UEFA Super Cup Final – Manchester City *1-1 Sevilla – Match Analysis

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Manchester City might have won the UEFA Super Cup, but it was not the most convincing of victories from the Citizens. The match against Sevilla served as one of the first examples I’ve seen of Guardiola going against his typical brilliance in adapting to the moment and his players available, and sticking to a system instead. Here’s an analysis of why Manchester City set up in a way that was less than optimal against Sevilla.

STICKING TO THE SYSTEM

Manchester City made their claim to fame last season via the use of John Stones inverting into central areas, whether he played as a right-back or centre-back. The centre-back inversions came as the most intriguing, as it was the first time Guardiola pushed a centre-back into midfield rather than one (or both) of his fullbacks.

On the opening day of the season, Guardiola fantastically adapted his build-up to best Burnley’s tight defensive structures. He operated with Ederson high up the pitch, accompanied by both Mateo Kovačić and Bernardo Silva deep alongside Rodri. This worked like a charm in carving the Clarets open, even despite their tight man-marking.

Fast forward to the UEFA Super Cup, and Guardiola abandoned the positional rotation that served them so well against Burnley, in favour of the system that served them so well last season. But without John Stones, the natural inclination would have been to put Kyle Walker into midfield. He’s great under pressure, an exceptional forward passer, and a decent orchestrator of attacks. However, you want him to be involved in defensive transitions in the most optimal position, which means you want him as part of that back-three build.

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Manuel Akanji offers similar advantages in transition, and you’re not losing that much by having him start on the right of that back-three instead. But there’s no denying Walker’s brilliance in recovering position and shutting down space.

So with that, Guardiola stuck Akanji into the midfield alongside Rodri, in possession. The 3-2-4-1 continued in the same vein as last season, with Akanji now faced with having to play with his back to goal rather than the field in front of himself.

This move didn’t quite work. You won’t have to scroll far on this site to find that I’ve been a massive fan of Manuel Akanji since his Dortmund days. His rise from a somewhat error-prone defender that crumbled under pressure to one of the most commanding figures in the Bundesliga happened fairly quickly, and City’s bargain buy of the Swiss has turned out to be an incredible signing.

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But Manuel Akanji is not the most cool under pressure at City. In fact, of the players in City’s back-four on the night, he’s the least cool.

WHY AKANJI’S NOT THE RIGHT FIT FOR THE ROLE

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Manuel Akanji is a wonderful ball-playing centre-back, but he prefers to have time to get his head up, see his options, and carry the ball forward with his commanding physicality when possible.

But under the shackles of two or three Sevilla players breathing down his neck every time he receives the ball, he’s less likely to optimize his decision. This is what we saw throughout the match against Sevilla, as José Luis Mendilibar’s team set traps around Akanji and gave him little time to scan the field and see his options.

In stark contrast to either Kyle Walker or Mateo Kovačić, this is where Akanji is not as strong.

This is why I think it’s one of the first examples I’ve seen of Guardiola sticking to a rigid system rather than adapting to the players available. He could have easily played Kovačić in the old Bernardo Silva role, with Akanji staying in a familiar position. That would have massively helped City’s ability to cope in transition, where they desperately missed Akanji’s presence at the back.

Mateo Kovačić is an excellent dribbler and supremely calm under pressure, which would have allowed City more opportunity to drive the ball forward from midfield. It’s unlikely that Sevilla would have set traps around the Croatian, knowing the ease at which he evades pressure.

But again, the main problem also lied in what it allowed Sevilla in transition. Without Akanji at the back, gaps were consistently exposed through the centre of their defense. Akanji and Rodri sometimes pushed up together, leaving just Aké and Walker back.

At a bare minimum, one of them needed to stay and maintain at least a 2+1 rest defense. Gvardiol for that matter should have been hanging lower and lessening the spaces for Aké to cover – producing a 3+1. At minimum, this is what you need to excel in defensive transitions and swiftly win the ball back. But City were constantly hit by their lack of numbers at the back.

Each time, Sevilla were able to work the ball into an area that Akanji would have been able to cover had he just started his defensive stance as a centre-back. You can see just how much of a difference this made on the few times he held a more natural central-defensive position. On those cases, Sevilla had no room to progress.

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But in other moments, they needed Kyle Walker to bail them out and keep Sevilla at bay. So for Manchester City’s purposes, Manuel Akanji is clearly best when having more time to get his head up and carry the ball out from the back. He’s not a central midfielder, and City should have switched their team tactics around to have Mateo Kovačić deeper on the field, where he’s also most comfortable.

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As the next few matches approach, it will be interesting to see how City adapt. But they will be hoping their lucky stars that John Stones is back soon, and can lessen the need for others to play out of position.

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