Manchester City don’t have a clear picture of how their attacking players fit together, plus Mauricio Pochettino is too defensive for Tottenham.
It wasn’t quite “welcome to the island of misfit toys” during Manchester City’s first home game of the 2017-18 Premier League season. But there was a distinct lack of coherence during the 1-1 draw with Everton at the Etihad Stadium on Monday night.
It’s hard to fathom what manager Pep Guardiola’s grand design is supposed to look like following a summer of heavy spending. Against the Toffees, the City boss deployed a three-man defense with wing-backs.
His choice for left wing-back was forward Leroy Sane. He was culpable in the build-up to Wayne Rooney’s goal for Everton.
The decision to play an attacker in a defensive role left ESPN.co.uk’s Mark Ogden baffled:
Such confusion was a common theme when looking at the City team, particularly in attack. It’s a squad loaded with too many of the same type of players, too many stars to accommodate at the expense of balance.
Things are muddled up top between the partnership of Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus. Guardiola’s willingness to pair his star strikers together is commendable in an era defined by the lone frontman.
Yet Guardiola’s best intentions can’t mask the fact Gabriel and Aguero are the same striker. They are both dynamic scurrying types in and around the box, goal-getters with low centers of gravity whose technical flair belies their deceptive muscle.
There is nothing complementary about the Aguero and Gabriel partnership. Neither is a foil for the other, a fact highlighted by the ease with which Everton’s packed rearguard dealt with the pair.
Clones of existing talent also feature in City’s midfield. Bernardo Silva exudes style and quality on the ball, but the ex-Monaco schemer was hardly a need with David Silva around.
The senior Silva has been left to play deeper alongside Fernandinho at the heart of midfield. But the 31-year-old needs to operate further forward where his mercurial brain can influence defences.
Silva would find more advanced positions crowded, though. Kevin De Bruyne already calls the final third home, while Silva the younger is being prepared for more.
City miss a different type of midfielder. Specifically, one with the direct running from deep of a Yaya Toure in his prime or of a rarely fit Ilkay Gundogan.
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Without such a player, City’s central-leaning pass-masters play too narrow and congested. It was notable how often these artisans got in each other’s way against Everton, particularly after B. Silva came off the bench.
Guardiola has tried to make City younger. It’s why Sane and Silva were added to positions of strength the last two summers.
The manager also wants to regularly reshuffle his deck. He’s told established names such as Aguero to expect a few watching briefs this season, per Goal’s Robin Bairner.
It sounds good in theory, but the intention to keep playing with the jigsaw only reinforces the idea Guardiola still doesn’t know what the final picture is supposed to look like.
Not knowing will prove City’s undoing in a scrap for the title with neighbours Manchester United. Contrast the Citizens’ version of a Rubik’s Cube with the settled picture at United, where manager Jose Mourinho’s current best XI virtually pick themselves.
They pick themselves because the new faces in the red half of Manchester fit into a clearer design. Guardiola and City are still working out where everything goes.
Poch’s defensive leanings limit Spurs
Chelsea should send Pochettino a thank you note for the way he set his team up for Spurs’ ostensible home opener at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. Playing against the wounded champions, Poch still deployed a back three and a destroyer at the base of midfield.
There was no need for both Eric Dier and Victor Wanyama to safeguard a back three against Chelsea’s threadbare attack. The Blues were without Eden Hazard, while Pedro was only fit enough for the bench and Cesc Fabregas was suspended.
What exactly did Spurs fear from a side without its three most influential forward players?
The Spurs chief wasn’t bold enough to start with another striker or add forward-thinking Harry Winks or Moussa Sissoko to midfield.
Pochettino’s pragmatic lineup was made to look foolish when Chelsea boss Antonio Conte predictably went defensive to compensate for his own absence of creative talent.
The result was a Spurs side handed the initiative, but lacking enough forward-thinking players to seize it. So Tottenham huffed and puffed but missed the guile needed to breakdown Chelsea’s Catenaccio and ultimately lost 2-1.
Pochettino’s default setting is defensive. It’s why these precocious Spurs players are so often nearly men on his watch.
Finally winning actual prizes will demand Pochettino loosening the shackles more often. Just don’t count on it happening.