Was wondering how they do it so well and sure it’s been that way since Sheikh Mansour bought the club. At other big clubs there’s a first XI that’s going to play most weeks with some squad players on the fringes when fit whereas at City I’ve noticed that they could probably field 2 good starting XIs from one week to the next and wouldn’t struggle. Like sometimes you’ll see Stones and Ake in defence then another game it’s Dias and Gvardiol, sometimes Akanji plays there. Been like that for quite a while remembering when it was 4-4-2 under Mancini and Pellegrini having Aguero and Tevez up front with Dzeko and Balotelli before Negredo and Jovetic as back up. Whenever someone gets injured it’s barely even a problem and they seem to know how to manage big players really well, bit jealous as a United fan as whenever one player is dropped, it’s such a big deal.
Noticed that the formation also changes as well quite often, for example
3-2-4-1 vs Chelsea
3-4-2-1 vs Bournemouth
4-2-3-1 vs United
Because they keep winning shit.
City have one of the smallest squads in the league. Not sure how true it is this season, but in the past few seasons City did have the smallest squad in the league. But every player is tactically masterful and can play in multiple positions. Plus Pep Guardiola and their excellent coaching staff can coach the players to play in different formations for when needed.
Well they do have both Pep and oil money so…
They get paid pretty much the best in the world and are being managed in a way that doesn’t run them into the ground each season, which in turn could potentially lengthen their career.
All that while being hailed as one of the best teams in the world and winning trophies every year doesn’t sound easy to pass up
Don’t say all of that near Saka…
👀👀👀👀
Their squad is actually very small relative to other big clubs and they buy players who are willing to play slightly fewer games in exchange for a guaranteed shot at winning major trophies. They also try to get versatile players so they don’t have to have a bunch of backups rotting on the bench.
For context/transparency I’m a Liverpool fan.
They don’t have a big squad. None of City, Liverpool or arsenal have big squads.
They all have 13-15 starter level players, backed up by young players.
Most of those 13-15 cover multiple positions which gives the illusion of 2 per position.
Look at any of those clubs benches in league games. Against Chelsea, City didn’t even fill their bench spots.
I think you’ve misunderstood quite a few things.
Rotation - saw a stat after around 10 games this season they had made less subs and rotated the starting line up less than any other team in the prem. It’s a myth they have a huge squad.
System - they rarely change their system (don’t confuse formation with system). They always shape up in a 325 in possession and 442 out of possession. The only times I’ve ever seen them deviate from this is against some teams later in the champions league. They play the same way every game. Controlled possession, high press, high emphasis on positional awareness.
Injuries - they have lots of players who can play multiple positions. Say foden gets injured, they have 2 or 3 replacements who can play the number 8 in their system. Same for the defenders, akanji, gvardiol and ake can either play centrally or LB. They also don’t have answers for every position, when rodri is injured their system really struggles. They lost 2 out of 3 games without rodri during his ban.
That’s not really the truth. Most of their players can play more than one place. So it’s easier to please their playing time needs.
Also it’s not like all their players are happy with the situation. Look at Cancelo for example. A world class player who needed out. You also have Palmer this summer. Jesus and Zinchenko last summer
Versatility of individual players and because we tend to go long in most tournaments, we usually play 2-3 games per week. So players getting enough games to be satisfied isn’t as big of an issue.
The rotation also helps keep players healthier so less downtime from injuries.
They are managed by the best manager ever.
You know they cheat, right? At least 144 times.
The wages.
FFP doesn’t apply to them.
Winning helps keep everyone happy
Huge wages and even more wages going to a secret offshore account.