Great summary and I agree with virtually all of it. The only thing I'd disagree slightly with is that I thought O'Reilly was much further forward in the second half, with Bernardo covering the space behind him. I think that suited both of them much better than the way we were set up in the first.
I'd also opine that the defensive solidity was down to us surrendering possession somewhat and therefore not playing the high line, which has been suicidal so many times. Our defenders were in positions to defend, rather than having to chase back in a disorganised way.
Agreed about us surrendering possession & hitting ManUre on the counter. It was very evident in the second half. Someone said earlier that he was talking to a Dipper who remarked our display was very Dipper-esque & he could see Lijnders' influence.
We saw more of this when Aké came on & we went 5-4-1 to see the game out & secure all three points. There was a time where Pep would try & double the score instead of declaring, which would wear the players out unnecessarily & jeopardise our clean sheet, or even worse, the victory. This pragmatic approach is more business-like & it pleases me.
O'Reilly did move further forward in the latter stages. I noticed Doku was running out of puff, because as we sat back & soaked up the pressure, it meant he had more ground to cover when launching attacks & he began to tire badly from 65 minutes onwards. This seemed to be why NOR moved further forward in support until Doku was withdrawn.
Doku, Rodri & Haaland were physically fucked when they came off, but I'd rather that & Pep make better use of our bench, than the players pacing themselves to last the full game & us not being able to go up a notch if/when needed. The three of them left everything on the pitch.
Our high line isn't a major concern for me. What's bothered me for ages is the gaps left out wide when playing inverted, & not having the defensive pace in abundance if a ball's clipped over the top.
With a flat back four & using a more rapier-like, counter-attacking tactic, ManUre had to be careful, because they couldn't handle our power & pace up top if an attack broke down, especially when we attacked from the left.
Previously, our attackers would've inexplicably stopped bombing forward, & passed the ball back or sideways until we had support & everyone was back in position. The growing problem was this also allowed the opposition to get back into position too.
Against ManUre, we kept pressing forward which had the Rags back-pedaling as we countered at pace toward their area, which suited Doku & Haaland's game much better. Another noticeable Lijnders change.
The build-up to Haaland's first goal harked back to City at their very best. The link up play between Doku, O'Reilly, Foden to Doku & then to the Striking Viking was a sight to behold.
I just hope Pep's inverted obsession has been put in the bin, & we can continue to build from the flat back four, 4-3-3 formation that we employed yesterday.
It's early days yet & we have several injured players to come back, but if we continue to evolve this 4-3-3 / 4-1-4-1 formation in a tactical sense, I reckon we'll see a stronger City from the middle of 2026-27 onwards, & we'll again begin to dominate games & challenge for the biggest honours.
