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Man City kept losing the same way – how will Pep Guardiola solve the counterattacking problem?

New York Times

an hour ago

New York Times

Man City kept losing the same way – how will Pep Guardiola solve the counterattacking problem?

After Manchester City's extra-time defeat to Al Hilal in the round of 16 at the Club World Cup, Bernardo Silva provided a damning diagnosis of his team's failings. The reason they conceded four goals and lost all control of the game from half-time onwards was nothing new, the Portugal midfielder explained. Advertisement Instead, it was a case of deja vu in which he sensed permanent danger whenever the opposition won the ball and attempted to counterattack. 'We allowed them to run way too many times, we didn't control the offensive transitions as well as we should have,' said Silva. 'Most teams that beat us play this way. We are very used to playing teams like this. We've played against teams like this for eight or nine years and they are normally situations we recover very well by being aggressive in the first five or six seconds when we recover the ball quick. 'This time, they always managed with one or two passes to create danger in behind and cause problems. That was the main problem.' A premature exit from the competition was a disappointment but City had the caveat of embedding in a new backroom staff and four new outfield signings. However, when the club's messaging had been about treating the time in the U.S. as a line in the sand to psychologically disconnecting from the troubles of last season, for the captain to experience that same vulnerability is a concern. City's players will return to training on Monday and have just over a fortnight to prepare for the Premier League season. It is clear what the No 1 priority must be for Pep Guardiola as he looks to re-establish City as the dominant force in English football. There were mitigating factors for City's drop-off last season — the absence of Rodri from September being the main one — but there was a fundamental issue in the structure of the team. On average, between 2018 and 2024, City conceded 2.9 expected goals (xG) from fast break situations across a season. Last year that number leapt to 8.1. Often a slight dip in performance can look concerning held up next to City's lofty peaks across Guardiola's tenure, only to then still rank among the best in the league. This is not the case with counterattacks. Only Leicester City, who finished 18th and conceded 80 goals, conceded more xG via fast breaks in the Premier League last season with their 8.2. There are overarching themes contributing to City's struggles to contain opposition counterattacks: the No 6 being isolated, no pressure on the outlet pass, a defensive line that does not drop or push up in unison, passive one-v-one defending and a lack of tactical fouling. The wins over Wydad and Al Ain were comfortable but both caused issues for City in the U.S. The warning signs were there but the level of City's 4-1 win over Juventus in the final group stage game looked like things may have clicked as they smothered the Italians in the second half with the intensity of their counter-pressing. Advertisement 'I only ask Erling (Haaland) to make the first action,' said Guardiola. 'No intensity beyond. He has to be a machine in the press but we have to support him. Sometimes he goes and we don't go but today we went there, no matter what.' Familiar flaws came creeping back into their defensive work against Al Hilal and they were punished. In the first clip below, City lose the ball around the edge of the opposition penalty area but get pressure on the ball quickly out wide. After the ball goes back, they do not set their shape. While three forward players press, those behind them are static and it leaves Tijjani Reijnders alone against three players in the middle. Al Hilal are able to play around him and spread the ball wide, gaining an overload and almost scoring from the cross. It was Guardiola who said that the 'touchline is the best defender in the world'. By that, he meant forcing the opposition into the wide areas rather than allowing them to play through the centre. There have been gaping holes in the middle of the midfield since Rodri's anterior cruciate ligament injury — and they remained even when he was present against Al Hilal. Once City lost the ball in the final third below, he was drawn to the ball along with Manuel Akanji, which left three blue shirts in between the City back four and centre-backs. It was not helped by Ruben Dias dropping off when Nathan Ake was pointing for him to step in and squeeze the space, but Al Hilal were able to work the ball wide and curl a shot just wide. Against Bournemouth late in the season, a cutback from Silva ran through to Lewis Cook. It seemed harmless but once again the lack of intensity and awareness, particularly of Mateo Kovacic, who has a lot of responsibility in protecting the back line, allowed Bournemouth to play through the centre and end up with a five-v-five. It was similar to what happened against Club Brugge in the Champions League when Kovacic darted forward with a dribble. As the lone holding midfielder, it is high-risk and when the ball was turned over, all three midfielders were the wrong side of the ball. Mateus Nunes had the job of slowing the break down but he showed his lack of experience as a full-back by diving in and the Belgians scored from the cross. The arrival of Reijnders will add dynamism to the midfield, which was lacking at times last season with Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Silva all the wrong side of 30. Guardiola batted back against the suggestion that his team were being overrun by younger teams. 'The guys are running and making effort more than ever… It's many little details or big details that make (us), all together, not as good as we were,' he said in December. Advertisement But there were times, as against Brighton & Hove Albion below, where City did lack legs in the middle. In slide four here, Joao Pedro runs off Nico Gonzalez, while in slide six Gundogan is level with his man but is not able to track him the whole way back to his area. Chelsea decided that they would try to bait City into giving the ball away high up by kettling Akanji into the centre circle. Noni Madueke blocked the pass out wide and Moises Caicedo jumped from midfield to force the ball into a crowded area. Trevor Chalobah was ready to pounce and, with Akanji out of his position, Cole Palmer was immediately played through on goal. Only Chelsea' convoluted attempts at pass the parcel blew the chance. The number of offsides City successfully trapped was considerably lower last season, despite a much higher line than in previous years. The average distance from goal when provoking an offside was 35 metres last season, which is seven metres further from Ederson than it was in 2020-21. Against Wolverhampton Wanderers, there was an example of City refusing to drop off when they should have. After not boxing Wolves in and being cut open through the centre, Josko Gvardiol, Dias and John Stones made the strange decisions to halt their recovery runs or arc them to play offside, despite Nelson Semedo being several yards behind Stones. City used to stop these situations from unfolding by being smart and tactically fouling. Rodri carried on the baton from Fernandinho, subtly disrupting play high enough up the pitch that it did not earn him a yellow card. Last season, this rarely happened. In the 4-0 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, in the lead up to the third goal, there were four times within five seconds that a City player could have brought down Dejan Kulusevki but he and Son were somehow able to evade challenges from Phil Foden, Gundogan, Kyle Walker and Akanji. There were similar other instances, including at home to Everton and away to Sporting CP. Whether it was a case of the ruthless edge going out of the team during the toughest few months or not, the win-at-all-costs mentality has to return.

