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Manchester City’s Tactical Dilemma Is Apparent Now

Originally posted on Extratime Talk | By Subhadeep Roy | Last updated Apr 23, 2025 5:03 AM ET

Manchester City beat Everton 2-0 in a Premier League match at the Goodison Park on Saturday, April 19.

They then beat Aston Villa 2-1 to move into third position with 61 points from 34 matches.

Their chances of finishing inside the top-four remains still hangs in the balance, with Nottingham Forest being a point adrift of them with a match in hand.

Manchester City’s attack once again proved to be inept against a strong Everton defended for the most part in Saturday’s match. However, Nico O’Reilly and Mateo Kovačić scored to guide the team towards a victory.

It was a concerning fact for Pep Guardiola that his team had to wait until the 84th minute to break the deadlock. Against Villa, Matheus Nunes scored a last-minute goal to earn them the victory.

Manchester City Facing a Strange Problem in Their Tactics

City are having a strange problem as far as their tactics are concerned. Their propensity to concede goals from counter-attacks has made them sit back and play with their defenders staying deep.

As a result, they are not being able to go into attacks with numbers upfront, which is necessary to breach dour defences.

Manchester City’s 4-2-3-1 formation often became 2-3-4-1 with both their full-backs moving inside into the midfield, as Nico Gonzalez also stayed back with them as a defensive midfielder.

That helped the Cityzens deal with the counter-attacking threat of Everton, who relied on long crosses played from the midfield into Manchester City’s box.

However, that meant that Manchester City did not have the full-backs overlapping often, which reduced the efficacy of their attacks.

There were not more than four or five Manchester City players in and around the opposition penalty box at almost any given point of time, which helped the Everton defence take care of them.

Moreover, Erling Haaland’s absence meant that a major threat was not there to trouble Everton

It was considerably different from the 2-2-6 formation Manchester City had often adopted until the time Rodri got injured.

The mentioned formation made them somewhat vulnerable to counter-attacks, but helped them exert the pressure on opposition defences as well.

Moreover, City’s build-ups were also slow typically, which means that Everton defenders got enough time to deal with the four or five attacking players the English champions had in the final third.

Being more adventurous as the second half wore on, helped the Cityzens get their goals. O’Reilly has probably been the find of the season for them and Kovačić remains one of their unsung heroes.

However, the tactical dilemma mentioned above should keep Guardiola worried.

Even if they are not increasing numbers in their attack frequently, they will have to make sure that quick passes are exchanged among their attacking players more quickly in the final third.

The wingers will have to try to beat the opposition full-back by dribbling past the latter in the absence of an overlapping full-back.