Gameweek 7: The Post-Mortem. MCI v SUN

Man City 3 Sunderland 0, Everton 2 Wigan 2

Summary:

In this game, we explore a simple facet about Man City's tactics, as well as a side of City that had been developed over the years. Balotelli's substitution was logical and effective, but we will focus more on how their fullbacks stole the show.

Man City 3 Sunderland 0

Lineups:

With Vincent Kompany injured, City's back four welcomed Micah Richards back to his center-back position, but surprisingly (actually brilliantly, will explain later) started Kolarov ahead of Gael Clichy. . Ahead of them, Milner, Barry and Toure make up the central midfield, with Silva taking up the right flank and Balotelli starts alongside Tevez up front. James Milner's role in this game will be interesting, as this City lineup does not have a out-and-out defensive midfielder. We will also closely examine Tevez's and Balotelli's partnership.

Sunderland, meanwhile, start Adam Johnson on the right flank which shifts Larsson to the center of midfield. Carlos Cuellar comes back into the side to partner John O'Shea in central defense, and while this lineup was predictable, their central pairing of Larsson and Colback will have a lot to do as City's midfield trio have the tendency to make direct runs behind them. Adam Johnson also has an individual battle to win against City's leftback, and we will analyze his impact in his Post-Mortem.

• City's super-subs and Milner make the headlines, but their fullbacks are the real heroes

In terms of goals, we can't say much about City since two of them were free kicks. However, in terms of open play, Sunderland were basically undone by a combination of City's fullbacks' involvement and the introduction of Sergio Aguero. While the impact of the latter is relatively simple, the former's effect on City's overall gameplay have actually been more crucial towards their successes and failures this season.

When one talks about City's strengths, household names such as David Silva, Yaya Toure, and even the frontline of Balotelli and Tevez are usually mentioned, and many teams have employed various strategies to nullify these influences. An undervalued quality of Man City that commentators do mention in passing that emerged from last season are the directness of their full-backs.

To highlight the involvement of their fullbacks compared to last season, we shall examine City's best XI early last season, how they developed later, and how they operate this season.

• The evolution of Man City: From wide wingers to wide fullbacks

City's encounters against their greatest rivals, Man United, best illustrates how they evolved: The 6-1 win at Old Trafford had Silva operating centrally, drifting out left while Milner operated on the right. The 1-0 win at Eastlands had Silva operating on the right, drifting in centrally to dictate play and occasionally shoot himself.

The difference between the two games were the widths of their formations and the respective fullbacks. At Old Trafford, their fullbacks were Clichy, Kompany, Lescott and Richards. Prior to Evans' red card at Old Trafford, City's shots on goal were either in the box from Balotelli or Aguero, or outside the box from Yaya Toure, Milner or Richards.

The wide-men rarely contributed as they were pinned back by United fielding central midfielders which were energetic enough to press them high or when they pulled wide. Players such as Rooney, Fletcher, Welbeck and Anderson were given tasks to win the ball in midfield and create chances from there, and as a result City had a lot of space between defence and midfield, prompting the strikers to drop deep and that was how Balotelli got his goal.

Fast forward to the reverse fixture at Eastlands. Clichy kept his place, but Zabaleta started ahead of Richards. Silva and Nasri played as inverted wingers, and Sir Alex Ferguson attempted to wrest control  by having Rooney and Park as the runners, but with an extra barrier of Scholes and Carrick behind them, making the center midfield battle very, very congested.

This was where City's fullbacks shined. Zabaleta had two dangerous chances IN THE BOX as a result of City's narrow formation. Nasri joined Silva on the right flank to bully Evra, who was receiving very little cover and although they were profligate in their finishing, they got their goal from a corner which made the difference.

• The weaknesses of City's new strategy: Mismatches

City continued this trend going into 2012/2013, and so far while the wingers have been relatively quiet, Mancini strengthened their fullbacks and City turn to them when their inverted wingers run into a crowded central midfield.

QPR allowed their midfield space, and hence the fullbacks weren't needed, but when Fulham tucked Ruiz in centrally to stymie Silva, Zabaleta threatened constantly down the right. In Sunderland's case, Kolarov made use of Adam Johnson's indiscipline in defending, and duly created Aguero's goal. With Southampton leading in the second half, City's winner came from Clichy crossing for Nasri to finish.

So after establishing City's new gameplan, we now will explain how City have been punished for their strategy as well. In their loss to Real Madrid, City set up a 3-4-1-2. Ronaldo and Marcelo scored their goals after beating Zabaleta and Maicon, which suggests that a younger, more athletic defender such as Clichy or Richards could have mitigated their threat. Against Stoke, Maicon and Clichy had one shot on target between them, and Stoke's condensed defense kept the midfield out.

Zabaleta and Clichy had a combined 1 attempt against Arsenal because City relied on counterattacks to punish Arsenal and when they had possession, City relied on their wingers such as Sinclair to initiate attacks. Against Liverpool, City had natural width in Milner and Kolarov as wingers because City played 3 at the back.

Against Sunderland, Johnson had a couple of individual battles with Kolarov which Kolarov won, which suggests that Mancini picked the right fullback against Sunderland as Adam Johnson is more effective when he dribbles at his opponent rather than alongside him. Richards also had a field day against McClean and nearly scored from a typical foray forward himself.

• Aguero v Sunderland: The space that Balotelli never had

A note on Aguero's introduction: In City's default setup, usually one of the forwards pull wide as an outlet to receive long balls from defense. While Tevez's movement was good and he often was involved in play, his passing was poor (10 misplaced passes out of 24) and his link-ups with Milner or his fellow frontmen were often wasted. 

Balotelli operated on the left flank by default, often moving wide left to receive, attempting to beat Gardner or the retreating Larsson/Colback to attempt a shot from outside the box. Aguero's running was more vertical than Balotelli's; When he received the ball, he was often in the space between Larsson/Colback and Sunderland's backline, which Sunderland never had the chance to rectify with Martin O'Neill making offensive substitutions one after another. 

Strangely, City's second goal came from David Silva moving to the left, teaming up with Kolarov down the left to set up Aguero. I note this as strange because Silva usually operates on the right, but when Balotelli came off, Aguero didn't directly replace him, and it was Silva who was responsible for moving into Balotelli's space, which highlights Balotelli's lack of capability as a wide-playmaker as opposed to a second striker. 

Conclusion

Mancini basically got it right by fielding the right fullbacks, at least in terms of taking control of the flanks. With Zabaleta, Kolarov, Clichy, Maicon and Richards to choose from, City's chances of leaking goals will largely hinge on how Mancini chooses his fullbacks.

However, with his side dictating play, his side didn't threaten to score until Balotelli was taken off, prompting Silva to link up with Kolarov instead of Balotelli. This move will be monitored as it is the first time I have noticed Mancini resorting to a lopsided formation with a roaming playmaker, which might turn into his new plan B in the latter stages of the season.

Fantasy Implications:

In terms of Fantasy, we do have a lot to take from this game. A quick glance of City's fixtures points to West Brom, Swansea and West Ham, which suggests that City's orthodox wingers such as David Silva will be heavily involved with their fullbacks to create goals. Gael Clichy theoretically should deliver due to West Brom's lack of a right back, and I also don't rate West Ham's right back of McCartney or O'Brien very highly.

For Sunderland, I felt that it's about time their bubble burst, and I wouldn't invest in their squad for now as Newcastle, Stoke and Villa are next, all potentially tricky games and personally I am not a fan of uncertainty.