Erling Haaland has done more than just break Premier League goals records this season. He has given everyone watching inattentional blindness.
That is where an individual fails to spot something in plain sight, simply because they are not looking for it or are attentive enough. If you have watched the moonwalking bear attentive test, that examines it.
In Haaland’s absence against Liverpool, City’s system shone, with No 10s Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne running the midfield — captain and vice-captain. The tactics that have been supplying the Norway striker are not exclusively for him.
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Only in his Premier League assist record season of 2019-20, when he averaged 139 minutes per assist, was De Bruyne providing more regularly than this campaign (161 mins/assist).
City were slick and clinical in their 4-1 demolition of Liverpool. They converted all four big chances and had their highest pass accuracy (91.9 per cent) in any game since the restart. Forty-four touches in Liverpool’s box was better than in 18 of their 21 other games post-World Cup.
City head coach Pep Guardiola called it the “perfect performance”, adding it was “one of the best in these seven years (of his reign)”.
It was fitting that this fixture was one of City’s best playing the three-box-three. Their first use of this attacking shape came at Anfield in the reverse fixture, which they lost 1-0, but there is a degree to which City have perfected it.
The shape plays three centre-backs (blue dots), with two defensive midfielders and two No 10s making a box (white dots), plus wing-backs (Guardiola plays wingers) and a No 9.
The shape was similar to Anfield in October but the personnel was different. Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez were the wingers/wing-backs instead of Phil Foden and Joao Cancelo. Julian Alvarez replaced Haaland at No 9 and John Stones played alongside Rodri in defensive midfield, where Bernardo Silva had been. The one consistency: De Bruyne and Gundogan were the No 10s in both fixtures.
Their positioning (yellow dots) was critical to repeatedly play through Liverpool, always standing behind and wide of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, Liverpool’s defensive midfielders.
“The main thing is to cut off the passing options between the lines,” Jurgen Klopp had said pre-match when asked if they needed a different game plan to defend Alvarez rather than Haaland.
No 10 Cody Gakpo consistently played narrowly alongside Mohamed Salah to mark Rodri and Stones. But there was one fundamental issue: City’s back three plus midfield box gave them an overload (seven) against Liverpool’s front two and midfield four (six).
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That meant that regardless of Liverpool’s approach — sitting in a 4-4-2 mid-block or pressing high from a 4-2-3-1 — they did not have the numbers to cover.
De Bruyne and Gundogan had the freedom to rotate wide but were consistently positioned in the half-spaces.
This pinned full-backs Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who could not tightly mark them because this would open space in behind for the winger.
When Salah presses Ruben Dias, Stones moves inside to receive the press-splitting pass and bounce it into Rodri. This forces Henderson to step out…
… and City split the midfield with a similar line-break-and-set. Rodri to Alvarez, who sets it to De Bruyne. He plays wide to Grealish.
Grealish dribbles inside as De Bruyne continues his run beyond the defence, who Grealish finds with a chipped pass…
… and the Belgium playmaker pulls it back to Gundogan — City have a four-versus-three advantage in the box — but he fluffs the shot.
“Once we break the holding midfielder, we have to be quicker,” Guardiola said after the RB Leipzig win. “Sometimes people think that defensive line-up, we are going to play slowly, we are going to play comfortable, but our mentality has always been so, so aggressive from day one.”
That was evident for the equaliser.
Diogo Jota steps to press Manuel Akanji, which makes space for De Bruyne to receive wide…
… which triggers Robertson to step out, but he is too slow and De Bruyne pokes it beyond him to an unmarked Mahrez — he made 21 passes to the Algeria winger, City’s fourth-most frequent pass combination.
… who dribbles inside and finds Gundogan. Alexander-Arnold panicked, moved in narrow to defend Alvarez, leaving Grealish as the spare man…
… and he finds Alvarez to level. This move is almost identical to Grealish’s assist for Mahrez away to Chelsea and his goal in the win against Arsenal. City keep scoring from flowing side-to-side play because the high-and-wide wingers are pinning and stretching defences, making space for the No 10s to be accessed.
City’s second exploited Liverpool’s efforts to adapt. Klopp pushed right-back Alexander-Arnold upfield to press Nathan Ake, City’s left centre-back.
City played long but when possession gets recycled, Ake finds Grealish, who is in more space than normal because Alexander-Arnold is so high. Again, dominoes fall.
Right centre-back Ibrahima Konate applies pressure, leaving space for Alvarez inside. Grealish’s pass to the Argentina forward triggers De Bruyne’s run, which is initially for a through ball…
… he is offside when Alvarez switches it to Mahrez — one of seven City switches of play. Only twice since the restart (eight against Wolves and 11 versus Chelsea) have they completed more of those passes.
… but he waits for play to catch up and taps in Mahrez’s cross.
Another one for the collection.
Against Liverpool, City had five sequences of more than nine passes that ended in a shot, their joint-most (with Nottingham Forest away) in a game since the restart.
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Their fourth goal was one of these sequences.
A signature City goal! 🙌
🔵 4-1 🔴 #ManCity pic.twitter.com/rNRbGCb1lb
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 1, 2023
Rodri and Gundogan exchange passes and once Liverpool’s front two press, City go wide.
Gundogan stays as the spare player centrally — Fabinho does not move — and plays a switch to Grealish, which triggers De Bruyne’s run…
… Grealish finds his run between full-back and centre-back. Alexander-Arnold is in a lose-lose as he is one-v-two.
De Bruyne returns it, via cutback, for Grealish to add the gloss.
“Tactics are players. So the qualities, Erling has his specific ones,” Guardiola said pre-match.
He has tinkered: Stones follows Rico Lewis and Bernardo as unexpected defensive midfielders.
City look settled. The victory gave them four consecutive league wins for the first time this season. No Haaland, no problem.
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