Overthinking Guardiola has outlandish plans for Manchester derby
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola hinted that he may go with a left-field team selection for the Manchester derby on Saturday after admitting that some “ridiculous” thoughts about his starting XI had occupied his mind in the past few days.
After Wednesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against Southampton, City face Manchester United in what will be their third game in seven days. Guardiola has occasionally sprung a surprise with his starting line-up in big games and that may be the case this weekend depending on the research that he does on the opposition in the build-up to the match at Old Trafford.
“I would like to arrive against United with all the players having a similar amount of minutes in their legs, because I have a few ideas and thoughts . . . ridiculous ones for the match against United, but I still haven’t watched their past few games,” Guardiola, the City manager, said.
“I have to see the way they play at home and if they changed something [under Erik ten Hag]. I still have to review it. That is why I don’t have a clear line-up against United.”
Guardiola, regarded as one of the most accomplished tacticians in football, has made alterations to his side in big games with mixed results during his 6½-year spell in charge of City.
In January 2020, Guardiola oversaw a 3-1 win against United at Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup after deploying Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva as two false nines in a 4-4-2 formation.
The following month, he used the same system in the 2-1 win away to Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Guardiola has occasionally switched to a 3-3-3-1 formation, too, mostly with success. Not all of his tactical rejigs have worked, though. City lost the Champions League quarter-final to Lyon in August 2020 after switching to a three-man defence.
In the Champions League final the following year, Guardiola played without a recognised holding midfielder and lost to Chelsea. Guardiola said he noticed that a lot of his players were tired last week after their 1-0 win over Chelsea in the Premier League, which is why he made seven changes for the 4-0 FA Cup victory against the same opponents three days later.
He must decide whether to recall Erling Haaland and De Bruyne , or leave them on the bench so that they are fresh for the derby. Meanwhile, Nathan Jones, the Southampton manager, knows that a defeat by City could mean the fans turning on him once more. He is coming under pressure only weeks after replacing Ralph Hasenhüttl. Even in victory in the FA Cup at Crystal Palace on Saturday, Jones was subjected to taunts from the away end over his style of play and in-game management.
“You have to have a thick skin to be a manager, never mind a Premier League manager and a manager under pressure,” he said. “This is the toughest challenge I have faced: one, because it is the next one, and two, because it is the Premier League.”