Atletico cash in on Real Madrid's Bernabeu concert woes

Yahoo

an hour ago

Yahoo

Atletico cash in on Real Madrid's Bernabeu concert woes

Mired in legal setbacks, Real Madrid are losing the lucrative star-studded concerts for which their costly Bernabeu stadium revamp was designed -- and cross-town rivals Atletico are cashing in. The megaproject involved three loans totalling more than one billion euros ($1.174 billion) with the goal of transforming the historic ground into a year-round entertainment hub. But the Spanish giants had not reckoned with the determination of angry locals, whose complaints about excessive noise succeeded in stopping the concerts in 2024. With the complaints bogged down in the courts, Atletico Madrid's Metropolitano stadium snapped up the shows of three Spanish stars who were due to perform at the Bernabeu this summer. A bigger coup followed: the announcement of the hosting of 10 gigs next year by reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny, a multiple Grammy Awards winner who sold a Spanish record 600,000 tickets for 12 dates in Madrid and Barcelona. The Puerto Rican's arrival appears to contradict the belief of Madrid's Atletico-supporting mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, who insisted only the Bernabeu could attract the most prestigious performers like US icon Taylor Swift. For Placido Rodriguez Guerrero, emeritus professor at the University of Oviedo's economics department, "the reputational damage has been big" for Real. "It is a way of showing that not everything Real Madrid do is done well, and more so if the concerts go to the Metropolitano", he told AFP. Lola Indigo, one of the singers whose cancelled Bernabeu show went to the Metropolitano, told El Mundo daily she felt "disappointment, a little betrayed". - 'Major blow' - Club president Florentino Perez has reassured supporters that concerts only represent one percent of Real's budget, with revenues topping 1.1 billion euros in the 2024/25 season. But David Dunn, managing director of the Edinburgh-based consultancy 442 Design, which has worked on commercial projects with clubs including Arsenal and AC Milan, described the situation as "a major blow" for Real. Although the matchday, tour and retail business revenue is "excellent", the club "will have banked on being able to hold multiple large-scale events and concerts", he told AFP. Business Insider Spain has reported Real's plan was to generate around 100 million euros per year from musical events -- enough to sign a couple of stars. Professor Rodriguez Guerrero said Real were losing "tens of millions of euros" this summer to their less storied local rivals, who have previously hosted stars including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones and Bruno Mars. If Real wish to pursue their concert ambitions, the investment "will cost quite a lot", he said. - Solution 'not simple' - For Francesc Daumal, an architecture expert at Barcelona's Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the Bernabeu's main weakness is its new retractable roof and the acoustic issues it engenders. The stadium "is like a tent, because it's shut with a light closure. There are openings, exterior sheets that let air in", he explained. "Solving the insulation for those deep frequencies and with those very high acoustic pressures isn't simple," warned Daumal. Atletico's stadium "was born from the start with the intention of soundproofing it", whereas adapting the older Bernabeu is more difficult, he added. Daumal also identified the Bernabeu's proximity to residential buildings as a challenge to contain noise, compared with the esplanade that separates the Metropolitano from its closest neighbours. Atletico are meanwhile cashing in on a packed summer concert schedule with the Bernabeu out of action. Fans flocked to the Metropolitano in May for two sold-out nights by British star Ed Sheeran, with 140,000 tickets going at an average price of 100 euros ($115). Sara, who attended last year's Taylor Swift concert at the Bernabeu, told AFP the Metropolitano was "better as a place... it's a club with more ties to music". "Acoustically, the Bernabeu is the worst place we've seen," added the 34-year-old communications sector employee, who declined to give her surname. Ariel Jackson, a 30-year-old lawyer from the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago, said the Metropolitano had "extra space" and was "more comfortable" than the Bernabeu thanks to its distance from the crowded city centre. "We love to say concerts are held" at the Metropolitano amid the Bernabeu's troubles, enthused Atletico fan David Guerrero, 27, sporting a club shirt with Sheeran's name on the back. imm/ds/CHZ/nf

