Pep Guardiola refresh his Manchester City team as he aimed to regain the Premier League title. The defending champions Liverpool ran the last season of the league, 18 points ahead of City, and the Catalan boss had to work out a way to close the gap.
The city lost only four games when they won the title last time in 2019, but it jumped to nine losses during the next campaign when they scored 12 more goals than they did a year earlier.
This season he has been helped to some extent by an injury crisis at Liverpool that sees his rivals without their three best center-backs, and Diogo Jota who has been out for several months without an impressive new signing.
Despite Liverpool's struggles, City can only focus on themselves and in particular on how they can cut back on opposing mistakes when opposition sides counter-attack.
Many Nicholas will appear as the reason for Otamendi's departure and the arrival of Reuben Dias, but it is unfair for Otamendi to come to the conclusion as he is not the only City defender to struggle when being sidelined at the back.
John Stones suffered similarly last season but looks like a different player in the new system.
Dias and the Stones are getting a lot of credit for Citi's defensive improvements, and rightly so, but it's as much about Twix for the newfound solidity system as it has personnel.
The city is primarily known for its array of world-class attacking talent, assembled and organized by one of the highest-profile and revered managers in the game, but perhaps teams coming up against this version of Guardiola's city The most challenging thing for him is not stopping his attack, but breaking his defense.
He has scored just 13 goals in 21 matches so far this season, the best defensive record ever in the league - nine better than Tottenham who has won the second-biggest player, and 12 fewer than Liverpool.
As the season progressed, Guardiola has found a favorite system that sees his full-back cut out to join Midofield rather than overlapping from outside in the attack, with João Canso playing a key role is.
This has reduced the burden on the center-backs during opposition attacks, as they now have two quick full-backs in front as well as a buffer as a defensive midfielder. This helps prevent center-backs from falling apart one by one.
Considering Jonathan Wilson's history of football strategy, one of the earliest formats of the notes was 2-3-5.
Using the original positional terms, the formation was composed of two full-backs, three halves, and five forwards with wingers in-out and center-forward flanking.
While the strategy has changed as the situation has evolved, Guardiola's current system at City may be the closest thing to a return to this 2-3-5 formation - at least on the ball.
This is a formation that has been resurrected in some form over the years when the teams are in possession, including Guardiola's Barcelona side, but in these instances, the Front Five are forced to play two attacking full-backs (Dani Alves and Silvinho or Maxwell ) Was created by the Wingers in five before a back four was left to form Daddfence.
Guardiola's latest version of 2-3-5 is closer to that old lineup, thanks to the use of true wingers playing on the side of their favorite foot - Phil Foden on the left and Rahim Sterling on the right.
When it is combined with the use of 'free-eats' in the midfield, which effectively connect to the front line as the front, while also cutting inward to become the 'stop' of the old fashioned If you are real 2-3-5 authorized.
The lineup is completed by 'center-half' Rodney (or Fernandinho) and 'full-backs Dias and stones'. The central striker sometimes drops the opposition defense like a false nine, used in the role of Gabriel Jesus, Kevin de Bruyne, or Ferran Torres, but he can still be considered a center-forward.
By possession, it could revert to a 4-5-1, but the overriding size, especially considering the city is usually occupied, is 2-3-5.
In another throwback to his Barcelona days, Guardiola returned to Iameric LaPorte in a role similar to Eric Abidal in his Barca sides.
He remains a center-back ball comfortably that helps build-up play to the left, but offers more defensive solidity than Alexander Zinchenko or Benjamin Mendy.
Laporte's inclusion in the Abidal role also adds height to the set-pieces, while maintaining the idea of using 2-3-5, even though Frenchman's inclusion could make it feel like a back three.
Liverpool and the other sides may be widely vulnerable in transition, but the addition of Laporte means that he and the Stones can occupy these wide areas in the defense the moments when opposition counter-attacks are launched.
This being Guardiola, there is always the chance he will have a different plan for Klopp’s Liverpool, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him stick with the new-look system which has already brought success against varied opposition.
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