Another Year, Another Exit

Background

Manchester City lost to Lyon in the quarter finals of the UCL one off quarter final by three goals to one, a game they were expected to win. In this article, we will go through some observations of the game and the bigger picture ongoing for City.

Article

Another year, another early exit for Manchester City. Their defeat to a team that finished seventh in their league will feel especially sore. They were supposed to go through to play in the much anticipated semi final against Bayern Munich. And yet, they were out. So want went wrong and what next?

Stop changing tactics in big UCL games

Guardiola started the game with three at the back and playing long balls down the wings. When did we see that before? Surely this city team has enough quality, especially against this Lyon team, to just be themselves. City can really overwhelm a team when they are in rhythm and that only comes when they play a system that they are used to. The change in formation clearly did not work with only three shots on goal in the first half and it was when they reverted back to a standard back four that they found their groove. Had the referee spotted the foul or Sterling scored that second goal to level it up, we may not be questioning the tactics. Reality is though that they are out and the first half formation can be questioned. We have also been here before in european games with Guardiola and all this last minute tinkering does not help.

Sterling and City need to be more clinical

City without Aguero are not clinical enough. There was a survey on BT Sport about City’s best player with Kompany, Aguero, Silva and Toure as the options. A really difficult question. After today’s game, it does come to light that even with all the intricate pretty football they play, without Aguero, they may not have won as many titles as they have done. Sterling had two opportunities in the first half before the first Lyon goal and an open goal to make it 2-2. At this stage of the competition, they need to start taking these chances if they are ever to win this competition. Else, it will be same hard luck story to be retold year in year out.

Lack of game changing substitutions

City were not creating chances and had the likes of Bernado Silva, David Silva and Phil Foden on the bench. Mahrez came on early in the second half and this helped. After that, David Silva for the last ten minutes if that. The owners should be asking what the point is of building such a big squad if you cannot use them in these crucial games. Lyon were tiring and maybe introducing the creative trio after seventy minutes would have swung the game their way. City are not a team that can be relied on to keep clean sheets so surely attacking the game to get it won with the fresh legs would have given them more hope to stop them conceding goals. Brave teams win this competition and that includes decisions around making substitutes.

All great sides are built on strong defences

Without sounding really boring, you need to stop conceding silly goals to win this tournament. A strong defence is a must which is where the spine comes in. Fernandinho was on a yellow card and with the Lyon team desperate to get him sent off, it was probably prudent to take him off. However, so far Rodri has not shown himself to be the successor to Fernandinho and the youthfulness of Garcia does not help. At some stage, City will need to get the chequebook out and bring in a world class centre half to help Laporte and likewise, a proper defensive midfielder. Otherwise, teams will let them have the ball for most of the game knowing that the chances will come at some stage through which they can score the goals needed. Upamecano fron Leipzig and Koulibaly are two obvious candidates who had they been in the Manchester City shirts tonight, they would be looking forward to an epic semi final against Bayern.

Really not good enough

For a team that has spent more than one billion pounds on players, one semi final in this competition is simply not good enough. Under Guardiola, they have never reached a semi final. Sure, they don’t have a history in this competition but that is what they should be creating. They have previously lost to Monaco, Liverpool and Tottenham, all clubs with considerable less spending power than them. Also worth noting, none of the teams they lost to went on to win it. It would take a brave man to forecast anything less than a defeat to Bayern Munich for Lyon as well. Questions need to be asked about why this is the case and whether they need to refocus their energies on this competition more. Sure, it is nice to dominate your domestic cups but the history of football remembers the european triumphs more. To enter into that greatness bracket, they need to somehow win this competition, easier said than done, but a necessity to become that global brand.