Wolves 1-2 Man City Review

Premier League GW8

Another weekend of Manchester City playing against a low block, defending deep, and playing on the break but an improvement was made in their performance against Fulham. Despite less-than-ideal personnel, the team took a step forward and picked up an important three points during a weekend that Arsenal lost to Bournemouth. But should we be concerned that the team is not stopping every counterattack or blowing teams away in the final third?

MOTM: Josko Gvardiol

133 touches, 111 passes completed, 30 progressive passes, 13 carries into the final third, 5 progressive carries, 4 SCAs, 3 key passes & 1 goal.

There were some months when fans wondered if left-back was the best position for him to play but now it seems to be a position he could make his own. Become an all-timer. At least he has all the qualities required for it, to handle dangerous wide players, progress the team, and have an impact in the final third.

Not only does Josko Gvardiol lead the Premier League for progressive passes, but he also leads Europe’s Top Five Leagues. Significantly more than the most talented young midfielders in the world.

Notable Stats:

• Josko Gvardiol completed the most final third passes in the Premier League GW8 (78). Nine out of the top ten were Manchester City players, only James Maddison was not.

• Jeremy Doku completed more take-ons (6) than any other player in the Premier League during the weekend.

• Josko Gvardiol has scored more Premier League goals than any other defender in 2024 (6).

• Manchester City completed 539 passes in Wolves half, the most in a Premier League away game since records began in 2003/04.

Game Stats:

Wolves 1-2 Manchester City

• xG: 0.65 - 1.31

• xThreat: 0.49 - 2.59

• Possession: 22.6% - 77.4%

• Field Tilt: 4.3% - 95.7%

• Penalty Box Shots: 2 - 12

• Deep Entries: 3 - 37

• Buildup Completion: 66.2% - 91.4%

• PPDA: 27.8 - 6.1

• High Turnovers: 0 - 3

The setup from Wolves to use a 3-5-2 was to be expected, the same general game plan they used last season. A combination of eights and wing-backs is needed to deal with wide threats. Keep two central defenders on Haaland, Dawson is always on him. Cunha will apply pressure on the pivot and drop into midfield when needed, coming over to support Ait-Nouri against Savinho. Bernardo Silva stayed more central, on top of the box. Gundogan would look to make underlapping runs for Jeremy Doku.

Wolves only had a handful of opportunities to attack Manchester City but when they did in transition, it was through long passes out to Semedo on the left and using Larsen up top to win aerial duels. The opening goal comes after a long ball to Larsen, Wolves win the second ball. City pressed Wolves to win it back but are quite disorganised, once Doku jumps up to Bueno it leaves space behind to attack. Semedo was able to pick out his cross into the box, Rico Lewis didn’t track and stayed tight to Larsen at the back post who was free to score.

Wolves used this option a couple more times down the left side but Gvardiol dealt with them all well anticipating the pass. Kovacic, Doku, and Savinho all chipped in a couple of times each to win back the ball high up the pitch, stopping Wolves from countering.

The best chance for them was in the 19th minute passing through the City midfield. Ait-Nouri can go past Savinho, Lewis and Kovacic who are too far away to jump up for support. This is the area where Kovacic is weak as a number six, whether it’s anticipating like Rodri or having the physicality to cover ground like Rice. Smart 1-2 with Larsen from Cunha got them free to run at the City back line. Semedo has a great chance 1v1 with Ederson, Gvardiol putting pressure on him from behind.

Ederson deserves a mention for the saves he’s made of late, in a period where City needs big saves he has stepped up. Appears that his 1v1 saves have improved, particularly his timing when coming out. His PSxG± per 90 is currently the highest it’s ever been during his Manchester City career (+0.2). The flip side to that is the xG value of shots on target the team is conceding is higher than ever before.

After that chance Wolves didn’t have another shot in the first half. The transitions in the second half were generally stopped before Wolves could get out of their half. One break led to Cunha (57’) taking a shot that went wide outside the box. Carlos Forbs came on in the second half and helped provide a quick outlet for Wolves, the best chance coming from a pass to the back post but no one made the run for him. Guedes late in the second half had a chance to break after Gundogan got disposed but Mathues Nunes got back to tackle him.

Tommy Doyle came on at half-time for Andre, and Lemina moved into the middle so Doyle could keep track of any underlapping runs on their left side, behind Toti Gomes. He helped track Rico Lewis and Gundogan who tried to make those runs a couple of times in the second half.

