Preview: Wolves v Man City
By David Crook
“insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting a different result”
Albert Einstein
Pep Guardiola is faced with a conundrum in the run up to the Wolves away game quite unlike any other he has faced in his stint as manager at Manchester City. Its the kind of problem likely to occupy every waking moment and intrude upon his resting hours.
What we know of Guardiola from the Amazon Prime Series is he obsesses. He ruminates. He is so intense he holds a problem in his head until he has a solution he can share with his confidantes.
Sam Lee, respected journalist working for goal.com, has written on a number of occasions about how Guardiola’s mood at public press junkets seems linked to whether he has found a solution to the problem in his head, intrinsically has he assured himself of a way he can beat the opposition in the next game? Right now Manchester City sit on the crest of a wave created by Guardiola.
They have carried over the form from the 2017/18 Centurions season into the new campaign, with some further tactical tweaks demonstrated so far as his squad and training methods have matured and become more experienced with the demands placed upon them by their perfectionist manager.
Guardiola will know the Wolves team managed by Nuno Espirito Santo will have developed from the side he faced last October, when Manchester City claimed a 0:0 draw despite 73% possession and amassing 1123 passes.
On that day in the Carabao Cup City fielded a second string defence but despite the presence of Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Yaya Toure, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero it was the heroics of Claudio Bravo which secured victory. Bravo saved a succession of Wolves penalties to earn his team passage to the next round and a spot on their way to eventually winning the trophy.
It will be obvious to all who have studied Wolves in the performance analyst departments that they have built on the resilience they were able to demonstrate last year. They have added some real quality to their side and seem well placed for the battle to secure their place in the Premier League for another season.
A strong display against Everton and a surprising result against Leicester may have served to reinforce the idea Wolves are better placed to do well against attacking open sides, rather than battling through packed midfield defences.
So the conundrum for Guardiola is does he deploy a side capable of breaking down a packed defence of strong resilient lines or does he “unleash the Ferrari’s”. Whilst there are risks for both approaches, Guardiola will have ruminated over the options. Does he start with a flat back 4 or a back 3 and a flying asymmetrical full back in Mendy.
Does he deploy two wing backs in Walker and Mendy? Does he attempt to further build upon the attacking interplay between Aguero and Jesus by playing two strikers again? Does he play with two Silva’s?
The Guardiola at the press conference today was not the relaxed and the happy Guardiola seen in recent weeks. This was troubled Guardiola. Riddled with angst and is I would suggest unsure how to guarantee a result tomorrow.
Manchester City should be too strong to lose against Wolves but we have all seen how strange refereeing decisions or a sending off can change the game. Wolves are more than capable of scoring against our side and hopefully we will work to restrict Ruben Neves from having shots on the edge of the penalty area.
Neves is a player who has been linked with City – in part because of his comments when interviewed by Gary Neville in the Sky Premier League opening show. Neves may well be playing the game like an audition and his agent, Jorge Mendes will know we tend to buy players who play well against us.
Notwithstanding the completely unexpected involvement of a referee in the outcome – despite the comments by the FA Premier League Boss Richard Scudamore that he hopes City do not run away with the title again. I think it likely Guardiola will rotate his pack and start with a different system to last week. Gundogan will have played consistently for a few matches and I think he will be sacrificed for more minutes for David Silva. We all know Guardiola will have drilled his side to set up differently in attacking and defending phases of the game. But I expect Guardiola to line his team up in a notional 4-3-3.
GK Ederson
Def Walker Stones Laporte Mendy
Mid B.Silva Fernandinho D.Silva
Att Sterling Aguero Sane
With such an approach we may see Walker and Mendy operating as wing backs and Fernandinho dropping into a back three. Our central midfielders – the two Silva’s – will snuff out the ball from Wolves at every opportunity and seek to unleash the attacking pace of Sane and Sterling. The front three should create enough space during the game to cause significant problems for the Wolves defence.
An early goal for Manchester City and a card for one of the more defensive minded Wolves midfielders could lead to another rampant City display.
Like most fans, wondering how Guardiola attempts to unlock the opposition means that predicting the first 11 is almost impossible. But what a joy it is to watch. Bring it on.