Guardiola has always experimented. He has been like that throughout his career as a coach, both in Barcelona, and in Munich, and in Manchester. Possibly one of the strangest, but the most remembered, is that of put Messi on false 9 when the Argentine was already the best in the world as a right winger. At Bayern, Kimmich played many games as a right backat the same time that Alaba or Lahm occupied more advanced positionslike the indoor one.
At Manchester City, he has created a variable system, capable of transforming over time. It has almost always been possible to fit into a 4-3-3, but the truth is that Guardiola’s line-ups are always a mystery. Wingers capable of playing on both flanks, midfielders who carry out tasks as a midfielder, midfielder or attacking midfielder, central defenders who open up to seem almost full-backs… A very plastic eleven and, therefore, very unpredictable for their rivals.
In Guardiola’s eleven there are players capable of occupying very different positions on the field. A very plastic eleven and, therefore, very unpredictable for their rivals
This season in particular, City started with a relatively recognizable eleven. Or, at least, something more than in previous seasons. I cancel, in another of his experiments, he became the best attacking winger in the world… on the left! And Grealish has already settled after an irregular first season. When Bernardo Silva played in midfield alongside De Bruyne and Rodri, Mahrez or Foden could come on as a winger. But Cancelo’s departure to Bayern in January has led him to create a new team for these decisive weeks of the season with Stones as a wild card. The defender, always praised more for his treatment of the ball than for his forcefulness in defensive tasks, He is positioned as a center back in defense (4-4-2) and advances a few meters to form a double pivot with Rodri in the offensive phase (a kind of 3-2-2-3).
Such a novel way of playing for all the fans who were eagerly awaiting one of the most exciting qualifiers in recent years, as well as for Bayern itself, who was at the mercy of the English team during the 180 minutes. Especially in the first leg, Thomas Tuchel’s men (accusing the surprising change of coach) were not rivals of a team that proved to be at another level.
To design a piece of equipment this transformable, you need the right parts for it. Bernardo Silva, for example, is a footballer capable of acting practically in any position in the center of the field, on the wing… and in some games he has done it as a right back. Also Aké, who is experiencing the best season of his career and who He plays as a central and left back at the same high level. But the cases that have attracted the most attention are those of Stones and Akanji, signed this summer. Two players who, along with Rodri, are having a special role this season.