Manchester City 1-1 Inter Milan Review

Preseason Tour 2026 GW1

We’re finally back, in what felt like a very familiar performance and team in some ways, and in others, refreshing. Enzo Maresca has gotten his first game out of the way as Manchester City manager; let’s look into what stood out across the team and individuals.

Two points to mention before we get into it all. Inter Milan, as Maresca mentioned, are ten days ahead of Manchester City in when they started preseason preparations. Playing a friendly already against Karlsruher on the 26th of July. You’ll recall a similar sort of situation when Manchester City played against Celtic in the 2024 preseason tour in the United States; the sharpness was there earlier in the game from the opposition.

The other is a more general stance on preseason. I don’t subscribe to the idea there is nothing to learn, no value to be found, but you do need to find a balance. As will be mentioned later on with the wingers, that seems a clear takeaway in the approach and individual performances. To get on the pitch and find often those exceptional out wide and beating players one-vs-one.

On the flipside, this is the area to experiment with roles, with tactical setups, pressure structures, and so on. It won’t be the best eleven for those situations, and the most polished version. Breadcrumbs to follow, but you’re still far from seeing the bigger picture.

Game Stats:

Manchester City 1-1 Inter Milan

• Total Shots: 24 - 10

• Shots on Target: 7 - 4

• Possession: 64.0% - 36.0%

• Touches in Opposition Box: 61 - 18

• Big Chances: 3 - 2

• Successful Dribbles: 7 - 4

• Clearances: 12 - 26

Those numbers paint a dominant picture of Manchester City against Inter Milan, but the scoreline and number of big chances don’t quite match up with that. Also, 15/19 shots the team had from inside the box came in the second half. We saw a big improvement, despite the personnel changes, and the benefit of some tweaks by Maresca.

Wingers. That was the main takeaway from the game: you noticed it in the starting eleven, and those were the players who delivered the best performances in Semenyo and McAidoo. Let’s go a step further: it’s the profile, where a strength is beating their man in the wide areas. It’s not the blistering pace in behind of a Bradley Barcola or the smooth technical ability of a Maghnes Akliouche drifting inside. Can you be comfortable waiting for your moment on the touchline, and, when the opportunity comes, are you determined to punish the opposition, drive into the box, and attack?

We’ll dive into that topic a bit later. First, let’s start with the buildup. Immediately, it’s clear Donnarumma was instructed to step into the back four as the RCB, Khusanov pushes into the RB spot, and Lewis into midfield when the opportunity came up. We saw Ederson do this frequently under Guardiola but on the left side, as that’s his preferred foot. He was more comfortable in these moments than what we saw in his first games last season.

We saw some passes long into Mubama, with Semenyo coming across as the second man, which mostly fell short with the striker not making a clean enough contact when bringing it down. That was one option. If we skip a month into the season and it’s Erling Haaland back starting, who can deal with those long balls well, I’d expect we could see a lot of Semenyo used as the one tighter to him, similar to De Bruyne 22/23, which keeps your winger high, and then the attacking midfielder, Foden or Cherki, dropping to offer solutions in this phase to play short through the press.

They struggled to find the pivot and execute bounce passes as well in the first half compared to the second. Primarily only Kovacic, covered by an Inter player, and then the two CBs not in the best positions to receive these passes. In the second half, Lewis (moving to midfield) and Nico provided two pivots dropping, timing well and offering clean ways out through the press of Inter.

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Similar sort of issues between both halves with the press. I should mention, it’s easy to see a pressing structure not work and associate that failure with the shape, rather than the reality of the execution and personnel used. Manchester City made quite comfortable work of Arsenal in the League Cup Final and Premier League (H) last season using this setup. United used it to beat City in the FA Cup final 2024. In the Community Shield later that year, United used it again, and Guardiola had solutions that dismantled the approach.

In the first half, they started with a 4-2-4 similar to the end of last season as Foden and Mubama covered the pivots inside, not putting much pressure at all on the CCB or keeper. Both wingers tucked inside to protect, progressing the ball through the middle. They caught Inter Milan players dwelling on the ball inside their box a couple of times, but didn’t punish them for it.

