Manchester City 2-0 Wydad AC Review

Club World Cup - Group Game 1

The tournament begins for the Blues in Philadelphia as they beat Wydad AC. The Moroccan football team, based in Casablanca, posed some threat in transition, but for the most part, it was a routine win for Manchester City. Encouraging first half that became a slow-tempo game in the second half in the heat, and with the changes.

The club has communicated through the players, Guardiola, and Khaldoon that they view the Club World Cup as the start of the 25/26 season. The new signings, coaches, and energy around the team do line up with that.

Just like preseason games, it’s important to remember that we’re not going to see the finished version of players or the team. You’re looking for fitness, moments, and ideas being tried out. It’s nonsense that it doesn’t matter and that nothing can be learned. But neither can you make conclusions.

MOTM: Tijjani Reijnders

Ahead of the tournament, I tweeted about Reijnders being the player I’m most excited about watching, of all the new signings, at the tournament. Expecting him to be an immediate starter, and his performance has proven that this season, he’s playing lots of minutes.

His versatility in midfield roles is one of Reijnders' best qualities. That makes him adaptable to playing styles and tactical setups. An innate awareness and intelligence that helps Reijnders anticipate movements and make the right decision. Attentive to the 'next pass' and with his running capacity, he'll quickly fit into the passing sequences the team makes. We saw that in this match, as well as that Reijnders will work best with a midfield partner who's more positional, like Rodri. Keeping him free to roam.

Further up the pitch, Reijnders will take minimal touches or time to play that pass forward. Specifically, the final pass or the 'second assist', he's capable of many creative passes. Consistently weighted well. In the first half, we got to see a lot of these passes in the left half-space to Jeremy Doku. Something to keep an eye on this season.

Other standout performances include: Phil Foden & Vitor Reis

Notable Stats:

• Phil Foden is the first Englishman to score in multiple editions of the CWC, including all formats (also in 2023).

• Phil Foden has scored for Man City across any competition for the first time since the 25th January against Chelsea.

• Pep Guardiola's record at the FIFA Club World Cup during his managerial career: WWWWWWWWW
  - Goals: 27
  - Conceded: 2
  - Clean sheets: 7

Game Stats:

Manchester City 2-0 Wydad AC

• xG: 2.64 - 0.72

• xThreat: 1.94 - 0.86

• Possession: 66.9% - 33.1%

• Field Tilt: 77.8% - 22.2%

• Penalty Box Shots: 10 - 4

• Deep Entries: 14 - 3

• PPDA: 12.8 - 15.5

• High Turnovers: 3 - 3

Nathan Ake completed ninety minutes for the first time since Brentford (A) on the 14th of January. Tijjani Reijnders completes his first ninety minutes for the club. Vitor Reis gets his first start since Plymouth (H) on the 1st of March. First game of the Club World Cup out of the way, minutes on the sheet linked below.👇

Fun starting lineup when it was announced, getting to see that front five all together, and seeing two new signings. Must mention that Reijnders can do a job as a defensive midfielder the same way he can operate as more of a ten. His best position is as an eight who can move into either of those zones. As a defensive midfielder, his strengths are progressing the ball rather than breaking up play. Capable of winning second balls and tracking back to recover possession, though.

We saw Manchester City set up with a 2-3-5 as Rico Lewis and Nico O’Reilly both tucked inside next to Reijnders. Something we’ve seen from Guardiola at other clubs, as well as just last season in the CL against Real Madrid (H). Foden and Cherki as the two number 10s when in possession. Marmoush is the striker who would drop more into the left half-space.

We saw the team set up to press in a 4-2-4 with Foden/Reijnders as the midfield pivot. Marmoush/Cherki to cover the pivot and then jump forward to apply pressure. Should the ball be played to one of their wide central defenders, Savinho/Doku would jump to force a pass long. Ideally, the back four deal with it, supported by Reijnders/Foden.

An example from the first half saw Wydad play out from the back to the wide central defender, who hits it long into a forward. Lewis and Savinho could be quicker in their jumps to press. For the most part, the initial setup is correct. Foden/Reijnders don't anticipate the knockdown. Foden is too close to react, and Reijnders leaves the player he's tracking, who then picks up the loose ball. Simple as that.

