Director Pep Guardiola’s master soldier has sprouted again.온라인바카라
Man City won 3-1 against Arsenal in the 12th round of the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2022-23 season held at Emirates Stadium in London, England at 4:30 am (Korean time) on the 16th. With this victory, the points of the two teams were tied at 51 points, and Manchester City, ahead of the goal difference, took first place in the league.
On this day, Guardiola brought out a rather unique formation. When the lineup came out, the expected formation was a 3-2-4-1 formation. Elling Haaland was expected to be positioned at the forefront, followed by Jack Grealish, Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin The Bruyne, and Riyad Mahrez. It was expected that Rodri and Bernardo Silva would be in charge of the ball distribution in the third line, and Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias, and Kyle Walker would go out as a three-back.
However, when I opened the lid, the formation was 4-1-4-1. It was all the same up to the frontline Holland and the 2nd line, but the 3rd line midfielder was one Rodri. Guardiola started the game by forming a four-back, using Silva as a left wingback.
Silva’s position was sensational. Silva is an attacking midfielder with great talent. He is a player who scores goals through creative passing as well as efficient off-the-ball movement. Guardiola has placed these talents in the defensive line.
Silva’s position was interesting. When defending, Silva spread wide to the side to block Bukayo Saka. On the other hand, in attack, he played the role of an inverted wingback. He even took on the role of distributing the ball by building a three-line line with Rodri.
However, Guardiola admitted his mistake. In the end, in the 16th minute of the second half, Mahrez was removed and Manuel Akanzi was added to bring about a change. Akanji moved to center back and Ake moved to left wingback position. Silva stepped up as a right wing forward without Mahrez.
The effects of the change were immediately apparent. In the 27th minute of the second half, Silva took Arsenal’s pass miss and immediately stabbed a killer pass. Haaland caught it, and Grealish finished the cross and Man City began to take the lead. In the end, Manchester City won 3-1 with Haaland’s key goal in the 37th minute of the second half.
Silva’s use of wingbacks was a waste of talent in the end. Guardiola also acknowledged this. “My tactics were disappointing. I decided on a new one, it was terrible. We suffered. After we scored a goal, there was only one team on the pitch. Arsenal,” he said after the game. .
“We couldn’t connect the pass, we only played the long ball. Nobody moved, nobody tried to catch the pass. My plan wasn’t good. In the second half we were more aggressive and the quality of the players made the difference. Just a few weeks ago, we were 8 or 9 points apart. They gave us a chance to close the gap.”