Gabriel
Well-Known Member
It's a very legitimate argument, they didn't know who to pick up.
Pep has also done it with Barca down the years when he played Messi much deeper, certainly in that famous semi-final win over Madrid at the Bernabeu.
I would say that we might see Sergio playing far closer to the midfielder, effectively making it a six across the middle out of possession, rather than pressing them high.
There is no need for us to press them high, as they want us strung out back to front.
Aguero also showed with his great goal and running from deep against Brighton that we could easily take it in turns to make interchangeable runs, meaning their full-backs also don't have much space to run in to.
The only other time I saw this work to perfection was away at West Brom on Boxing Day under Pellegrini.
Pellegrini did the same against Palace the game before, but at that time we didn't have a recognized striker fit, whereas Guardiola would have to leave out Aguero and Jesus to do it now; and there would be all hell to pay if it didn't work out. :-)
My only concern with Aguero is that his natural tendency is to drift further forward into attacking positions, while for Sterling/Silva/Bernardo/Mahrez the instinct is to drift back into midfield, which gives us greater fluidity and causes more confusion.