Manchester City 3-1 Atletico Madrid Review

Preseason GW3

As quickly as the summer goes by, so does the preseason tour. Manchester City finish with a win against Atletico Madrid in a game that looks nothing like we’d come to expect from them in the Champions League. Some young players on either side, Dominguez and Barrios for them, stood out, and Antoine Semenyo continued to show how seriously he’s taken the summer break. In part, the leading representation of what we’ve seen from this group- while missing several key starters, they’re all pushing to impress the new manager.

Game Stats:

Manchester City 3-1 Atletico Madrid

• Total Shots: 16 - 13

• Shots on Target: 9 - 3

• Possession: 54.0% - 46.0%

• Touches in Opposition Box: 31 - 19

• Big Chances: 6 - 1

• Accurate Crosses: 3 - 3

• Accurate Long Passes: 19 - 36

The single line to notice here is big chances; that was the problem in the opening game against Inter Milan, dominated in so many ways but lacked the clear-cut opportunities to score. Semenyo (2), Savinho (2), Foden (1), and Mubama (1) were the creators of those.

We can also look back at the minutes played in the three games. Savinho, Reijnders, and Lewis in the T5 wouldn’t have been everyone’s picks a few weeks ago. Maresca has treated this squad for the tour as a clean slate for all to showcase their quality. Whether it’s to get into his plans or to be in the shop window.

I wouldn’t read too much into the minutes the youngest members of the squad picked up; a significant portion of their impression on the manager will be through training and how they carry themselves throughout the tour, rather than a goal against K-League Allstars being needed to earn a place in the first-team squad.

Mubama picked up plenty of minutes and goals, and is now expected to go on loan to Southampton in the Championship. McAidoo, hit by injury, only played 45’ and has a great chance to make the first-team squad for the new season.

In the opening game, for the first half, Manchester City were quite passive in their 4-2-4 press, but since then they've been intentional with putting pressure on the ball in the right moments, along with the front two covering the opposition pivots in their shadows. The relationship between the front two will be vital across the season. Whoever is the partner for Haaland. They need to be switched on to cover when the other jumps up to press.

The same extends to the wingers, choosing the right moments, curving their run and pressing with intensity. Savinho is far too eager in this sequence, opening up the press, leaving a spare man to find via a bounce pass, and at the pace that allows the Atletico defender to spot the play.

Jeremy Doku has improved in this area. He lacked when joining the club. Semenyo maintains a high level here, coming from his time under Iraola, and the engine he has as a winger.

It didn't lead anywhere threatening. Dias read the situation and was well ahead of the attacking player. Recovering the ball and passed back to Donnarumma. But as we saw, also with Savinho, against Real Madrid in the CL R16, better players will punish these openings. As much as Maresca will want his wingers to be aggressive 1v1 out wide, and attacking the box once the play progresses, there will be a minimum level expected of hard and intelligent work off the ball. You’re not going to be brilliant 1v1 every game, but you can ensure off the ball, you deliver consistently.

More general point to mention, around preseason with Maresca, is that he’s coming from Chelsea with plenty of content online around how the team presses; the opposition analysis will begin the season with a good idea of his work there. He can’t come to City and try to replicate the same patterns; there has to be experimentation, details that change.

Below is a great clip breaking down the roles for Chelsea’s wide press: the winger joins on one side of the CF, and the other sits and divides two options. I’m sure over the course of the next couple of months we’ll see a few different pressing setups, as Maresca will want to bed a few into the team that he can then shift between across and within games. He will want to find his players in the team that can make these shifts within a game on the pitch; Bernardo and Rodri were that for Manchester City, now others will need to step up.

_

In possession, the team eventually progresses to a 3-1-3-3 once entering the opposition half and pinning back Atletico Madrid. Gvardiol and Reijnders support on either side. Foden drops when needed to combine with Kovacic. Semenyo and Savinho hold the width. Back three of Reis, Dias, and Nunes.

Now, there has been a lot of talk about Maresca wanting to use a double pivot, the 3-2 rest defense, and so on. Similar to the point with pressing patterns, I wouldn’t be expecting the same across all games. When the opposition sit deep, don’t apply pressure on the ball, and you keep another extra man behind, you’re choosing to be conservative and secure at the expense of the overloads you can find.

Why do you need five players to deal with the threat of Lookman in transition? You don’t. When it’s a front three of Mbappe, Vinicius, and Bellingham, the balance shifts the opposite way. The other layer to add on top of this is, regardless of the setup, when in possession, pinning the opposition back, the counter press must be better this season with Maresca. That’s how Spain suffocated teams in the World Cup. The aggression from the five nearest players to the ball has to go up.

_

When defending deep, Manchester City have opted for a 4-4-2 throughout preseason under Enzo Maresca. Guardiola used this consistently during his time, but in the last couple of seasons had been shifting over to a 4-1-4-1 more frequently. Protecting the middle and ceding some pressure on the ball.

The combinations of pivots the team will employ across the upcoming season will now be more than capable of covering the ground as a pair. If we assume Rodri will depart and Bouaddi comes in, without considering another addition. The four of Anderson, Gonzalez, Bouaddi, and Kovacic can do the work in a pivot. The partner for Haaland will need to be intelligent and hard-working off the ball.

