break through the opponents’ man-to-man press.
Marmoush’s goal, scored from a long pass by Ederson, was part of a broader pattern. While much attention was given to Ederson’s Premier League record for goalkeeper assists, there’s more than meets the eye. City made 39 long passes against Newcastle, their fourth-highest total of the season, and their highest since November 2. Plus, a chunk of Ederson’s passes in open play were long.
Apart from Marmoush even Nico Gonzalez, described by Guardiola as “a mini-Rodri” recently also played a key role in tightening up the midfield again and controlling the pace of the game.
His performance was impressive: Gonzalez made 112 touches most in the game, completed 100 passes, and had a staggering pass accuracy and combined tackles and interceptions brilliantly.
For most of City’s trouble Rodri’s injury absence is seen as the culprit but that might be a far wider judgement of the situation. He carries a reputation both on and off the ball which is far bigger at times than his contribution for City. With the ball, Rodri gives control and structure. He also has the confidence to receive the ball in tight situations and distribute it efficiently, effectively breaking the opposition’s press.
He has the skill to disrupt the opposition rhythm particularly when City loses possession, which in return controls counter-attacks from the very start. The biggest example was their 2-1 home loss to Manchester United which last season they had won 3-1. With Rodri they had much more possession. If compared with his replacement in the game Ilkary Gundogan, Rodri made more recoveries and had more touches.
Manchester City’s possession touches per 90 minutes and passes per 90 have all dropped significantly from last season. This has resulted in far less control over the game. Guardiola has pointed out this to be the reason that has reduced their ability to “rest” during games and constantly need to play with the tempo.
A key in Guardiola’s philosophy is to maintain a compact shape, staying in well-drilled positions to thwart any counter-attacks when the ball is lost, and creating clear areas to goal. For this to be maintained, the side needs those moments of rest and without this makes City is far more chaotic and proven to make them vulnerable to fast breaks.
Throughout the season either City haven’t pressed together or have simply not shown the energy to regain control over the game. With the defence line that doesn’t press well and with a central midfield too aged to make good runs, City are always moments away from disaster. For most of the season Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji and Ederson haven’t clicked well.
Is Omar Marmoush and Nico Gonzalez answer to Manchester City woes?
The trouble for City may be much deeper and hence Guardiola needs a long-term fix with their defence tactics and pressing. While Gonzalez has given City control, Marmoush gives a sense of disruption and is the perfect balance in the team’s tactical transition.
There are big points of improvement needed, as City’s wingers lack their sharpness like before. Haaland not being involved outside the penalty area is also concerning to many and Rico Lewis has been having a poor year which comes in a season when Kyle Walker made his move to AC Milan, having not had an impressive season with City.
The good news happens to be that if Guardiola has found Rodri’s replacement and Marmoush gives that extra refinement to the strategies, then City could climb their way back to the top.
Manchester City have lost 13 of their last 26 games across competition and having crashed out of UEFA Champions League, questions arise if Pep Guardiola can find a solution to turn things around. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