Yahoo

2 hours ago

Yahoo

Atletico cash in on Real Madrid's Bernabeu concert woes

Mired in legal setbacks, Real Madrid are losing the lucrative star-studded concerts for which their costly Bernabeu stadium revamp was designed -- and cross-town rivals Atletico are cashing in. The megaproject involved three loans totalling more than one billion euros ($1.174 billion) with the goal of transforming the historic ground into a year-round entertainment hub. But the Spanish giants had not reckoned with the determination of angry locals, whose complaints about excessive noise succeeded in stopping the concerts in 2024. With the complaints bogged down in the courts, Atletico Madrid's Metropolitano stadium snapped up the shows of three Spanish stars who were due to perform at the Bernabeu this summer. A bigger coup followed: the announcement of the hosting of 10 gigs next year by reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny, a multiple Grammy Awards winner who sold a Spanish record 600,000 tickets for 12 dates in Madrid and Barcelona. The Puerto Rican's arrival appears to contradict the belief of Madrid's Atletico-supporting mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, who insisted only the Bernabeu could attract the most prestigious performers like US icon Taylor Swift. For Placido Rodriguez Guerrero, emeritus professor at the University of Oviedo's economics department, "the reputational damage has been big" for Real. "It is a way of showing that not everything Real Madrid do is done well, and more so if the concerts go to the Metropolitano", he told AFP. Lola Indigo, one of the singers whose cancelled Bernabeu show went to the Metropolitano, told El Mundo daily she felt "disappointment, a little betrayed". - 'Major blow' - Club president Florentino Perez has reassured supporters that concerts only represent one percent of Real's budget, with revenues topping 1.1 billion euros in the 2024/25 season. But David Dunn, managing director of the Edinburgh-based consultancy 442 Design, which has worked on commercial projects with clubs including Arsenal and AC Milan, described the situation as "a major blow" for Real. Although the matchday, tour and retail business revenue is "excellent", the club "will have banked on being able to hold multiple large-scale events and concerts", he told AFP. Business Insider Spain has reported Real's plan was to generate around 100 million euros per year from musical events -- enough to sign a couple of stars. Professor Rodriguez Guerrero said Real were losing "tens of millions of euros" this summer to their less storied local rivals, who have previously hosted stars including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones and Bruno Mars. If Real wish to pursue their concert ambitions, the investment "will cost quite a lot", he said. - Solution 'not simple' - For Francesc Daumal, an architecture expert at Barcelona's Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the Bernabeu's main weakness is its new retractable roof and the acoustic issues it engenders. The stadium "is like a tent, because it's shut with a light closure. There are openings, exterior sheets that let air in", he explained. "Solving the insulation for those deep frequencies and with those very high acoustic pressures isn't simple," warned Daumal. Atletico's stadium "was born from the start with the intention of soundproofing it", whereas adapting the older Bernabeu is more difficult, he added. Daumal also identified the Bernabeu's proximity to residential buildings as a challenge to contain noise, compared with the esplanade that separates the Metropolitano from its closest neighbours. Atletico are meanwhile cashing in on a packed summer concert schedule with the Bernabeu out of action. Fans flocked to the Metropolitano in May for two sold-out nights by British star Ed Sheeran, with 140,000 tickets going at an average price of 100 euros ($115). Sara, who attended last year's Taylor Swift concert at the Bernabeu, told AFP the Metropolitano was "better as a place... it's a club with more ties to music". "Acoustically, the Bernabeu is the worst place we've seen," added the 34-year-old communications sector employee, who declined to give her surname. Ariel Jackson, a 30-year-old lawyer from the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago, said the Metropolitano had "extra space" and was "more comfortable" than the Bernabeu thanks to its distance from the crowded city centre. "We love to say concerts are held" at the Metropolitano amid the Bernabeu's troubles, enthused Atletico fan David Guerrero, 27, sporting a club shirt with Sheeran's name on the back. imm/ds/CHZ/nf

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Man City kept losing the same way – how will Pep Guardiola solve the counterattacking problem?

Atletico cash in on Real Madrid's Bernabeu concert woes

Atletico cash in on Real Madrid's Bernabeu concert woes

FIFA Club World Cup: PSG vs Real Madrid – Starting Line-up, Prediction, Head-to-head and More

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Man City kept losing the same way – how will Pep Guardiola solve the counterattacking problem?

Atletico cash in on Real Madrid's Bernabeu concert woes

Atletico cash in on Real Madrid's Bernabeu concert woes

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