Whilst they had some success initially, the hesitation and distances for the full-backs to cover were figured out, pivots were not tight, and eventually the team with wingbacks found the space afforded to them in the wide areas if they timed the drops to receive along the touchline. Giving Lewis and Mfuni huge distances to cover and caused the backline to shift across. Now Inter could outnumber the City backline with a ball in behind or switch to the opposite side to find a teammate isolated. As you can see in the graphic below. 👇

Now we switch to the second half with Semenyo in place of the striker, always looking to put pressure on the CCB and onto the keeper when the opportunity came up. Foden deeper, covering one of the pivots. The wingers pressed from out-to-in against the wide CBs of Inter, curving their run. Nico or Lewis jumping, depending on the side, to track the Inter pivot that drops to receive. There was far more pressure on the ball to force high turnovers, and on several occasions, force the opposition to long balls easily recovered by Manchester City. Retain possession and pin them back again. Helping towards the shift in performance we saw as the team dominated in the second half.

In possession, there were some ideas that would have given the impression of a more vertical and forward-thinking approach from Maresca. Reminding, to an extent, of the performance against Juventus in the Club World Cup. The wingers staying high, occupying the opposition defenders, and staying on their shoulders. The central midfielders, when the timing opened up, pulling out wide, not to get on the ball, but to drag a player with them, and open up the channel between the wing-back and defender that the City winger could attack.

That’s the long pass over the top from Gonzalez into McAidoo; it’s the pass Gvardiol and Mfuni would fizz on the ground into Semenyo, running into the box. Reis and Khusanov are also capable of these passes. It opened up the lanes to accelerate the play and attack the box.

The goal Haaland scored against Brentford (A), or his 2nd against Monaco (A). Both assisted by Gvardiol. Finding a way to create these situations more consistently and not just have Haaland who can take advantage of that space.

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Corners are something to keep an eye on across the preseason. For defending, we saw an effort to create and defend space around Donnarumma, with one on the back-post, which gives him the room to come punch/collect without it being a huge distance to manage. If it enters this small radius, you act; if not, remain on your line for the save. Whether that continues against a PL team that makes more of an effort to impede the keeper, we’ll see.

At the other end, we did see the threat Reis can pose, with his well-timed leap. The difference a delivery makes with Foden compared to Reijnders. Anderson will be another big addition in this department as he can whip the ball in like Foden. It’s that and adding enough goal threats, like O’Reilly, Gvardiol, Semenyo, and Guehi, that will make the biggest difference in this department. Rather than clever routines.

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Semenyo was relentless on the left wide, on and off the ball, and it’s fantastic work from him to fashion the chance for Mubama. Speaking of, he deserved his goal for the movement. Drops away from the CB at first, short burst towards the near post takes the defender with him, pumps the brakes and moves into the space he's created. Then waits for the right moment to step onto the cross.

There was an excellent discussion on an episode of The City Social covering Semenyo playing as the left winger during the season. He's incredibly adept at using the outside of the right foot, has the strength to hold off someone like Diouf, and has the balance to open up, even on the byline.

As Semenyo himself alluded to, once you pose that sort of threat going down the line, you open up more opportunities inside, onto the right foot you'd like to shoot with. Absolutely a serious option next season now he's here for the full 60, and Doku won’t be playing 6,000 minutes.

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Lewis sucked into the middle, Savinho not tracking back, Gvardiol overloaded 3v1 at the back-post. There isn’t a lot to read into the Inter Milan goal from my point of view; it’s a move they’ve always been able to execute well with their wingbacks. It’s a poor clearance as well. But those situations that they could create to pull around our backline stemmed from issues in the press Maresca tweaked, and personnel that simply won’t be starters next season.

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Last of all, we have to talk about this kid. There are lots of nice details to spot when watching McAidoo play. In this sequence, he takes a touch with his left, decelerates in another step with his right, and takes a second touch inside at the moment his teammate is making the underlapping run. Giving him a lane to shoot.

When he takes the touch inside, it's soft and keeps the ball tight, but he's also low after he's slowed down, and that helps disguise it. As soon as he's finished taking the touch inside, the foot is already being lifted back for a shot in one fluid motion.

McAidoo didn't score in this game, but was threatening with plenty of good chances that come from these mechanics. He's already efficient in getting off shots inside the box. That’s something Bobb didn’t come into the first team with, nor has Savinho whose had 50+ appearances in the Premier League, but with McAidoo, in any game, you’re confident at 18 he’s going to get shots off.