_

It’s quite simple from my point of view with attacking corners. Get your best threats in the box with consistent delivery. Foden and Gvardiol in the team provide that right away. Semenyo and Marmoush are both able to pounce on loose balls well. Anderson is another excellent crosser of the ball; I’d expect him to take up the left corner spot throughout the season.

Manchester City was targeting the back post in their corner routines against Atletico Madrid. Foden was the taker, with Semenyo and Marmoush inside the 6-yard box. Reis was on the edge. Reijnders (decoy), Dias and Gvardiol make their runs from the top of the box to the back post, with the Croatian defender narrowly missing.

It’s Atletico that gets the first goal (43’) and goes in ahead at half-time. It looked to me that the corner by Koke goes out, but it’s cleared by Vitor Reis, volleyed back in by an Atleti player, and bounced nicely for Domínguez to pounce onto. If I had one complaint, it’s Savinho and Marmoush not being alive and aggressive in winning the loose ball on the edge of the box, but that is often the type of soft defending you can see in preseason.

Rico Lewis on for Vitor Reis (46’) to play left-back as Gvardiol moved to LCB, the only change. He then moved inside next to Kovacic, and eventually Nico Gonzalez (61’) once he came on in the second half.

More and more attempts to play through the lines in the second half. One lovely pass by Nunes into Foden, who turns and drives at the backline, eventually winning a foul on the edge of the box. Reijnders tries to sneak it in at the near-post, by comfortbale by Oblak in the end.

This time it’s Dias into Foden, turn and drive at the backline, Atletico players challenge him, and Kovacic picks up the loose ball and passes it onto Semenyo. It’s a little wide, but he does brilliantly to scoop it past the defender, drive into the box and drill the low cross for Marmoush arriving into the 6-yard box (57’).

Shortly after that, it’s a chipped pass over the top from Gvardiol that we’ve seen many times before, with Semenyo running onto it. Drilling another low cross into the 6-yard box for Marmoush to tap in (59’).

Mubama came on for Semenyo (64’) for more minutes, and it’s noticeable that Maresca has not been willing to push him to the full ninety yet; he has with Savinho, but it looks like he’s keeping him fresh.

More minutes for Ait-Nouri as he came on for Marmoush (77’), playing on the wing again. That’s something to keep an eye on, not that he’s lacking in quality, but the level of competition in his spot is ridiculous, and without an injury, it could be a tough season for him without ever doing anything wrong.

That’s why it’s great he converted his chance, second time around, to score the third City goal (90’). The first chance is a great pass over the top from Nico to Echeverri, who can then slide through Ait-Nouri, before his poor touch takes the ball away from him. Then for the goal, Mubama does the work to hold up the ball and play through Ait-Nouri. Drilling the ball into the far bottom corner.

If you haven’t already, subscribe to get all this Manchester City content in your inbox.

Subscribe to Sky Blue Times

Moving Forward

Neither Jeremy Doku nor Antoine Semenyo can play 6,000 minutes on the LW; it's great to have the latter showcase his threat in preseason on that side, with three of his four assists. Beating players 1v1 along the touchline and attacking the space behind. Followed up by great instincts of Marmoush and Mubama to find space inside the 6-yard box.

That's without mentioning his involvement in the goal against K-League Allstars that Mubama was able to score, pouncing on the loose parry by the keeper. Routinely finding his way inside from the RW to get shots off. He’s showcased his quality as a passer from the RW after moving inside. There is no need for any debate over playing one side or the other. Across the season, Semenyo is going to impact the game in different ways on both sides.

These comments by Enzo Maresca on Omar Marmoush give the impression the player will look for a move, with minutes on his mind, this summer. It’s also indicative of a busy week ahead for many players who will want to explore their options, first-team and young players.

Divin Mubama, I mentioned earlier, who picked up a couple of starts on the preseason tour, is expected to seal a loan move to Southampton in the Championship for this season, and that’s an example of the moves that will happen quickly now the squad has wrapped up preseason. Many talented young players will have a decision made on their future this week.

It’s also going to be very busy as the remaining players are due to return who reached the latter stages of the World Cup. Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, Elliot Anderson, Marc Guehi, Nico O’Reilly, Rayan Cherki, and Rodri. The latter could well not return at all and secure a move away, but for the rest, those are starters who should be coming back with a point to prove, individually, and to impress the new manager, as the team looks to get back to winning the Premier League.

Next up for Manchester City is Arsenal in the Community Shield on the 16th of August at 15:00 (UK time). For both sides, this isn’t going to be their best eleven, and similar to when City played Liverpool in the 22/23 Community Shield, I think the teams and result can be quite misleading to go off for season predictions. It will, however, be a great opportunity for those returning players to get their first minutes, and we can see how long they’ll take to get up to speed. For Elliot Anderson to make his debut.

Last point to mention, I’d love to put together a subscribers’ Q&A newsletter over the next week, so make sure you email with any questions you have, as well as what has stood out to you from these opening games under Enzo Maresca.