Pep Guardiola has a habit of springing tactical surprises in big games and has suggested he could do so again on Saturday;
“I have a few ideas, thoughts, ridiculous ones, against United,” he said; his tactical switches have previously cost City against Lyon and Chelsea.
Man City boss Pep Guardiola says he has a few “ridiculous” tactical plans up his sleeve for Saturday’s crunch trip to Man Utd.
City head to Old Trafford in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off needing a win to keep the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal, who boast a five-point lead over last season’s champions.
Guardiola, though, comes up against an in-form United side that are on an eight-game winning run and rising up the table. Should Erik ten Hag’s side win they would move to within a point of City.
The City boss has a habit of springing tactical surprises in big games and has suggested he could do so again on Saturday.
“I would like to arrive against United more or less with the average of minutes in the legs quite similar because I have a few ideas, thoughts, ridiculous ones, against United.”
Guardiola has been accused of overthinking his tactics on the biggest stage before.
The 2021 Champions League final defeat to Chelsea springs to mind, when the City manager was widely criticised for playing without a holding midfielder and subsequently blamed in some quarters for the loss.
A year before that Guardiola switched to a back three against Lyon in the same competition at the quarter-final stage, in a one-legged game that City were heavy favourites to win.
The tactical ploy ultimately backfired and cost City another chance at the Champions League – the competition that Guardiola says he needs to win to feel his time at the Etihad is “complete”.
City dominated United at Old Trafford three years ago in their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg when Guardiola used Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva as strikers instead of Sergio Aguero or Gabriel Jesus.
Moving Jesus out to the wing in favour of deploying one of his attacking midfielders in a more advanced role also paid dividends before. City snatched a win at Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16 in 2020.
Guardiola has shown he can get things wrong. But more often than not, he hits the mark.
Source: Sky Sports
