MCI Post-Match Review: Manchester City vs Watford

As expected, it was business as usual for Manchester City (with a few twists) as they dominated their way to a win against Watford FC in the third round fixture of the Carabao Cup. Pep Guardiola and the boys in blue, albeit a youthful contingent, will be happy to continue their undefeated start to the season. 

Both sides featured heavy rotations in their starting XI, as is customary in competitions of this nature, especially considering the looming fixtures only a few days away. From debuts to returns, the lineups put out by Guardiola and Watford manager Tom Cleverly certainly had it’s shocks. With a total of 18 changes to the starting lineups on both sides combined, there was plenty of room for experiments on both sides. For City, the return of PFA POTY Phil Foden to the starting lineup was a sight for sore eyes. Several other CFA graduates featured as well, with Nico O’Reilly, James McAtee, and 16-year old defender Kaden Braithwaite being given a chance to start and impress. Matheus Nunes, signed from Wolves a few summers ago, was also given a rare start. 

First Half:

With Erling Haaland being given the day off, City kicked things in a formation that some may recognize from Guardiola’s tinkering in the preseason: a 4-5-1 with a fluid rotating set of “false-9s”. Jack Grealish, who put in a stellar performance and largely controlled the match, immediately put pressure on Watford’s defenders, playing a beautiful ball into the box which took James McAtee by surprise and bounced off of his foot. City were clearly not lacking for ideas but the execution took some time to come to fruition. McAtee, determined to make up for his slight blunder earlier, led the City press, hounding Watford’s goalkeeper and forcing a turnover. Grealish was then able to find Jeremy Doku in the box, who managed to trick his defender with some nifty footwork and slide home City’s first goal of the evening. 

A couple of things stood out immediately, especially with this formation being implemented for the first time in a competitive fixture. The aforementioned fluidity of the “false-9s” was something most fans might have not expected to see. Rather than leaving it up to one player to replace Erling Haaland’s role, it was replacement by committee with Foden, Nunes, Grealish and McAtee rotating between the two positions, leading the press and dictating link-up play. Watford seemed determined to target Brantwaithe, City’s teenage defensive debutant, but the youngster stood up well to the test. 

Without a doubt, two of City’s best players on the day were CFA graduates. Nico O’Reilly demonstrated a smooth combination of poise and ability, showcasing the ability to dictate the defensive midfielder position in lower-tier games. Rico Lewis, who truly seems to have come into his own, continues to show why he’s considered the next academy breakout star. In addition to covering every single blade of grass on the pitch, the diminutive Swiss army knife of a player was in the heart of the second goal, created by a great team passing sequence and finished off with a beautifully placed bottom corner shot from Matheus Nunes, his first in a City shirt. 

While Grealish manned the left, Jeremy Doku put in arguably his best performance in a City shirt while deployed on the right wing. All of his movements and decisive actions appeared smoother and less forced, perhaps because he didn’t have to cut onto his stronger foot before exploding forward into the box. This is hopefully the form we can continue to depend on him for to add to our already tactical adept options off the wing 

Second Half:

Savinho was introduced to start the second half for the electric Doku, likely in an effort to preserve the players and utilize the full squad. Grealish continued to thrive as the main source of creativity in the team, filling in admirably for the injured De Bruyne. Several chances followed with no end result: Lewis finding McAtee who miscontrolled the pass. McAtee beating his man and firing in a low cross.. only to drift harmlessly across the box with no one able to get on the end of it. In his free roaming role, Grealish’s central positions allowed several of City’s players to take advantage and run the channels, with one man in particular taking full advantage of it the chance to show his pace and carrying ability: Matheus Nunes. 

Chances continued to flow, with City unlucky not to net a third from Savinho’s pitch-length sprint and shot, which ricocheted off the post. Unfortunately City could not keep a clean sheet as Watford’s Thomas Ince scored a beautiful top corner curler to bring Watford within one. That proved to be the last goal of the day, with much of the rest of the match seemingly a foregone conclusion. 

One of the highlights of the second half was the debut of Jacob Wright from the academy. Replacing Nico O’Reilly, Wright provided a decent cameo for what potentially was his audition for further first team involvement this season. Following a solid debut, Braithwaite made way for Josko Gvardiol late in the second half.

Here are five key post-match thoughts following Manchester City’s 2-1 win against Watford:

• Phil Foden was slow to get into the game but improved throughout. Rusty and getting back to form. 
• Rico Lewis is too talented to be a fullback. His future is in midfield. 
• Jack Grealish showed shades of what made him one of the best players in the league at Aston Villa. 
• This was Jeremy Doku’s first great game at RW while at City. Hopefully an indication of more to come. 
• Dual F9 system should be integrated more, especially given the number of games. 

MOTM: Jack Grealish

Written by: Aiden Rodriguez (AR)

Edited by: SHEIKH