Sat high at the back of the third tier at the Amex Stadium, it was difficult to get an accurate perspective of how Manchester City were playing against Brighton on Thursday. Normally, to be closer to the pitch allows you to see how players are reacting, what Pep Guardiola is doing on the touchline.
But that was impossible at the Amex, with a far clearer view of the roof trusses than anything the City players were saying to each other, with MEN Sport sent to the overflow section of the press facilities to sit as far as it is physically possible to be from the pitch at Brighton.
However, such a bird’s-eye view did provide one clear advantage, as the fluid nature of City’s formation was obvious as if this was a tactical view on Football Manager. It almost made all the steps worthwhile.
From up in the gods, you could see how Nathan Ake was, at times, a one-man defensive line as Kyle Walker bombed forward on the right, Manu Akanji joined Rodri in the middle, and Josko Gvardiol moved up on the left. And you could see that when Brighton regained possession, those three reverted to a definitive back four in the blink of an eye.
You could see Kyle Walker often as City’s furthest man forward, stretching the defence to the touchline and always looking for that long Ederson pass that he loves against Brighton. It resulted in another goal against the Seagulls in the second half.
For all of City’s versatility and fluidity, their tactical discipline is incredible. Bernardo Silva drifted on the inside right channel between the centre-back and full-back up towards the wing, while Julian Alvarez had an unsung hero role of moving out to the left to drag Joel Veltman and Lewis Dunk away from the centre.
“We decide to play that way without wingers, more fullbacks,” Guardiola explained. “They did really well. We found them with the process for Bernardo. They did exceptional and that provoked the spaces for them.”
With that space, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden ran riot in the middle. This was the best we have seen the pair perform in the same line-up for some time, and it can’t have been a coincidence that there was no Erling Haaland in the side.
Pep Guardiola was clear about Haaland’s absence, even when it was put to him that City’s win percentage without Haaland (85.7 per cent) is much higher than when he plays (69.2 per cent). The Blues incredibly score more goals without Haaland per game and concede less, however they do have fewer finishes and big chances.
“I prefer to have Erling at my disposal rather than not having him. Is that enough?” replied Guardiola, bluntly. That’s that, then.
The Brighton game felt like a perfect way to use Alvarez, De Bruyne and Foden as a rotating trio. Would Haaland have been as disciplined in moving the centre-backs out of the way? Maybe – Guardiola praised him for doing just that against Real Madrid. But would De Bruyne and Foden have had as much space?
“Phil has a sixth gear. But he cannot play all the time with a sixth gear,” remarked Guardiola. “He has to play with the second and third gear. He will learn. Football has to be sometimes slower to be quicker to surprise the opponent. Today was really good, the movement and in the right moment he attack when he needed to.
“I would love to go in sixth gear every single action. After you are less precise. In sixth gear, you lose the ball all the time you are less effective. Sometimes you have to reduce the moments because you have to know when to be more aggressive and when to be more calm. It’s a question of time. He improves a lot from the beginning of the season and previous seasons. Maybe with the third child coming, it will help him.”
