Manchester City 2-1 Watford Review

League Cup - Third Round

City got their League Cup campaign underway with a win against Watford at the Etihad. The team was heavily rotated due to the short time for recovery post-Arsenal. A first look at some players further down the pecking order, opportunities to impress, and a chance for some academy players to make their debuts for the first team. Great opportunity for Phil Foden, James McAtee, Stefan Ortega, John Stones, and Matheus Nunes to get their first full 90 minutes of the season.

MOTM: Rico Lewis

Back into the lineup after missing out on the Arsenal match, Lewis slotted right into his usual role inverting into midfield from RB. Floating between the lines, looking for quick short passes, and helping to find Savinho or Doku 1v1 after receiving on the half turn. 107 touches, 74 passes, 7 key passes, and 1 assist. There isn’t a player quite like him in world football right now and he’s going to play an important role for City this season.  

Other standout performances include: Matheus Nunes & Jack Grealish

Game Stats

• xG: 2.12 - 0.71

• xThreat: 2.03 - 0.55

• Possession: 71.8% - 28.2%

• Field Tilt: 83.7% - 16.3%

• Penalty Box Shots: 14 - 3

• Deep Entries: 25 - 5

• Buildup Completion: 94.9% - 78.5%

• PPDA: 8.0 - 15.2

• High Turnovers: 10 - 1

• 10+ Pass Sequences: 35 - 10

First of all, it was great to see so many local players on the pitch for City. Braithwaite, Lewis, O'Reilly, Foden, and McAtee who started the match. Wright came on in the second half. For nearly all of those coming through the academy, to become a professional footballer for any team is a success but for many, it’s the dream to make the first team. City has had Phil Foden, Rico Lewis, and Oscar Bobb break into the first team to different degrees. You are already seeing a crop of youngsters that want to follow on from that this season.

The team was set to play in the same system we’ve seen all season. City still built out from a goal kick with Ederson becoming the LCB and Rico Lewis pushing high. In this example below you see Foden and McAtee link up for quick passes instead of Haaland dropping in as we are used to seeing.

Despite all the changes, the setup was something we've been used to seeing from City this season. Eventually building to a 3-1-6 in possession. Rico Lewis was right back and inverted high like he usually does. Kyle Walker played at RCB. Grealish and Doku held the width on either side. Nico O'Reilly was played as the six. Foden was the false 9 but he and McAtee would share duties dropping deep. One between the lines whilst the other supports the winger. Matheus Nunes would rotate on the left wing and LCM role with Grealish.

On the left side, Jack Grealish City wanted to overload that side of the pitch. On the right side with Jeremy Doku they wanted to find him 1v1 where possible and that continued in the second half with Savinho.

You’ll notice Jack Grealish is missing from the passing map, he’s behind Matheus Nunes since the two of them interchanged throughout the match. Jeremy Doku the outlet wide on the right side which Walker and Lewis frequently found. Keeping the same 3-1 base that we’ve seen in previous City matches, O’Reilly as the single pivot.

The first goal came from some good pressing by City and a poor attempt to play out from the back by Watford. James McAtee gets the ball off the keeper, laying it off to Grealish as he comes into the box. Waiting until players are drawn in before passing the Doku on the top of the box.

It was an excellent move from Doku to shift it over to his right foot and a well-taken finish into the bottom corner.

The second goal was one of a few different sequences City was putting together from their short passes around the box. Stones passes into Rico Lewis who plays a one-two with James McAtee before finding Matheus Nunes in space: another well-taken finish, this time just outside the box.

Watford had a goal disallowed for a foul on Braithwaite which all things considered felt quite harsh on Watford. It’s the kind of physicality you’d expect to see each week in the Premier League. Important lesson for Braithwaite to learn when stepping up to senior football.

City had more than enough chances in the second half to have the game wrapped up. Savinho had a shot cleared off the line and made a brilliant run past a couple Watford defenders before hitting the far post. Grealish had a shot on the penalty spot right at the keeper. Nunes was through on goal inside the 6-yard box.

Since they didn’t wrap up the game after those chances, it became quite a nervy finish after Watford scored off a turnover. Rico Lewis and Foden looking to play some quick 1 touch passes give the ball away and City is caught out of position.

Some interesting comments from Guardiola on Matheus Nunes are below. We do not play in transitions and he used to say Kalvin Phillips was a lovely guy all the time as well. I do think he is of value to taking away some minutes in midfield, has unique qualities but needs to be more secure on the ball. Perhaps with minutes, he’ll get to that point.

James McAtee movement is great and he looked more settled in the team against Watford. Nothing is coming off for him in the final yet but I wouldn’t be too concerned about that. Incredible asset to have and his time will come.

Nico O’Reilly played as the single pivot and I can see exactly why Pep likes him but right now he isn’t a defensive midfielder. Those instincts defensively, to be behind the ball and not jump out of position are not there yet. But he ticks a lot of other boxes. Jacob Wright came on for O’Reilly in the second half, for the last twenty minutes and he does look more suited to playing as the pivot already. But he doesn’t have the physical qualities O’Reilly has.

The inclusion of Kaden Braithwaite was a surprise, after one training session with the team the 16-year-old did enough to impress for a start. He slotted right into the team as an LB out of possession and LCB in possession. The role Gvardiol has been playing. Secure on the ball, passes well, and puts up some good progression numbers. Got caught a couple of times either too tight or too far away from a Watford forward. Outmuscled for the disallowed goal but good for a debut all things considered. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him training for the first team full-time and picking up a couple more cup game appearances.

Stones, Grealish, and Walker were important for progressing the ball. Rico Lewis would do a lot of carrying up and down the right half-space. Doku and Savinho shared responsibilities completing a half each on the RW. For his debut at 16, Braithwaite did put up some impressive numbers.

Given how available he’ll be but knowing Rico Lewis is likely ahead of him for most matches this season, I thought it was a positive performance from Kyle Walker playing as a RCB. Something we could make use of in the cup matches this season to rest other central defenders and give Walker minutes.

Moving Forward

First of all, Pep made it clear that for the league cup matches at least, he’ll be rotating the team heavily and so that means Nico O’Reilly should hopefully be taking those minutes away from Gundogan and Kovacic.

The draw for the fourth round of the cup was completed last night, Manchester City will travel to London to face Spurs at the end of October. We’ll find out just how serious Guardiola was about rotating the team for the cup matches.

The club has confirmed the injury Rodri has suffered today, the extent of his recovery is not yet clear until further tests are complete.

But despite how big of a loss it is, Guardiola is determined to find a solution. Move the team forward and win.

Next up for Manchester City is a trip to Newcastle, on Saturday 28th September at 12:30 (GMT).

Other

It’s not been great on the pitch for Newcastle despite how many points they have picked up. Alex (Euro Expert) has done a great thread on their most recent match against Fulham linked below.

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