Pep Talks - How Klopp's Ex-assistant Is Shaping Man City

Manchester City person spent much than £150m connected 5 caller players this summertime but Pep Guardiola's biggest signing did not costs a penny - and he will not play immoderate football, either.

In early June, nan second-most important fig of Jurgen Klopp-era Liverpool became Guardiola's right-hand man astatine Manchester City.

Really, it should person been a bigger news story, not slightest because hiring Pep Lijnders - a man credited pinch astir of nan day-to-day training nether Klopp, arsenic good arsenic a important portion of nan German's tactical improvement post-Borussia Dortmund - suggests Guardiola is considering a awesome tactical overhaul.

But what's moreover much singular is that those tactical changes will beryllium navigated pinch nan important input of a coach who worked pinch Klopp connected concepts for illustration counter-pressing and attacking successful vertical lines; connected concepts that served arsenic nan antidote to Guardiola's celebrated positional play.

That opposition is often overstated, mind. Guardiola and Klopp borrowed from 1 another, and their shared peaks astatine Liverpool and Man City almost look to merge into 1 cleanable blend of Klopp's dynamism and Guardiola's control.

On nan 1 manus Klopp's 'heavy metal' shot was tamed by an appreciation of territorial dominance, connected nan different Guardiola utilized Klopp's ideas to accommodate to nan rough-and-tumble of Premier League life.

Nevertheless Lijnders, for illustration Klopp, is acold much concerned than Guardiola pinch aggressive, high-octane attacking shot and nan opportunities that unfastened up erstwhile nan shot changes hands.

Until now. Because from nan extracurricular looking in, Lijnders' assignment appears to corroborate Guardiola thinks modern Premier League shot is moving successful nan guidance of nan aged Kloppites. And he's right.

It utilized to beryllium nan lawsuit that Guardiola's territorial suffocation would pin backmost inferior opponents but, arsenic nan middle-class teams sewage better, those who were bold capable to property difficult and disrupt nan build-up play started to spot rewards.

They rather virtually pushed back, until pressing difficult and maximising transitions dispersed crossed nan section and moreover Guardiola struggled to power things pinch slow passing and rigid positioning.

"Today, modern shot is nan measurement Bournemouth, Newcastle, Brighton and Liverpool play," Pep Guardiola told TNT Sports a fewer months ago. "Modern shot is not positional. You person to thrust nan rhythm."

That's a immense connection from nan man whose 'positional play' tactical accuracy beautiful overmuch defined nan past 15 years of nan sport, but it's spot on.

Over nan past 5 years accelerated breaks and nonstop attacks are connected nan rise, while PPDA - a measurement of pressing wave and intensity, wherever a little people intends greater unit - is going down.

When Guardiola made those comments astir modern shot he was already opening to research pinch a subtly much nonstop style of play.

Comparing their 2023-24 to 24-25 campaigns, City's possession stock dropped from 65.5% to 61.3% while their full number of accelerated breaks jumped from 22 to 30, a emergence of 36%.

Most prominently, we saw much agelong balls from Ederson to bypass nan guidance precocious property and much nonstop dribbling done nan lines from January signing Omar Marmoush.

Marmoush, by nan looks of things, was nan first signing of Man City 2.0: nan rebuild that will displacement Guardiola, Lijnders and City into a much Klopp-like direction. More players successful that mould person since followed.

Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders person arrived from Lyon and AC Milan respectively and some signings, for illustration Marmoush, constituent to much carrying of nan shot done nan lines and less neatly choreographed passing triangles.

To put it much simply, Cherki, Reijnders, and Marmoush are nan benignant of players who for illustration to thrust nan rhythm.

The information present is stark. Compared pinch Man City's 3 astir commonly utilized cardinal midfielders successful 2024-25, Cherki, Reijnders, and Marmoush scored considerably higher for 'progressive carries' (a transportation of nan shot astatine slightest 5 metres towards nan opponent's goal) and 'attempted dribbles'.

Signing Rayan Ait-Nouri besides alludes to Klopp-esque - aliases Lijnders-esque – football, because having mostly deployed cardinal midfielders aliases centre-backs successful nan full-back positions complete nan past 2 seasons - an evident motion to control, order, and subject - Guardiola has emphatically changed direction.

Ait-Nouri is 1 of nan astir attacking full-backs successful Europe. Similar to nan different 3 2025 signings we person discussed, he classed 2nd for dribbles completed among defenders successful nan Premier League past play (63) and sixth among full-backs for progressive carries (89).

But much impressively, he was wrong nan apical 3 among defenders for extremity involvements (11), expected assists (5.5) and touches successful nan guidance container (96).

Ait-Nouri's presence tells america Guardiola is done pinch packing midfielders into nan squad and is ceding immoderate power successful favour of much urgent, vertical attacking football.

Just for illustration that, Manchester City fans tin spell from worrying astir their team's slow and passive shot to wondering really specified an explosive attacking brace arsenic Ait-Nouri and Jeremy Doku could activity together connected nan left, aliases really Marmoush and Cherki will fresh into nan aforesaid attacking midfield space.

They will surely person much questions than answers earlier nan 2025-26 Premier League run gets nether way, because astir of their caller arrivals - connected nan transportation and successful nan dugout - conscionable don't fresh nan accustomed Pep archetype.

Clearly Guardiola is moving connected thing new. With Lijnders astatine his side, it could beryllium his sharpest near move yet.