Joao Gomes was also likely instructed to not stick as tight to the wing-back in the second half. Jeremy Doku was pulling him in tight to create space for Gvardiol in the first half, eventually leading to the goal. Now he was managing his distance better and was free to pick up Gundogan if he ran behind the RCB. To get around this Ruben Dias would move over to the left side and once Gomes was dragged out Gvardiol would make a run towards the box.

Manchester City set up in the 3-1-6 we’ve seen all season and without a high press from Wolves they were free to progress the ball up the pitch through Dias/Stones/Gvardiol. Kovacic as the six in front would offer solutions the odd time Wolves did press but for the most part, City were free to carry up the pitch, into Wolves half. John Stones came in for Akajji who was rested.

The initial setup from Manchester City made a lot of sense when it comes to breaking down the low block of Wolves, knowing they would double up on their wide threats so the focus was attacking the space behind them and in front of the wide CB with underlapping runs or opening up space for Josko Gvardiol to shoot/cross. By attacking the wide areas you are keeping the ball further away in the event of a turnover, with a quick winger in position to counter-press, supported by an eight (Bernardo/Gundogan) and FB (Lewis/Gvardiol). These situations are not ideal for Kovacic as well as winning second balls as a number six, winning aerial duels was not an issue for the team (Stones 6/9, Dias 3/3) but dealing with the loose ball was.

There is quite clearly an ongoing issue for Phil Foden off the bench that’s keeping him out of the lineup as a regular, Kevin De Bruyne/Rodri are both injured, so it’s always going to be tough to break down these defenses without your best passers. Particularly with De Bruyne and Rodri to move around the opposition block as well as being a shooting threat on the edge of the box.

As you can see from the expected goals chart, Wolves had two chances, the goal scored by Larsen and the shot from Semedo Ederson saved. Meanwhile, Manchester City continued to create small opportunities throughout the match but couldn’t get the pass right for a clear-cut one against the low block of Wolves.

Manchester City targeted the left side of Wolves in the first half, knowing that Joao Gomes would double on Jeremy Doku like last season, by finding the underlapping runner or creating space for Josko Gvardiol to cross or shoot. They didn't take advantage of these opportunities until Gvardiol scored (33') but there were several more they should have done better with.

These are just four of them in the first half. Jeremy Doku for the most part picks out the underlapping run but Wolves were able to block the pass into the 6-yard box or the cutback. Gundogan doesn’t play the pass quickly enough for Haaland to reach.

There was in the first half for Jeremy Doku a 1-2 similar to his goal against Bournemouth, Gundogan passed to him rather than Rodri this time. He'll get these shooting opportunities at least once a game. If Doku can get these shots consistently on target his numbers will explode.

Gvardiol and Doku worked around Joao Gomes doubling up on him by drawing him to create space for Gvardiol on the edge of the box. He gets time to provide two crosses to the back post but no one makes the run on time. These were great to see, it’s a skill he needs to develop and whether it’s Jeremy Doku or Jack Grealish on the left wing, he’ll get plenty of opportunities for it.

Gvardiol (33’) 1-1

Instead of crossing, this time Gvardiol takes the opportunity to shoot. Starting with the quick pass out to Doku who progresses the ball up to the box until Gvardiol arrives. They play a 1-2 to bring Joao Gomes tighter, Wolves have Haaland covered for a cross and Ait-Nouri has picked up Savinho so Gvardiol shoots.

There were some encouraging moments from Rico Lewis around the opposition box playing riskier passes, far more willing to play passes through like he did for Bernardo Silva in the first half and Haaland in the second half. Intent is great, just needs to play those quicker.

Swapping the two wingers at half-time gave Manchester City different options to attack Wolves. Early crosses into Erling Haaland, something Savinho was excellent at with Girona last season. Opening up the passing lane into Gvardiol when he made runs into the box.

Tommy Doyle came on for Andre at half-time and was tasked with tracking the underlapping runs on the right side (Gundogan). Joao Gomes in the second half didn't double up on Savinho with Semedo, instead managed his distance to Gvardiol. As a result, Gvardiol started pulling him deeper, Dias came across to occupy Gomes and allow Gvardiol to make runs into the box. Semedo was excellent at dealing with Savinho 1v1 but struggled to get tight to Grealish, who backed him up and picked out passes into the box easily.

Later in the second half, we saw Phil Foden come on for Jeremy Doku, initially playing on the RW before Bernardo moved over. Once Grealish came on for Savinho you saw some excellent runs from Foden behind the RCB of Wolves and incredible passes from Grealish inside the box. But as we saw in the first half, they struggled to get the final action right.

