A frustrating night for Manchester City that on the one hand we could have all seen coming with that line up, but City also generated more than enough chances to see them through with a win. Fortunate in moments with Chelsea countering, largely unfortunate with referee decisions and the big chances missed at the other end.

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Manchester City 1 - 1 Chelsea | Game Review

MOTM: Malo Gusto

Other standout performances include: Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne & Ederson.

Notable Stats:

• Malo Gusto for Chelsea vs. Man City: 67 touches 10 clearances 9 duels won (most) 8 tackles (most) 7x possession won (most) 3 crosses 2 big chances created.

• Most big chances missed in the Premier League this season is 21, held jointly by Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez. Five more than the next player.

• Erling Haaland's nine shots and 1.71 xG against Chelsea are both his highest totals without scoring in a game for Manchester City in all competitions.

• Man City vs the Big 6 this season: 4 draws 1 loss 1 win.

Main Takeaways:

• Erling Haaland had a night to forget with three big chances missed along with plenty of other half chances wasted. A trend this season, despite his feats, he is under-performing. Strictly by the standards he set, I cannot stress that point enough. Missing the most big chances along with Darwin Nunez this season in the Premier League. If he puts one away, most of the talk online goes away along with any in-depth analysis into the game.
  
  With his grandmother passing away the other day and him still asking to play, all you can do is applaud the effort and hope for a return to ‘his standards’ soon. A trend to watch.
  

• Alvarez playing a role in midfield is a trend that we have seen over and over again to little effect in the biggest games. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t been effective earlier in the season slightly behind Haaland.
  
  Not the player with tight control in the pockets, a soft first touch and the control of match tempo. A role that he does put everything into, his effort cannot be knocked, by creating chances and pressing so well. The deficiencies though cannot be ignored in these types of games where the midfield wins the game. Can only think that Bernardo, Kovacic and Stones were all unable to start the game. Still, you imagine that this issue will be more than clear for Pep Guardiola moving forward now.

• Jeremy Doku is an incredible talent that is yet to fit properly into this team, with them not knowing how to get the best out of him either. That will take time. He doesn’t fit seamlessly into this team combining and rotating centrally like Jack Grealish does, nor is he as switched on with his decision making to recycle the ball at the right moments. That takes time to learn. Along with him, Ake and Alvarez pressing at the right moments together.
  
  That being said, he came up against Gusto who had a stellar game and shut down virtually everything Doku had to offer. As you can see from the pass map below, there was a lot of supply to him and a clear plan to use his ability 1v1. Not only the fault of him but also the team to find different solutions away from the left side or by moving different players over to combine with him.

• Rodri continued his excellent displays this season into the Chelsea game by salvaging us a point and leading a much improved second half. He has made the most passes under pressure in the Premier League this season (1,301) and far in front of Bruno Guimaraes in second (1,005). Chelsea limited his involvement in the first half, credit to them and Gallagher for that, but City need to start the first half better. Need to be set up better from the start. Need to be sharp all game long.
  

• Ederson may go under the radar but without him it could have been 2-0 before half time. Significant saves at the right moments. Cool and calm in possession, distributing the ball and handling the press of Chelsea with Dias.
  

• Chelsea had a threat on the counter attack, clearly from the last game we played and everyone knew it. But we still struggled to handle that in the first half and ultimately that cost us the win. Ederson helped keep it to one goal but mistakes on the ball in the opposition half left us so easy to by pass through midfield. Second half saw that eliminated little too late.

Moving Forward:

• Pressing and out of possession is a clear issue for the team without certain personal. For example Ake and Alvarez on the left side were caught out more than once leaving a ball in behind for a counter attack. Completely screws over Dias, Akanji and Walker then coming across.
  
  The Alvarez experiment in midfield has to end. As a fill in number ten for KDB it was a temporary solution, his pressing and shooting ability is worth it. In midfield, defending deeper in a box and timing his press with the full back, not so much.
  
  As a striker, playing behind Haaland and option off the bench he is fantastic for us. Playing as a deep midfielder though needs to stop.
  

• Akanji is useful stepping into midfield to be an additional player in the middle as long as he is not dependent on to progress the ball. Stones is able to progress the ball and also act as a dummy to open up space to others in the middle through short passes and movement. Akanji is fitting only for the latter.
  
  The set up of the team needs to reflect that much better. If Stones cannot play the game, we cannot be dependent on Akanji in the build up. Pep needs to find a better solution.
  

• The best of Phil Foden this season has had him drift inside from starting out on the wing. Using Walker or Gvardiol to facilitate this.
  
  Foden being probably our best option out wide with injuries right now is a problem. Pep Guardiola needs to find a way to get him involved more centrally if City want to win football matches let alone the league.
  

• Haaland needs to capitalize on these chances for the remainder of the season. There are going to be more games like the Chelsea one where one Haaland goal is the difference and brings us three points.
  

• Final point is exactly that, with our game in hand won, we become one point off the top of the league in February. This is not a time to panic or give up. It’s a warning sign to the team and Pep that our approach must be better and our focus kept all game. Back the team to deliver in the long run, plenty of twists and turns are ahead of us.

Interesting Moments and Links

• Comp of Malo Gusto vs Jeremy Doku. Tells you everything you need to know about what happened down the left side in the game.

• Important to remember how much Alvarez has contributed this season, not his ability the issue but this new deep midfield role in big games that has to stop.

• When we discuss players like Alvarez, Doku and Akanji it is important to remember this point about them. It’s not the skill they have but that they are being asked to do something beyond their capabilities now or in the future.

Quick point to mention, the schedule moving forward for Sky Blue Times is changing. Every match will have a preview and review within a couple days either side of the match day. Every Sunday will have a weekly round up of all the City related news. Once a week we will dive into a specific topic deeper, any suggestions are welcome!

That’s all for this newsletter, rounding up our week with everything here at Sky Blue Times and the world of Manchester City. We are always looking for other ways to provide value to our subscribers so we appreciate any feedback provided in the comments below.

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