Pep Guardiola is a manager known for his tactical tinkering, he’s a perfectionist, always trying to find the best tactical approach to matches. He strives for total control in matches, dating back to his playing days with FC Barcelona, Guardiola wants to be able to dominate matches, create an abundance of chances and limit opposition threat, and it’s fair to say that he has been very successful thus far. Recently we’ve seen evidence of his innovation as he’s constantly thriving to find the next best solution, however what we are seeing now with Bernardo Silva is something completely different to before. Following the title contenders clash at the Emirates, we’ve dived into how Guardiola has replaced Joao Cancelo with Portuguese counterpart Bernardo Silva, and how Pep is using him effectively.
Guardiola has been using inverted fullbacks for years with Joao Cancelo tucking very narrow to play in the midfield space, it allows Manchester City to dominate possession in central zones where they are most dangerous with top chance creators in Kevin de Bruyne, Jack Grealish, İlkay Gündoğan and Joao Cancelo. The side set up in a 3-2-5 shape which allowed them to maintain central possession with the 4 in the middle without having to sacrifice any width.
Manchester City generally played quite well with this shape but did struggle when teams attacked them out wide in transitions, seen in their matches against Newcastle United, Manchester United and even Tottenham Hotspurs. This was since their numbers were concentrated in the middle, leaving them prone to quick attacks down either flank especially when such opponents were able to build up a numerical advantage.
Arsenal away was a completely different game to any of the above, the league leaders in London had constructed a possession based brand of football under Mikel Arteta, losing only twice in 21 matches and maintaining an average of 58.7% possession per game. These numbers are very impressive considering Arsenal have the youngest side in the top six, so Guardiola did not expect an easy game. Instead of starting youngster Rico Lewis, he opted for more experience and control with Bernardo Silva at left back, bear in mind he usually plays on the wing.
The Portuguese makeshift fullback offered a high energy game, using his experience to expertly marshal Bukayo Saka. Seen in the dashboard below, Silva was defending all over the pitch, particularly high when playing at left back before being moved to the right wing. His game was cut short due to him being booked after his 3rd foul on Saka.
Whilst Bernardo Silva was influential down both touchlines, he did not have the controlling influence that Pep would’ve hoped for, completing only 17 out of 26 passes, and not providing an option in midfield as much as he should’ve. This was unexpected from a midfielder of his calibre, however Arsenal did well to close down the space in the first half and limit Manchester City’s attacks, shown as the blues only had 36% possession
Guardiola has since come out and said ‘I tried something new and it was horrible’, potentially not liking his plan to play a midfielder at left-back instead of a natural defender in Nathan Ake or Rico Lewis, however his game management allowed Manchester City to dominate parts of the game and come away with the win.
This leads us to believe that Guardiola will not look to experiment in such a fashion any time soon, however it would be interesting to see other forwards or midfielders being trialled as a makeshift fullback. It may be a change that we often see in academy football with wingers moving to fullback, however City’s Sergio Gómez is an example of someone who has made that change from midfield to left-back after his academy career.
Could we potentially see Guardiola trial others at full-back in the future, perhaps against weaker opposition. He has previously spoken about how English youngster Phil Foden can play at left-back, hence it would be interesting to see whether he could utilise Foden’s creativity and directness out wide and in midfield from a left-back position. Pep is a manager who loves to experiment, so it would be impossible to rule this experiment out!
