Playing out under pressure. Why City are so good at it and what’s been missing so far this season 1/
You often hear rival fans denounce City’s opponents lack of pressing. But City’s goalkeeper and back 4 are so good at playing out around their own box that what often happens is teams press City but quickly lose interest once the press has been beaten a couple of times 2/
The key to City’s success in beating the press deep in their own territory is a belief in the process and an iron will to implement it.
That stems from the manager. The players know if they don’t play out until all options are closed they won’t be in the team for long 3/
That stems from the manager. The players know if they don’t play out until all options are closed they won’t be in the team for long 3/
Early on against Villa last week, Stones played a ball back to Ederson. He only had a simple option to Dias available or a wider ball in Cancelo. He went to Dias who was closed down quickly.
Bailey shut off Cancelo, Watkins covered Ederson and all other options are marked 4/
Bailey shut off Cancelo, Watkins covered Ederson and all other options are marked 4/
This is the sort of trap a press is trying to create, in theory Dias has no where to go. Rodri shows for him but a pass would put Rodri under extreme pressure.
Dias hits a pass across his own goal to Walker on the right flank. If there is a pass on, you have to play it 5/
Dias hits a pass across his own goal to Walker on the right flank. If there is a pass on, you have to play it 5/
Not many teams play that pass in that situation. Barely any do it consistently. You have to trust your own ability and the process. Mistakes will be made but the risk reward ratio will see the team net positive in the long run 6/
Walker receives the pass under pressure himself, but he’s used to it. McGinn engaging means Villa now have 5 men high, committed to the press. Walker simply pops it over McGinn’s head first time to De Bruyne 7/
Suddenly City are 6 vs 5 in the attacking 3rd. The Villa press was decent but City have played through it and created a numerical problem on the break for Villa. If that happens to a team two or three times it takes nerve to keep on pressing 8/
Ederson is key to City’s success in playing out from deep. He’s clearly very talented on the ball but it’s his mentality that sets him apart from the rest. He never panics. That can’t be taught, if it could be you’d see more ‘keepers like Ederson but we don’t 9/
His cool under pressure affects opponents. He doesn’t get closed down as often as other ‘keepers because opponents know he’s unlikely to be caught out. That gives City more stability in the build up. He earns more time and City have a better chance of playing out successfully 10/
He’s comfortable drawing opponents to him to create better passing options for himself and the pass recipient. Look at the clock in these shots, Ederson takes 8 seconds on the ball, drawing Watkins in close before passing to Stones 11/
A few passes later Stones is under pressure on the right flank. He opts to fizz a ball back to Ederson who is on his goal line. Stones knows that Ederson, unlike a lot of ‘keepers in this situation, will welcome the pass 12/
Knowing he has Watkins and Bailey closing in on him, Ederson cushions a pass first time to Rodri. Completely calm, taking Watkins and Bailey out of the game and giving Rodri the opportunity to find Dias. He plays a first time pass to Cancelo and City are away 13/
There’s no team in the league comes close to City when playing out from deep and Ederson is a huge reason for that. We’re so used to these patterns of play that we probably take them for granted. They happen many times in a match and they’re crucial to the way City play 14/
Newcastle, and Villa to an extent, have had success pressing City this season.
Newcastle’s press caused City a lot of problems. It was extremely aggressive and forced mistakes 15/
Newcastle’s press caused City a lot of problems. It was extremely aggressive and forced mistakes 15/
Newcastle also cut off options into midfield for City’s centre backs. That aspect was reminiscent of what Southampton did to City for spells last season. Allied to Newcastle’s aggression, it forced errors 16/
When Rodri receives possession here, he has the time to take a touch but is being closed down. He can play a simple pass to Walker but opts instead to attempt a switch to Bernardo. He’s reluctant to play the short pass to Walker knowing the pressure Newcastle are applying 17/
In both these instances the City player in possession is under pressure and makes a decision to execute a difficult pass. Stones had few other options but could have passed to Cancelo who was trying to drop. Rodri could have passed to Walker but chose not to use him 18/
Both examples highlight the difficulties that can occur when building possession with full backs inverted. They aren’t as trusted by their teammates with possession as a natural midfielder would be and their movement in those areas, understandably, isn’t natural 19/
Against Villa, City hit lots of switches, often unsuccessfully. The set up was a 3-2 more often in the build up as opposed to 2-3. But City still struggled to progress possession.
Bernardo started both the Newcastle and Villa matches on the right wing 20/
Bernardo started both the Newcastle and Villa matches on the right wing 20/
Last Tuesday Bernardo started in midfield against Sevilla with Gomez and Cancelo at full back. That hinted at a change in shape with the full backs playing wider but we did see them mix it up, inverting sometimes in the build up and wider at other times 21/
Sevilla’s press was pretty ineffective on the night, often allowing City to play out with ease. But when the full backs were wide, we saw some instances of Bernardo joining the build up deep. When Bernardo plays that role, he does so uniquely 22/
Bernardo’s ability to carry the ball from deep also separates him from anyone else in City’s squad. A few seconds after dropping deep to start that passage of play, the ball breaks to Bernardo. His ball carrying and subsequent pass to Foden results in City’s second goal 23/
It was the first time we’ve seen Bernardo deep in the build up this season. When teams press us, he’s often the answer to the questions being posed. With sterner tests ahead of City on the horizon we might see Bernardo feature in this role more often in the coming weeks 24/
Some other interesting aspects of City’s build up were covered in this thread by @HandofGodri last week. Zinchenko provided the most stability from full back in central areas for City. I think his absence further makes the case for deploying Bernardo deep in central areas 25//
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