Pep Guardiola decision against Watford hints at Man City transfer plan & area to be strengthened

Saturday’s win over Watford offered Manchester City the chance to temporarily take their foot off the gas in the midst of a gruelling schedule for the Premier League champions.

It was a game preceded by double headers with Atletico Madrid and Liverpool and a win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday that pushed City after a subpar first half.

After Watford, it’s Real Madrid at home followed by trips to Elland Road and the Bernabeu, meaning the fixture against Roy Hodgson’s men was always going to be a date that was circled in the calendar as a chance to rest players.

That’s exactly how it panned out, with Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden sitting this one out, Riyad Mahrez given less than 20 minutes off the bench, while Kevin De Bruyne, Aymeric Laporte and Rodri were replaced at the Etihad.

But Pep Guardiola also made one significant alteration in a game that City comfortably won 5-1 thanks to four goals from Gabriel Jesus at the Etihad, as well as a 25-yard dipping strike from Rodri.

The Spaniard played a pivotal role in that shift from Guardiola, with the City boss unusually opting to start both Rodri and Fernandinho at the base of midfield.

It meant the side lined up in an almost 4-2-4 shape, or a 4-2-2-2, with the aforementioned pair shielding the back four, Jesus and Raheem Sterling out wide, while Jack Grealish and De Bruyne played up front but roamed around the pitch habitually finding little pockets of space.

Guardiola’s tactical tweak

It was a fluid, interchanging system, as evidenced by the second goal, when De Bruyne popped up on the right wing and sent in a delicious cross for Jesus, who headed in from inside the box.

At times, the shape worked well, with De Bruyne and Grealish intelligently pulling into areas where opposition defenders didn’t want to track them, while opening up gaps for team-mates to exploit.

This isn’t a new formation or way of playing for Guardiola, who has used a similar approach in other games this season, notably in big wins over Leeds United and Leicester City in December. But in recent months, the Catalan has largely stuck with 4-3-3.

Yet what made Saturday’s win unique was the use of Rodri and Fernandinho as the ‘double pivots’ or ‘two No.6s’ in the centre. Both are innately defensive-thinking players, whose prime role is to act as a barrier in front of the back four.

In previous games, Ilkay Gundogan or even Bernardo Silva have played in this role and have looked to get on the ball and surge forward where possible, as was the case with the latter two weeks ago in the Premier League fixture against Liverpool. Gundogan was even shifted into a similar position on Saturday, when Rodri was replaced with less than 20 remaining.

But opting for the Rodri-Fernandinho axis does give City and Guardiola an alternative tactical DNA, one which could have implications for next season.

Planning for the future

Selecting Rodri and Fernandinho alongside each other should, hypothetically, offer both centre-backs extra protection, while simultaneously reducing the defensive duties of other players across the pitch.

It could allow both full-backs to advance even more frequently than they currently do, with the added peace of mind that there’s an extra body behind them. Meanwhile, City’s attackers will also be aware there’s a more solid base behind them, from which they can launch attacks.

It didn’t quite pan out that way on Saturday, with Watford getting in behind the City rearguard on at least three occasions, but that was as much due to a sense that the hosts were in cruise control, not particularly concerned at any point the game could slip out of their control.

Then there’s also Fernandinho’s capabilities, and at 36, the Brazilian struggles to tear around the pitch like in previous years.

That will, however, not be the case next season, with City’s captain confirming last month he’s set to leave the Etihad this summer.

It means the club urgently need to find a replacement for Fernandinho, not just to bolster a squad that is looking increasingly scarce in the final weeks of the campaign, but in order to have another naturally defensive option in midfield.

A failure to replace City’s No.25 in the summer, a situation that seems highly unlikely, would place an added burden on Rodri to feature even more regularly than he currently does, while preventing the team from playing in a similar manner to Saturday’s win over Watford.

It may have been a run-of-the-mill win for the reigning champions over a side looking increasingly doomed to an immediate return to the Championship, but it demonstrated an alternative tactical strategy for Guardiola, and highlighted a major transfer priority this summer.