Manchester City kicks off their pre-season tour of the United States by playing Manchester United on July 20th. They will then play 2 more matches in the U.S. after that against Real Madrid on July 26th and Tottenham Hotspur on July 29th. This tour will kick start the second season of the Pep Guardiola era and a crucial season where City must be competing for the title and Champions League. While the preseason isn’t the most intense competition there are still conclusions that can be drawn from watching these matches.
The Fullbacks
The fullback position is the first thing I want to look at during the preseason. During his time at Bayern Munich Pep liked his fullbacks to tuck into the midfield to give superiority in that area. During last season Pep did the same but he had much less skilled fullbacks at City than he did at Bayern. Now Pep has Kyle Walker and is hoping to sign a left back soon (come here Mendy). Without a left back it will be difficult to gage what Pep wants in his fullbacks this year, but Pep is constantly evolving his tactics. At Barcelona, he would send Dani Alves flying down the flank and use Abidal in a center-back position. At Bayern, he evolved and used the Alaba and Lahm in the midfield. At Manchester City, he could change it up again because the profile of fullbacks he is looking at are guys who like to go up and down the flanks and not play in the midfield. I am curious to see how he utilises Walker and whatever left back City signs and whether he will try to teach them to become the profile of fullbacks he had at Bayern or whether he will evolve his tactics and let them bomb down the touchline.
The Wingers
The wingers and the wing rotation will be fascinating to me. For me, how the wingers play will be dictated by the fullbacks. If Pep wants to tuck the fullbacks in the midfield he will play the wingers on their strong side and continue with how they were utilised last year, they will hug the touchline beat the fullback and try to send in a low cross for a goal. If the fullbacks will be going up and down the flanks, I expect Pep to use inverted wingers, where a right footed player plays on the left side so he can cut in and create chances and vice-versa, to allow the fullbacks more space when they attack. I am also curious as to how the rotation plays out. I want to who plays together, for example, I would love to see a lot of Sterling, Sane, and Jesus to see if those three can continue their chemistry from last year. I expect Pep to use this preseason to see how different front threes work with each other and use this to determine which players can and can not play with each other.
The Youngsters.
This is personally my favourite part of the preseason. I love watching young players play and see what the future holds. I expect to see Phil Foden and Brahim Diaz to get some first team minutes to test whether they are ready. Sadly it appears Jadon Sancho won’t be in the preseason and I was devastated because he is one of the gems of the City Academy. Patrick Roberts will be on the preseason tour and he is someone who has a real opportunity to impress Pep and be given a shot and being a rotation player for City. As it stands City currently have 4 players for 3 positions up front which means they need to find depth and Roberts could play himself into being a viable option to rotate with the wingers.
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