Ian Cheeseman: Forever Blue

While I was watching Manchester City’s u21s against Chelsea in PL2 last Friday night I was able to study the Guardiola way of playing without the distraction of the emotions of watching a Premier League game.

It doesn’t matter what age group of City players you watch, Pep’s methods are now deeply embedded in the DNA of the club. I watch the u18s whenever I can and in Europe the u19s compete in the UEFA Youth League. City play on the front foot. If they need to take a breather, which they rarely do, they achieve that by keeping possession, which also allows anyone out of position to relocate.

For Pep’s City, as anyone who watches them regularly knows, keeping possession and not losing the ball is a key ingredient. When the opposition has the ball, they work hard to win it back as quickly as possible. Laziness off the ball is not an option. In the first team, Julian Alvarez has become a fixture this season. He’s a striker who can score goals, of course, but just like the midfielders and defenders he knows how to deny the opposition space. City work as a team to close down, press and regain the ball. Alvarez is a perfect player in Pep’s system. Naturally, it’s not all about work rate and what players do off the ball, but it’s definitely a key part of what makes City so special. When they do have the ball they have assembled a highly skilful team, whoever is selected, who can slickly pass the ball away from the oppositions attempts to replicate City’s pressing game.

Liverpool managed something similar for a couple of seasons and ran City very close but then suffered burnout because they didn’t use the ball cleverly enough so they could conserve energy. What amazes me most is that youngsters like Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb can slip into the first team so easily and not look out of place. There’s your proof, if you needed it, that the system is just as important as the individuals within it.

The other crucial part of what City do so well is speed. I don’t mean running, although with Kyle Walker and new signing Jeremy Doku, they certainly have that. I mean speed of thought, action and reaction allied to an increase in urgency when they need it. Guardiola talked about that to the press last week. When they conceded at Sheffield United recently there was a sudden increase in intensity and they created the chances they needed to win. That’s what makes City special right now. It’s not difficult to understand but it’s proving difficult to stop. Ironically, Chelsea u21s, last Friday night, are the closest I’ve seen to a team trying to play the same way, certainly at that level, and they beat City 2-1 at the Academy Stadium.

City’s latest opponents in the Premier League were Nottingham Forest and during the first half City scored two marvellous team goals, full of the slick passing that has become their hallmark. It wasn’t quite the same in the second half. The impressive Rodri had a rush of blood to the head and got sent off. The Blues controlled the game from that point, never really giving Forest a chance to come back.

In their opening Champions League game last Wednesday, City were efficient and clinical and took a 3-1 win against Red Star Belgrade. Unless City’s form dips dramatically during the next couple of months, the return fixture in Belgrade should be a dead rubber.

This week Pep’s team travel to Newcastle in the Carabao (League) Cup. The City team will not be their strongest, but then neither will Newcastle’s, which makes it hard to predict. As you read this you’ll know the result, but whatever the outcome, it’ll always be Great to be a Blue!