Chelsea 0-2 Manchester City Review

Premier League - GW1

Manchester City are back playing Premier League football in what was probably the most difficult fixture for a top side to have on the opening day. Especially with key players either missing or not fit enough to start the match. We saw a shift towards attacking areas out wide from Guardiola, wanting to hit the byline and a team performance ahead of schedule. Rico Lewis proved why he can take the starting shirt off Kyle Walker. Mateo Kovacic put in a good performance in the six role. Chelsea reminded us that despite the turmoil off the pitch for the club, they do have quality players that can threaten in transition.

MOTM: Rico Lewis

Brilliant performance by Rico Lewis and we should all now be aware that this could be his breakout season in the Premier League as a regular in the team. He’s more than ready for it. The back-post clearance, stopping Pedro Neto from scoring, displayed his intelligence. Magical in the small spaces, like few others are. Clever movement in the final third and into the box.

It’s also worth mentioning that Mateo Kovacic could have equally deserved this award for his performance. Of course he has some weaknesses playing in the six role compared to Rodri but the step forward he’s taken over the past year with City has been remarkable. Ruben Dias another player that might not have had the peaks in the match that Rico and Kovacic had but he was superb.

Notable Stats:

• The five players who’ve completed 100+ dribbles in Europe’s big five leagues since the start of last season:
  127 - Mohammed Kudus
  107 - Savinho
  103 - Matias Soule
  102 - Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
  101 - Jeremy Doku

• Manchester City have won their last 10 Premier League matches, scoring at least two goals in each victory. City have more 10-game win streaks than any other side in the competition (7).

Game Stats

• xG: 1.01 - 1.19

• xThreat: 1.61 - 0.97

• Possession: 48% - 52%

• Field Tilt: 48.1% - 51.9%

• Penalty Box Shots: 6 - 6

• Deep Completions: 12 - 10

• Buildup Completion: 88.5% - 91.7%

• PPDA: 10.4 - 14.0

• High Turnovers: 6 - 7

• 10+ Pass Sequences: 14.9 - 27.0

Here is how both teams lined up on with Kevin De Bruyne coming in for James McAtee, Bernardo Silva in for Nico O’Reilly and Savinho in for Oscar Bobb. Another opportunity for Mateo Kovacic in the number six role and a clear directive from Pep to his wingers.

The directive Pep mentioned after the game, for his wingers to hit the byline, only lasted fifteen minutes before the two switched sides. After that, they both looked more comfortable. I wouldn’t take this as neither can play on the same side as their strong foot, Savinho was one of the best wingers in La Liga last season playing on the left. Jeremy Doku played mostly on the right wing for Stade Rennais.

Savinho continued his bright cameo in the Community Shield into his first-half performance against Chelsea, after the wingers swapped sides. You saw how smooth he is on the ball, gliding past Cucurella with ease and forming a good understanding with Rico Lewis as he runs through the half-space and into the box. Loads to be excited about and a player, as we have seen with Doku, Gvardiol and Kovacic last season, that you need to be patient with. Let him develop and get comfortable within the team.

Erling Haaland scored his first goal of the season after Palmer left space for Doku 1v1. Driving inside he finds Bernardo Silva who helps it on to Haaland.

You’ll notice the number of touches he took inside the box, all on purpose to beat Sanchez. 👇

Mateo Kovacic scored in the second half to wrap up the win for City. Driving past the Chelsea midfielders, onto the edge of the box, and curling it into the top corner.

Guardiola was full of praise for Mateo Kovacic and rightly so, he made a huge step forward from his performances in the six role last season. Easing some concerns of fans and the team to an extent but it’s still a risk to not bring another player in. Exceptional playing deeper on the ball, learning the role off-the-ball, and in the second half you saw his relationship with Bernardo Silva improve.

It is clear as day that Guardiola wants more end product from his wingers, for them to be brave and provide a genuine threat. Jeremy Doku is exactly that for Manchester City, you see the difference he makes on the opposition’s positioning and the space that opens up for De Bruyne. His holdup play to receive the ball deeper was good throughout the match.

The volume of goal contributions and relationship with Gvardiol is developing well for Doku over his City career, you just have to be patient with him. The issue is not passing to his teammates, Doku has no problem seeing the pass and being selfless enough to make it. It’s the execution and that will come with time.

There is far more to his game than just being a dribbler as Mark Stats explains in this graph below. when it comes to helping the team progress the ball up the flank, Jeremy Doku is phenomenal.

Ederson made a huge mistake, gifting Jackson a goal before the offside call saved him. Later making up for that mistake with a brilliant save to deny Jackson in the 6-yard box. Akanji was mostly excellent as the RCB in-possession, being aggressive against Nkunku and making it hard for Chelsea to get down that side. Gvardiol made a few poor passes in the first half but grew into the game. Good chance that we see Nathan Ake against Ipswich to build up his fitness. Great to see Phil Foden back on the football pitch, getting his first minutes since the summer break.

