Fascinating tactically last night, Kolarov and Stones coming into midfield. KDB has a total free role in the middle and Sterling was swapped sides last night probably to play against the weaker full back. The only person who seemingly has an actual tactical position is Otamendi and Bravo... Even Silva not playing I think was a tactical decision just to keep them guessing.
Under Pellegrini we setup pretty similar but the difference is the free movement and intelligence on the ball. Before we were rigid and relied on brute force or magic to create but now it just happens because of the total freedom to move and create the space to make things happen. You can't defend or man mark against us, it is impossible. How can you mark KDB or track Gundogan when suddenly Stones is stood in midfield too, what do you do? Do you press him and allow Sterling in behind or Gundogan or KDB? It is an absolute nightmare to defend against. The only option is to put 11 men behind the ball and forget worrying about the movement and mark the space instead but then your 30% possession will turn into 0%...!
We are setup now to make it impossible to plan and figure us out and that is down to the manager. Individual brilliance barely comes into it because I can't name a single player who is outstanding because they all equally have been. I even thought Sergio had a quiet game but he still scored 3 goals!
As for Pep I don't know how he sleeps at night, he must sit down for 2 minutes a game, he never stopped living the match, bollocking Stones, gesturing at the team, telling them where to stand, who to mark, keeping them on their toes. The man is an absolute fruit cake, a personality and a genius, I think we have got with him far more than we could ever have hoped for here.
