Manchester City are never going to look back on the 2024-25 season fondly.
The turbulence of last season rocked Pep Guardiola’s side, and they only managed to steady the ship towards the end of the campaign.
During that period, one of Guardiola’s attacking solutions was to push forward both full-backs — Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly — to provide width, while the midfielders and the front line were narrow.
It was a move away from how City’s manager had used his full-backs when the team were in possession of the ball, and an approach that has featured frequently this season.
At times, it has been O’Reilly pushing down the left wing, with Jeremy Doku roaming inside the pitch, but the rotations between them is flexible, as illustrated in the 3-0 victory against Manchester United in September.
In other games, such as the recent victories against Bournemouth and Liverpool, City’s wingers operated in narrow positions, allowing Nunes and O’Reilly to attack the space out wide.
Down the left, O’Reilly’s profile and Doku’s improved ability in narrow positions adds another layer to City’s attack as they can interchange positions seamlessly.
(Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
“Today I give (Doku) the freedom to go outside or inside,” said Guardiola after the 3-1 victory against Bournemouth. “I said, ‘Jeremy, you can go inside when you feel it, go outside when you feel it. When you are outside, Nico (O’Reilly) and Phil (Foden) can play (inside)’.”
The central overloads City have been creating in midfield has allowed them to combine quickly and cut through the opponents’ defensive blocks. In addition, when the opposition defenders are forced to defend narrowly, it creates spaces out wide, which Guardiola’s side have exploited by rapidly switching the play.
In this example, from the 4-1 victory against Borussia Dortmund this month, Foden, Savinho and Tijjani Reijnders are pinning the left side of the opponent’s back five, forcing Waldemar Anton to mark Erling Haaland and leaving the right wing-back, Julian Ryerson, in a one-versus-two situation against O’Reilly and Doku.
As City combine to exploit the space on the far side, O’Reilly’s forward run drags Ryerson in-field and creates space for Doku. Haaland then combines with O’Reilly to find the Belgium winger, but the centre-forward shoots straight at the goalkeeper.
The overload City create through their full-backs is enabled by their midfield passing combinations, which allows them to switch the play before the opponents adjust their positioning.
Here, against Bournemouth, Doku’s narrow position forces the opponent’s right-back, Alex Jimenez, to be in no man’s land. Meanwhile, Rayan Cherki finds Foden between the lines…
… and the England midfielder receives on the half turn, forcing Jimenez to defend the ball from this narrow position.
Foden then plays it to the advancing O’Reilly, with Haaland’s positioning being key to the switch of play. Because City’s centre-forward attacks the space outside of Bafode Diakite, rather than between the centre-backs, Bournemouth’s right centre-back can’t shift his attention to O’Reilly and leave Haaland for Marcos Senesi to pick up.
This allows O’Reilly time on the ball and prevents Diakite from blocking the shot, which results in City’s third goal on the day.
“They put a lot of players inside — against us especially, they don’t leave the wingers open (wide) — so they attract you a little bit so they can exploit those (wide) spaces after with the full-backs,” said Bournemouth’s head coach, Andoni Iraola, after the game.
“But even when you are tight and you don’t allow them a lot of spaces, Cherki, (and) Foden, they can play one-touch. It’s not that we are very far — the coordination (from City) is amazing.”
In another example, from the recent 3-0 victory against Liverpool, Conor Bradley is tracking Doku near the centre-circle as Savinho plays the ball to Nico Gonzalez.
Nico doesn’t dwell on the ball and immediately switches the play to the advancing O’Reilly before Bradley can adjust his position.
Once Liverpool’s right-back is forced to defend O’Reilly out wide, Doku has space to attack centrally.
City’s left-back finds his winger, and the distance between Ibrahima Konate and Doku allows the latter more time on the ball.
The Belgium winger uses that to separate himself from Konate and create a shooting angle, before curling the ball into the back of the net.
In this season so far, O’Reilly has been benefiting from the spaces out wide more than Nunes due to Doku’s role, but City’s right-back is always ready to pounce as well.
In the lead-up to City’s third goal in the 5-1 home win against Burnley in September, Oscar Bobb and Nunes synchronise their movement to create space down the right wing and attack it.
Once Doku plays the ball to Nico and there’s a passing angle towards the right side, Bobb roams infield to force Burnley’s left wing-back inside the pitch as Nunes dashes forward to attack the vacated space.
Despite Nico opting for the safer pass to Doku, City combine and quickly switch the play towards the right side to exploit the overload in that area.
Burnley’s left wing-back, Quilindschy Hartman, can’t react in time due to the speed of the move, and Nunes’ low cross is then deflected into the net by Maxime Esteve.
How City have been using their full-backs in possession this season — mainly O’Reilly — works hand in hand with their narrow wingers, because the rapid passing combinations in midfield can also be used to switch the play and attack the space out wide.
After beating Liverpool, Guardiola explained how last season was a good lesson for the club.
Even in that particularly difficult moment, City’s manager was able to spot the silver linings and build on them.