The minutes tracker sheet is live and you can find that in the link below. Keep yourself up-to-date on each minute across the 2024/25 season. 👇

Thoughts On Chelsea

This was not an easy game for either side to have on the opening day, especially for Chelsea with a new manager and the turmoil behind the scenes. It was clear from the match that when Cole Palmer is in the team, he takes them up a level with his passing. I wonder how effective he can be in this team now the freedom is removed, it was why Doku had the space to drive inside and set up the first goal. He’ll still create and score goals but likely not to the same level as last season.

There is a high physical level across the Chelsea team that’s just waiting to be maximized. Lavia looked very good and a costly mistake for City letting him go. Nkunku seems a better fit playing centrally rather than as a winger. Enzo similarly should be playing deeper behind the ball rather than ahead of it as a #10.

Buildup with the two central defenders splitting, both full-backs higher up and wide, double pivot staggered in-front. In-possession a 3-2-5 with Gusto pushing up to provide width as Palmer could come inside the half-space. Chelsea managed to be threatening but not carve open clear-cut chances. Improving in the second-half on this to an extent.

They used a 4-2-4 mid-block shape that aimed to restrict central progression by City but they had solutions out wide to get around this. Both in-possession and out-of-possession I thought Chelsea struggled to get their distances right. Enzo and Palmer in particular are too far apart. Jackson is a huge threat physically, with his runs and aggression in the box. He’s not ruthless at finishing.

They need to trim down the team but the quality across it is high. If they give Maresca time then at some point Chelsea will hit a good patch of form this season.

Manchester City Setup & Tactics

Last season City struggled towards the end of the season to deal with teams closing down central spaces, without a genuine and available wide threat they struggled. Against Chelsea, we didn't see the finished article but we did see some solutions being worked on.

In particular, it's the 4-2-4 approach from teams that City struggled with. Last season against United (FA Cup), Real Madrid (CL), Chelsea (FA Cup), and others.

When pressed high, into their box, City would use Ederson as an LCB to form a back line of Akanji - Dias - Ederson - Gvardiol in hopes of finding a pass for the full-backs or providing Ederson the space to pick out a longer pass.

Kevin De Bruyne picked up where James McAtee left off in the Community Shield. A role that @city_tactics pointed out. Move towards the left flank, vacating the middle, and opening himself up for a pass that if Ederson can provide, immediately starts an attack. Jeremy Doku would move inside, pulling Gusto with him which leaves De Bruyne the space.

I'd imagine with Kyle Walker in the team, De Bruyne can perform this role on the right side to be in the best space to cross/pass.

Rico Lewis on the other side would invert into midfield. Finding himself in the half-space. Importantly, Savinho would hold the width which prevented Cucurella from picking him up and forced Nkunku to make a decision. We saw Rico create a couple chances by getting the ball in this space, turning and driving at the Chelsea back line. Something he's effective at due to his low center of gravity, agility and intelligent movement.

To wrap it all up, I'll remind you that this is not the final solution and it may not be the best profiles for these roles but it's clearly Guardiola working on ways to get around the opposition approach.

Once you adjust to the wide 1v1 threats in Savinho and Doku, you give space back to Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden in the middle.

The opening goal from Erling Haaland saw the Chelsea midfield dragged across to one side. Cole Palmer jumped up to Josko Gvardiol. Jeremy Doku beats his man, drives inside, and finds Bernardo Silva. He finds Erling Haaland in the space between Colwill and Cucurella.

Out-of-possession City adopted a compact 4-1-4-1 for pressing Chelsea higher up the pitch. Keeping the wingers tucked in and able to press the CBs. Bernardo or De Bruyne would jump up to support Haaland as Kovacic moved into their place. Mixed results throughout the game but likely something we see Guardiola work on during the season.

Moving Forward

Purposely chose the picture above of Ferran Soriano and Khaldoon Al Mubarak who attended the match. The transfer window is still open, Guardiola has not shut down the possibility of a signing, and I imagine the performance of Mateo Kovacic has them rethinking the best move to make before the window shuts.

Here is how the Premier League table looks after the first weekend of fixtures. Leicester City vs Spurs will be played this evening. Erling Haaland scored another goal. The home opener to come and an away trip to West Ham after that.

The injury Savinho picked up is reported to not be as bad as they feared. Guardiola said, “He will be ready for, hopefully, next Saturday”.

As Guardiola has alluded to in his quotes below, the team’s performance in such a game is ahead of schedule and a positive sign. You still have Phil Foden and Rodri to come back into the team fit and sharp on top of all the others that played against Chelsea.

Guardiola did also mention that Oscar Bobb is likely to be back in 2024, if he can return to fitness quickly and is still brave 1v1 then that’ll benefit the team in a tough period of fixtures.

There has been no confirmation on Jack Grealish and whether he’s still carrying an injury. He didn’t come on against Chelsea, even for the last ten minutes. Hopefully, he’s back to fitness and competing for a spot soon.

Next up for Manchester City is the home opener against Ipswich Town next weekend, 24th August 15:00 (BST). Final mention for the away support who were fantastic throughout the match, you could hear Oscar Bobb’s chant from minute one and they didn’t stop there.

LAST WORD👋

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