For the corners against Fulham, it was Grealish who stood next to the keeper but against Wolves, it was Bernardo Silva. This prevented Sa from ever having a good run to come to collect the ball. The rest defense was more compact around the D than it was against Fulham. Savinho/Doku flanked Kovacic to jump on any loose balls and had Rico Lewis to pass back to. A group of four in Haaland, Dias, Stones, and Gvardiol would line up and make runs from the top of the box. For the most part, Haaland would move to the back post, Gvardiol near-post, and Dias/Stones to the middle.

In the first half, they consistently got the ball delivered into the same area and got contact on the ball but weren't able to generate a good shot on target. They tried two short corners, the first had the cross from Doku blocked and the second ended up with Savinho taking a shot that went over the bar.

When playing it short against Fulham, City got caught out with a player on the byline so Fulham pressed or pushed City back. Against Wolves when they played it short the City player came from top to bottom. Throughout all of them in the first half, Bernardo Silva is always on Sa and always causing him a problem but Wolves do not do anything to deal with it.

A 64th-minute corner from the right to the middle of the box was cleared away by Wolves, now City starts with John Stones already in the middle, three players running from the top of the box. Once Nunes came on he joined the group in the box, another player capable in the box, now committing to only three players left outside.

Grealish took four corners from the left side. 1st short to Bernardo and back to him for a back post cross that Sa collected. Funny that. 2nd short to Gundogan before Foden had his shot deflected for another corner. 3rd to the near-post, cleared away by Wolves. 4th a deep cross to the back post, cleared away by Wolves before Haaland got to it. Another corner.

John Stones (90+5’) 1-2

5th corner corner in a row, in the 90th+5 minute of the game taken by Phil Foden from the right side. Excellent delivery into the zone City has been trying to hit all game long in the middle, Bernardo Silva on Sa prevented him from collecting the ball, and John Stones who was inside the 6-yard box instead of running from the top of the box, was able to get a good run at the ball to head it in.

The rest defense of the team was better set up to counter-press Wolves, should they lose the ball and deal with transitions. Both Doku and Savinho make some excellent recoveries as well as Kovacic on a couple of occasions. Bernardo Silva was better than Grealish at preventing the keeper from collecting the ball, doing so throughout the match and for the winner.

I understand the concept, of having four players at the top and wanting to give Haaland a good run towards the ball but despite some good deliveries in the first half, no player was able to get enough on the ball when they did. Improved in the second half once Stones stayed forward and left three to run instead. Delivery from Grealish/Foden was better.

John Stones when fit is an excellent addition to the back line for his ability in the air. A threat in corners, as seen by the goal but also winning 6/9 aerial duels. Any plan to go long by Wolves was prevented by him. Manchester City had certainly improved their organization during set-pieces, was not vulnerable like they were against Fulham, and had consistently delivered balls into good positions. Mixed up their routines between the near-post/back-post. Mixed up the intended target. Worked several crosses/shots from playing it short. An improvement, a step in the right direction but a long season is still ahead.

Moving Forward

Now if we turn our attention toward the upcoming matches, the team have a good run of games before some ticky away ones. Sparta Praha (H) in the Champions League, Southampton (H) in the Premier League, then it’s Spurs (A) for the League Cup and Bournemouth (A) in the Premier League. All matches the team should be expected to win but as we’ve just seen last weekend it’s never easy away from home. Likely that we see a heavily rotated team against Spurs.

Despite the injuries to key players, the team is still 2nd and one point off Liverpool. As I mentioned in the last newsletter, we are seeing more players chip in with goal contributions. 11 different goal scorers, and 5 different players have scored two or more goals across all competitions. Jeremy Doku (2G, 2A) and Bernardo Silva (1G, 3A) are the two leaders behind Erling Haaland (11G).

If Pep Guardiola trusts Matheus Nunes then I’m not sure why he hasn’t tried to include him in the team, given what the midfield is lacking without Rodri. His physical qualities are needed. The setup through 3-1-6 is likely to remain the same, the approach from the wingers the same regardless of whether it’s Savinho/Doku or Grealish/Bernardo, our central defenders are all sharp and performing this season but the questions remain on the midfield. Creativity centrally will return when Foden and De Bruyne are ready. Could the physicality of it improve though?

Next up for Manchester City is Sparta Praha (H) in the Champions League, a home match they’ll need to win given the tough away fixtures to follow against Juventus, Sporting, and PSG.

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