Opinion: Evidently City don’t need a striker, but would so clearly benefit from one

If ever there was a moment that confirmed in Pep Guardiola’s mind how inessential strikers are in modern football, it came just after the half-hour mark at the Jan Breydel Stadium.

Phil Foden, the man tasked with playing as a ‘centre-forward’ against Club Brugge, dropped level with the centre circle and sprayed a 50-yard ball to the team’s most-advanced player, ‘defender’ Joao Cancelo.

Only Guardiola would devise such a sequence, let alone coach his players sufficiently to flawlessly execute the move, and the ball, control and first-time finish gave Manchester City the lead after a first 30 minutes they’d dominated.

Later in proceedings, Kevin De Bruyne collected the ball just outside the Club Brugge box and picked out a City runner who burst into the area: Kyle Walker. Not to be outdone by his fellow full-back, the England international took a touch and lashed the ball beyond Simon Mignolet.

Who needs a striker when you’ve got goalscoring defenders, eh?

In Bruges

For almost every manager in the Premier League, the thought of not selecting a central forward is unimaginable, let alone having an entire squad which doesn’t contain one. Ferran Torres is the only player who Guardiola may view as a natural frontman, but even he has operated largely in the wide areas in his career to date.

Whether this refined formation is over-elaborate or the dawn of football’s new age is still up for debate, but on Tuesday the Premier League champions were back to their imperious best, reminiscent of their showings in the mid part of 2020/21 when, coincidentally, they tended to line up without a striker.

Against Brugge, Foden, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Rodri effortlessly recycled possession, dragging the hosts’ midfield around the park while simultaneously looking to exploit any spaces which presented themselves.

It was patient, leisurely and somehow both enthralling and slightly monotonous. The movement off the ball is perhaps not quite yet at the same standard as the work in possession, and Jack Grealish still has to perfect that dart inside off the left.

But it was undeniably their best performance of the season to date and they ran a Brugge side, who picked up a point against Paris Saint-German last month, absolutely ragged, winning 5-1. Philippe Clement’s men simply had no response against a team who largely played in front of them, and then within the blink of an eye were streaming beyond the last defender. Only City’s coasting after their fourth goal prevented the winning margin being bigger.

The victory increased City’s goalscorers this season up to 15 in all competitions, in comparison to Manchester United’s eight, while Liverpool are on 10.

It only feeds into Guardiola’s understandable view that he doesn’t need a striker in his star-studded squad. Last season’s showings, when they won 21 games in a row, strengthen it further and he’s developed a fluid system that can be unbeatable when executed as efficiently as it was in Belgium.

At the heart of it are long, diagonal sweeping passes into wingers who hug the touchline and look to control the ball and drive forward immediately before picking out a waiting team-mate in the centre or sprinting into the box.

Running like clockwork

Saturday’s win over Burnley was my first trip to the Etihad this season and it was noticeable just how often the Blues looked to switch play, build attacks from the wide areas and then slip a pass inside.

Yet, from the five goals scored in Belgium, none were converted inside the box courtesy of a sideways cross or pass, although Palmer’s finish from distance was set up by Raheem Sterling’s cutback.

In fact, none of City’s last 10 goals have been scored from a first-time finish in the box, which almost became a habitual scoring route for Guradiola’s men prior to 2020/21. It’s another example of how City are adapting without the presence of a figure such as Sergio Aguero or Gabriel Jeus in that No.9 role.

It’s still worth pondering just how formidable City could be if they had a player such as, let’s say, Harry Kane, for no particular reason, in that central role. The Tottenham Hotspur striker intuitively dropped deep and linked the play last season, while registering 23 goals and 14 assists in the Premier League, more than anyone else in both fields.

Even on Wednesday, numerous passes fizzed into the box went unanswered. Foden, Grealish and Sterling have all been deployed in the central role over the past three games, but neither really look comfortable in that position. It is also a marked change from last season when Guardiola tended to set his side out with four central midfielders, three of whom would flit into that spot, before moving away and allowing another to occupy that space.

But this season, Guardiola has constructed a perplexing team, one that could undoubtedly benefit from a centre-forward and yet somehow don’t need one at the same time.

It speaks to the quality of this City group that even with the absence of one of football’s most fundamental components they still can obliterate sides in Europe’s top-tier competition. Whether it will cost them on other outings though, could determine how likely they are to winning that one trophy they covet most, and can collect a fourth Premier League title in five years.