Four hot spots in the great war between Tottenham and Man City 3
Pressure from Tottenham
In the 4-2 win over Tottenham on January 20, coach Pep Guardiola heavily criticized Man City’s first half performance, conceding two goals at the end of the half.
In this match, Man City `lures` the Tottenham strikers into running into the penalty area to compete with goalkeeper Ederson and then open the ball for the players in the free area.
Ederson opened the ball up after Man City’s defense `lured` the Tottenham striker into the penalty area.
Having many players in the midfield is Guardiola’s preferred style and one of Man City’s hallmarks this season.
The away team’s pressure worked and helped them advance.
Tottenham in a pressing situation led to the opening goal against Man City on January 20.
When playing against Arsenal in the fourth round of the FA Cup on the evening of January 27, Man City succeeded with a simpler playing style – using long passes from the home field to help Erling Haaland win against Rob Holding in duels.
However, Man City can look to link up with the wingers more often and then turn on the midfielders to deal with Tottenham’s pressing ability.
Gundogan’s role
Ilkay Gundogan is one of Man City’s best positional players, demonstrated by his ability to move and often appear in free areas.
Gundogan in an effective situation of exploiting space in the 4-2 win over Tottenham on January 20.
In situations from home field, Man City players always try to bring the ball to Gundogan’s position, while conductor Kevin de Bruyne is on the reserve.
However, if Gundogan does not choose a good position or is marked, Man City will use a backup plan – pulling Lewis into the midfield to have an extra player to receive the ball between the lines.
Confrontation Kane – Rodri
British newspaper Sunsport identified this duel as one of the key and most notable battles in London today.
In the most recent match, to help Man City’s central defenders not change their positions, the person responsible for accompanying Kane many times was Rodri.
Bentancur moved to support Kane, forcing Rodri to abandon his position.
The fact that Kane has time and space to handle the ball is always a source of advantage for Tottenham.
Tottenham’s implementation plan
In the match on January 20, in addition to counterattacks, Tottenham also sought to `lure` the opponent into pressing high and then making direct passes to the attacking players.
However, Man City pressed synchronously.
Man City’s attacking links were tightly surrounded from the 16m50 area, forcing the Tottenham defender to pass the ball quickly and inaccurately.
At that time, Tottenham had to rely on the brilliance of individuals.
The full-back duo Lewis and Ake always press very hard.
