Tottenham suffocated a possession-hungry Manchester City in a fascinating tactical contest between two old foesYou know, this might just catch on. For an hour at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium the white shirts of Spurs and the all-blacks of Manchester City played out a game of such familiar contrasts, possession v non-possession, that it felt like watching a sporting remake from the Legends Tours, Tyson v Holyfield or Benn v Eubank. Related: Son and Lo Celso take Tottenham top with win over Manchester City Related: No amount of Marcelo Bielsa’s genius can save Leeds from a bumpy ride | Jonathan Wilson Continue reading...
A contract extension gives the manager time to revamp, adapt to new challenges and address unfinished businessManchester City’s longest-serving manager was a tactical innovator born far from England who pioneered the use of a withdrawn centre-forward. Pep Guardiola will still have a long way to go to match the 13 years the India-born Les McDowall, who won the 1956 FA Cup and devised the Revie plan, spent in charge of City but if he sees out his new contract he will have been there for seven, more than anybody else other than Wilf Wild, who saw the club through the second world war.Seven years at any club represents a remarkable achievement in the modern game, particularly at one so historically...
Liverpool’s fast, attacking start threatened to overwhelm Manchester City but the home side found a responseThis was a tantalising and, at times, oddly melancholy game of football. For an hour at the Etihad Manchester City and Liverpool produced an exhibition of finely-wrought escapism, one of those moments when football just draws the curtains on the rest of the world and basks in its own heat and light.That they did so was a credit to the tunnel vision intensity of the players. And also to an engrossing bare knuckle tactical duel played out between Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola in the opening half hour. Related: Kevin De Bruyne drags penalty wide in Manchester City's draw with Liverpool Related: Manchester City 1-1...
With players now quicker and stronger, the champions can further expose Pep Guardiola’s misfiring side, whose ability to stop the opposition passing is waningSunday’s meeting of Manchester City and Liverpool is not just between the past two Premier League champions and the two favourites to win the title this season or even Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp, it is also a meeting of two different modes of pressing.The tactical centre of European football is shifting. While the four German sides lead or are level on points at the top of their Champions League groups, Spanish clubs are struggling. It is true Barcelona and Real Madrid have specific issues of politics and recruitment, but there is also something more fundamental that...
If City’s players are not bored of Guardiola, Sunday’s fascinating test against Liverpool would be a good point to show itWhen the history of this season comes to be written the meeting of Liverpool and Manchester City on Sunday might not be seen as decisive in the title race, as these two sides’ encounters have been in the recent past, but with the situations they find themselves in the match looks absolutely fascinating. There is pressure on both sides this season, City wanting to knock Liverpool off their perch and the champions desperate to raise the trophy again, hopefully with fans there to see it this time, and perhaps this weekend we will see who is coping with it the...