Manchester City 1-2 Manchester United Review

FA CUP FINAL

In the moment this match was a painful watch, to see Manchester City be poor in the first half individually and struggle to progress the ball into the final third. Disorganized at the back in moments against a United side that had a good game plan as well as a group that looked up for the fight.

Despite the second half changes it was too late when City broke through the United defense and the chance for a double double was gone. It puts a bitter taste on the end of the season but we shouldn’t let it take away from the achievement of four title in a row. Let’s get into why City struggled…

Now we are at the end of the season you can check out the completed minutes spread sheet linked here.

MOTM:

Looking back at the performance on the weekend it’s a struggle to pick any City player. Guardiola made two changes at half-time which tells you a lot about the first half display. Jeremy Doku scores late in the second half and although no player if worthy of MOTM it was Doku who had the most positive performance. An intriguing battle with Aaron Wan-Bissaka throughout the second half and a battle both will learn from. One to watch next season as he makes his way into the starting lineup more frequently.

Notable Stats:

• Manchester City are the first holders of the men’s FA Cup to finish as runners-up in the following season since Manchester United in 2004/05.

• Manchester United are the lowest ranked team to win the FA Cup since Arsenal under Mikel Arteta in 2019/20.

• Manchester United created 1.7xG against Manchester City in the FA Cup Final, only five other teams have created more against City this season (Chelsea, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace).

Thoughts on Manchester City

Here is the starting eleven from Manchester City and the average positon of those players in the game. Incredibly narrow approach without Doku against a United team that was setup to deal with any central progression from City, force them out wide and trust their FBs 1v1.

John Stones in the lineup for his first start since Chelsea (FA Cup SF) was a surprise, Ake also back in at CB with neither Akanji or Dias preferred. Jeremy Doku dropped out of the eleven. The passing map below from Mark Stats is a good illustration of the two approaches, you can see exactly why City struggled, they couldn’t progress into the final third and United were excellent in their vertical passing to their front line.

Against a City back-line we’ve seen all season struggled to consistently be organized. There isn’t clear communication between them and you frequently see one defender of the four staggered. Always playing an attacker onside and leaving space to be ran into. That’s what happens for the first goal, no matter how fortunate the mistake is by Ortega, City let that chaos begin with their back-line being unorganized.

The second goal only continues to show City at the back are not sharp enough, Kyle Walker jogs back leaving Stones to up Mainoo. He’s already preoccupied with Bruno Fernandes and ready to block that shot. A brilliant pass by him to Mainoo exposes the assumption by Walker.

At half time Guardiola makes two changes in Akanji for Ake and Doku for Kovacic. Alvarez comes on later for De Bruyne in attempt to provide more threat running in-behind and into the box given the struggle by City to access De Bruyne in the half spaces all game.

Jeremy Doku had quite the battle with his opposing FB and got past him a number of times only to be tackled late or forced into giving a poor pass into the box. Stones moved inside as a pivot and because United had to double up on Doku it meant Foden then got space in midfield. For the goal Foden passes out wide to Doku, cutting inside and shooting near post as he’s moving across the box. Brilliant individual moment and something you can watch out for in the next few season’s as he figures out that move cutting inside. That goal was too late and City ran out of time to get level.

As Guardiola said after the match, he got the setup wrong and one of those issues was not starting Doku to attack the wide spaces. The other was opening up space in the middle as John Stones inverted into midfield during the second half.

I do think next season we need to see the transition of Kevin De Bruyne deeper. There will be games where he can play alongside Haaland, like we saw in the FA Cup against Luton Town. But against mid/low blocks that require somebody outside of it to provide passes to move that block around, De Bruyne is wasted between the lines and with his back to goal. His late cameo against Newcastle is an example of this as well as the game against Crystal Palace (A).

Thoughts on Manchester United

Here is the starting eleven of Manchester United and their average positions during the ninety minutes, you’ll notice City penned them back in the half for most of the game but both Garnacho and Rashford had their chances on the break whilst United stayed incredibly compact centrally for the most part.

United set up as 4-2-4 OOP which meant the space City could expose was out wide and United made sure to stifle any central progression. A theme we have seen in several games for City this season. United forced the City midfielders to remain outside of the midfield block. Generally becoming a 3v3 they could defend quite easily and no player for City outside of the central space had the passing ability to break that block up. Inside the block it’s man to man but outside of it they let City remain in possession until the right opportunity to press came. Letting the central defenders of Stones/Ake have the ball and trusting Walker/Gvardiol couldn’t beat their FBs 1v1.

If you look at the graphic included below, United made sure to prevent Stones/Ake accessing the central space easily and pushing the City buildup towards Gvardiol or Walker where both Dalot and Wan-Bassaka are happy to deal with 1v1. Amrabat tight on Foden, Mainoo on De Bruyne to prevent passes inside. Wingers tucked in narrow. McTominay and Fernandes on the City double pivot.

Due to the City midfielders being outside the center to get on the ball it meant Garnacho and Rashford could be more aggressive pressing them in those areas. McTominay and Fernandes on the inside of the City double pivot. Once Kovacic came on the outside to get on the ball, he’d have Garnacho on his back. Inside the block he’d have Fernandes or McTominay preventing passes into him.

City attempted to move the double pivot of Mainoo/Amrabat around but between Garnacho, McTominay and Bruno dropping to stay compact they made sure City never found enough time for an opening. Even when Bernardo dropped into the midfield United were able to move tight to him to ensure no central progression.

Rodri having to step up with runs into the box and outnumber the United back line in the final third looked to be promising for City, when Kovacic did that he had a very good chance passing across the goal but it leaves the remaining pivot exposed. That’s exactly the space that got exposed in transition for the second goal. Bruno Fernandes free in the middle and Mainoo to make runs into the box from deep.

Manchester City Moving Forward

Looking ahead after this result I think it’s important to find the balance between how incredible the four in a row achievement is whilst acknowledging that the team is due a shake up in the summer. That as brilliant as City were in the run-in and going on the unbeaten run they had, there were moments in the season where they were poor in areas defensively or lacked the cutting edge in the final third.

Big injuries to De Bruyne and Stones. Inconsistent season from Jack Grealish. Kyle Walker and Ruben Dias not as the heights they have been previously. Guardiola finding solutions tactically from Alvarez to Foden and Kovacic. Bedding in new signings. The emergence of Josko Gvardiol. Jeremy Doku finding his feet. Matheus Nunes not finding his spot in the starting eleven. Oscar Bobb coming through. Rico Lewis fighting for a spot.

There are so many positives to take away from this season and there are clear signs of where City can improve. For that we will leave to the end of season review and our transfer previews.

We’ll leave you with this quote from Pep Guardiola as a reminder of how well these players did after winning a treble last season, finding the motivation to take on a fantastic Arsenal team and make history. 🏆🏆🏆🏆

SBT Moving Forward

Currently in the works is a series of deep dives into different Manchester City players this season, whether they evolved through it and the impact they had. Josko Gvardiol was the first and Phil Foden is next up.

Originally scheduled for today, the deep dive into Foden 23/24 will be released later this week.

End of Season Review will be published within the next couple weeks along with a preview of summer transfers and a look at the systems/tactics Guardiola used this season.

Last of all, if you have any feedback on the newsletter then please feel welcome to email back and/or comment below. That’s how we get better and provide more value to the readers. Would appreciate if you forward this email onto any other City fans! 🙏

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