Rodri and Gundogan lit the fire for City’s 4–2–2–2 in possession

Watching the Manchester City-Liverpool game, the majority of comments were about how big the spaces City had. The brain automatically shifts to the conclusion that with Liverpool sealing the title they were “not focused”.

Digging into the Liverpool players’ intentions is far from a tangible reason to assess the situation. Even Juergen Klopp totally removed any hint of inaction from his team. “I saw brilliant attitude, I saw boys who were fighting with all their effort we did not behave like somebody who became champions a week ago.” he said after the game.

The important clue was however in the following sentence Klopp said. “That was all good, we lacked fluidity that’s for sure and in some 50–50 situations, they were quicker than us in mind. That’s what they used and then the pitch becomes big immediately.”

A bigger pitch is what we saw watching the game, but how did City manage to make the pitch bigger and create big acres of space ?

On paper the Manchester City line-up read a 4–2–3–1 but the positioning of the players merely represented that shape throughout the match. Out of possession City defended in a 4–4–2 block, but in possession it was more of a 4–2–2–2 with Raheem Sterling moving inside next to Gabriel Jesus as Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden occupied the channels.

De Bruyne and Foden were in prime position behind behind Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum, but positioning alone isn’t the solution. You would need to bypass the Liverpool press and reach De Bruyne and Foden in those positions before the defence can collapse.

Here comes the role of City’s double pivot in attracting pressure from Liverpool’s midfield in conjunction with the movement of De Bruyne and Foden to the aforementioned positions in the channels. Rodri’s presence here attracts Henderson who is anticipating a pass into Rodri.

De Bruyne was in the correct position to receive and he’s not faced by Trent Alexander-Arnold who is at that moment was more concerned with Sterling’s movement inside the pitch. A type of movement to complete the puzzle and allow De Bruyne more space.

Rodri Hernandez and Ilkay Gundogan were acting as a glowing bulb trying to lure Liverpool to press them while Foden and De Bruyne positioned correctly to present the passing option. Benjamin Mendy’s presence forces Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to go wide and press him. The domino effect is that Henderson has to move out as well to press Gundogan who the ball was passed to. Therefore Wijnaldum has to shift inside to keep an eye on Rodri, leaving a huge gap behind him.

While Gundogan is circulating the ball to Rodri, Foden drops away from Robertson and Wijnaldum is far due to City’s presence of a double pivot and their circulation. Rodri now has the passing angle to find Foden who is totally unmarked. That’s what gives the feeling of big spaces in midfield. Eventually, Foden progressed and his shot was saved by Alisson Becker, but the essence is that City managed to create spaces for themselves to attack by attracting the pressure using their double pivot.

Another example shows Foden and De Bruyne behind Liverpool’s midfield. De Bruyne’s positioning is more of a 10 here, but he slowly moves to the right channel. Again, it’s Rodri and Gundogan attracting pressure from Liverpool’s midfield to allow De Bruyne and Foden to be free. Now all is in place, how do Rodri and Gundogan reach them ?

As Gundogan receives the ball Liverpool are in prime position to press him from all areas. Meanwhile, in the background Foden and De Bruyne are in position to receive the ball. Gundogan feints a pass backwards, and steps over the ball changing his body orientation to the other side of the pitch.

By doing this he takes out Sadio Mane and Oxlade-Chamberlain by a single move. More importantly he now has two options in De Bruyne and Foden who are far away from both Liverpool’s midfielders and defenders due to their smart positioning in the channels.

It wasn’t only De Bruyne and Foden though. Jesus and Sterling also cleverly moved in the positions behind Henderson and Wijnaldum. The imminent question is how to move Henderson and Wijnaldum, then reach the City players in those positions. Here, Rodri’s presence attracts Henderson further forward as the Liverpool captain wants to kick-start the press in case the ball was played into Rodri.

Gundogan isn’t searching for Rodri though, the latter is just a decoy to reach the greater solution of finding the other City players in the channels behind Henderson and Wijnaldum.

The scene is set again with Gundogan and Rodri. Ederson plays the ball into Gundogan and Henderson immediately pushes to press, but Gundogan moves the hot potato to Rodri.

Perhaps these are the 50–50 Klopp spoke about, but the importance here is where Sterling will be once Rodri plays the ball forward.

Dropping behind Wijnaldum to collect in the channel.

Now it’s the prestige. To quote the novelist Christopher Priest “Because making something disappear isn’t enough; you have to bring it back. That’s why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call The Prestige.” Moving Henderson forward and with Arnold going inside to double up with Joe Gomez against Jesus, De Bruyne is completely free. City brought De Bruyne back into play but now he’s free.

City’s control of the build up and creation of big spaces for their front four to attack created momentum for them going forward, putting the Liverpool players in uncomfortable situations that meant that in a space of 10 minutes it was 2–0. The third goal however reflects how the double pivot complemented the 4–2–2–2 in possession. First, Rodri collects a loose ball after Fabinho intercepted the ball. Gudogan is there to support as well.

Gundogan’s support allows Rodri to push forward attracting pressure from Wijnaldum. Foden as usual moving away from Robertson to take a place behind Wijnaldum.

Foden resets the move and plays it back to Gundogan whose presence acts as a safe net for the midfield passing. Wijnaldum then moves out again to press Gundogan leaving Foden free as Henderson is busy with Rodri and Andy Robertson is just starting his run. Gundogan plays the ball into Foden, then a quick combination between Foden and De Bruyne brings the third goal and technically ends the game. It’s important to note as well how Gundogan and Rodri’s presence in the passing sequence relieved De Bruyne of these duties and allowed him to make the final pass. The 17th assist in this Premier League season for the Belgian.

The 4–2–2–2 in possession allowed De Bruyne and Foden to receive in larger areas in midfield as the Liverpool players were concerned with retrieving the ball while limiting Sterling and Jesus’ runs.

Being in the correct position is only one half of the equation though, you need the ball to reach you and that was how Gundogan and Rodri ignited the fire.