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Moving Forward

As I mentioned at the start, wingers are the main takeaway. These comments below from Semenyo, excited to work under the manager who wants to get him into the wide areas and 1v1s as much as possible, already give you an insight into what we can expect this season on the pitch, and quite timely, what the club will be looking for in the transfer market. It highlights why a player like Bradley Barcola, for example, wouldn’t make sense for Manchester City, but McAidoo was able to immediately make an impact. All before we think about arguably the best winger in the world 1v1, and that’s Jeremy Doku.

By extension of this, there is a knock-on effect: if you’re looking for players exceptional 1v1 and comfortable along the touchline, rather than an inverted winger role that Foden and Cherki could perform, you shift those two as the go-to number tens, and your pivots have then to be dynamic in finding space, if we want to keep the wingers high, and pull their own weight off the ball to support playing those two in the AM spot. The route forward becomes clearer, at least for the first season, on where each player falls into their roles.

Last point, with the wingers, it’s crucial that the winger on the opposite side attacks the back post. They are positioned high, on the shoulder of the opposition, but once the ball is progressed into the box, they can’t be stood outside the box. Get into the 6-yard box.

Savinho was there for Mubama’s goal. It’s something Semenyo does very well, and that Doku has mentioned in interviews he’s got to improve on. If McAidoo is around the first team and they bring in a replacement for Savinho. The movement Sterling used to make is the blueprint for them all to follow.

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Fantastic to see who led the team out as captain against Inter Milan. Heading into the 26/27 season, Phil Foden (369) leads the current squad for all-time Manchester City appearances. Rodri (298) and Dias (255) make up the remaining T3. For past players, he's already passed Gundogan (358) and is chasing down more this season, with Ederson (372), Fernandinho (383), and Aguero (390) in his sights.

By the time we reach the 27/28 season, he'll be in touching distance of De Bruyne (422) and David Silva (436). If we flip it over to goals scored for the club, the top three are Haaland (162), Foden (110), and Rodri (28). With a new contract, summer break, and a new manager, it’s an opportunity for him to take another step forward in his career and get back to delivering in the business end, the Phil Foden we’ve seen impact many title races.

I’ve mentioned Vitor Reis in this newsletter a few times during the season. He didn’t waste time making an impression in the second half. Reading the game and stepping up to make well-timed challenges, no hesitation in his passes and carries past the 1st line, and a great knack for getting on the end of deliveries into the opposition box. There were plenty of positive actions from him. Progressed at Girona, the loan many reactively said would have been a disaster for him. In a position to now slowly work his way into the team whilst Ruben Dias heads into the final two years of his City contract.

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If we’re trying to look around the corner towards the end of the window. Should the two reported links to Rulli and Bouaddi result in deals completed, and McAidoo successfully earns himself a spot in the first team. This is how the current squad is shaping up without including expected incomings and sales.

Keeping Rodri is an important step for Manchester City to win the Premier League title next season. A replacement for Savinho, who is heavily linked to Spurs. Another right-back who can be a genuine starter in the medium-to-long term. Decisions to be made on Kovacic, Reijnders, and Rico Lewis. Expected departures of Grealish and Phillips. Then, several exciting young players that need to figure out the next best step in their career. It’s going to be a busy month.

Next up for Manchester City is the K-League All-Stars on Wednesday the 5th of August at 12:00 UK time. Dias, Nunes, and Marmoush are now with the squad; you can expect to see minutes for those three. Then it’ll be interesting to see which of the young players that didn’t get on the pitch in Hong Kong do have a chance in South Korea. Potentially our first look at the likes of Jeremy Monga, Floyd Samba, and Xavier Parker.

We’re only one game into pre-season, so I’ve kept it relatively light on the details, giving my general thoughts and takeaways from the game, but that will change as the games go by. As always, make sure you comment with any feedback you have, or questions to be answered in the next one!

On the way is a deep dive into Elliot Anderson, along with other content, and changes to the newsletter coming over the next couple of weeks. Keep an eye out for that in your inbox.

If you want some content on Elliot Anderson right now, then why not listen to the latest episode of The Hub on the Ninety Three Twenty player linked below. 👇