You can find the example in the clip linked here.

P. Foden 2' 1-0 

We didn’t have to wait long for the opening goal. Lovely pass over the top from Nathan Ake to Jeremy Doku, who made a good run in-behind. Encouraging signs with his off-ball movement this match. Chips it back into the middle from the byline, just missed by Marmoush/Cherki running into the box. Picked up by Foden. Too many bodies in the way to shoot. He waits and passes it across to Savinho.

Savinho beats the full-back to the line to get a shot off. Foden positioned well in the middle to score the rebound. Positive performances from both the wingers in this match, Savinho in taking on his man several times, and getting into the box. Jeremy Doku for his movement off the ball, running into the box. Both for their efforts, pressing.

The team had a few good chances throughout the game. This one in the first half stood out to me. It's a simple one, but I liked this move from the match, Cherki runs underlapping for Doku, and Foden's movement in the box to get a shot off.

It’s an example of using Jeremy Doku to draw in players, rather than beat them, and a teammate takes advantage with their movement off the ball. It’ll be interesting to see the relationship he has with Ait-Nouri this season.

Lots of good moments pressing from Cherki in his debut, this example in the lead-up to the chance Jeremy Doku had. Normal to see the team at the start of the season be behind in their position for pressing, especially later into the match. Certainly something we'll see them work on from game to game.

J. Doku 42' 2-0  

In the preview for the tournament, I mentioned the interest around what James French could do as the set-piece coach. Where to expect improvements and how important better delivery will be. Kolo Toure mentioned at half-time that the team had worked on corner routines a lot leading up to the tournament. Last season, we saw City frequently have players already positioned in the box to pin the opposition in the 6-yard box and a player on the keeper to block their run.

In this match, they wanted to keep the 6-yard space open to attack. Below is the Ake header earlier in the first half, most of the players moving towards the near post and giving Ake a clear run towards the back-post.

For the goal, the team still intends to attack the near post and deliver into the back-post space for Ake/Doku to attack. This time, Wydad picks up the run of Ake and leaves Jeremy Doku unmarked. He makes a great run across the opposition player to finish. We rarely saw Doku attacking the back-post, if at all, in corners last season. Given how strong and explosive he is, this makes a lot of sense.

In the second half, we saw a slower tempo to the game, given the heat they’re playing in and several subs coming on across the half. Triple change of Rodri, Haaland, and Bobb at 60’. Gundogan came on at 69’ in what looked like a move to just settle down control in midfield for the remaining 20 minutes.

Haaland had a great chance to score after Rodri made an interception and played him through 1v1, only to be saved by the keeper. Doku, Reis, and Foden all missed big chances in the game. It could have been a much higher scoreline despite a few mistakes in defending transitions.

The red card for Rico Lewis means he missed the next match, where he was unlikely to start anyway. In my opinion, it’s a harsh decision to send him off. Both go in aggressively for the ball on the floor, Rico's leg only goes high as it goes off the opposition player’s leg. Unfortunate one for him.

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Moving Forward

Away from all the talk about Reijnders, I thought Vitor Reis quietly had a good performance. Would like him to stay this season, should they manage to move on some senior CBs.

Aside from the red card, I enjoyed the performance from Rico Lewis. An incredibly useful player if he stays around, and has a route towards minutes. I wonder if Lewis is willing to accept a rotation option when he can be a midfield starter elsewhere in the Premier League. It will hinge on the right-back they could bring in this summer, after the tournament.

Next up for Manchester City is Al Ain on Monday, 23rd of June at 02:00 (UK Time). Playing in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Juventus beat them 5-0 in their opening game. If City win their group, they’ll take on the runner-up in group H, which is likely going to be either Real Madrid or Al-Hilal.

I’d expect to see a lot of changes in the next game, as you want to give other players minutes from the start, and Al Ain allows you to do that before playing Juventus and a tough R16 match.

If you haven’t already checked out our recent newsletters on all the new signings, then you can find them all linked below. 👇