The tactical changes that Manchester City made this season are a result of the players that they don’t have, some luck, and immense versatility. It is tailored towards runners, but what happens when those players are subbed off? It changes.

In this position defenders Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, or Josko Gvardiol would be receiving the ball on the left, not Kevin De Bruyne.

• With Nathan Ake, he would see the run, but the timing of the pass was usually off. Haaland would make the run, and the pass wouldn’t be played.
• Josko Gvardiol rarely attempted that pass due to his heavier touch, but he was the one most likely to receive it in that specific position on the pitch higher up, almost acting as a left-winger.
• Manuel Akanji never looked for that pass because he is right-footed; the angle a player would receive the ball on the left doesn’t suit a right-footed player to play a pass on their second touch.

Of all three, Nathan Ake was the most likely to find that key pass. Why sign Erling Haaland if you can’t play him in behind the opposition’s defense at full speed?

Not only can Kevin De Bruyne put the perfect amount of weight on that pass over the top to Erling Haaland, his timing is also perfect, making him a more reliable passer for Haaland. Every time Haaland makes a run, he’s almost guaranteed to be rewarded with the perfect pass in stride. Haaland can be more efficient with his energy use and can attack the run rather than tepidly signaling to Ake that he needs the pass.

Rotating wide left into this position on the pitch isn’t new for De Bruyne; he has done it before on dozens of occasions last season, but the higher frequency at which he rotates is new.

Pep Guardiola speaking about making tactical changes every season to ESPN Brazil:

It’s to avoid getting bored. If I did the same thing for eight years, I’d get bored, first of all. And second, when you do something that works, opponents watch and find an antidote.

If we go through the middle, they close it off. Too wide, they go wider. Anything and they react, we have to counter-react. And the players you have. What specific characteristics and how they adapt best to the way you play.

This system is more geared towards going wider, and it is a credit to the versatility of the team that they can shift like a chameleon. I see this as their secondary system. Their main system is geared more to their best players, who are specialists in smaller spaces, but the problem is that they haven’t been available. Without Rodri, it is hard to play through the middle, so this is a new solution.

Once you add Rodri, John Stones, and Phil Foden in with İlkay Gündoğan, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish, Jérémy Doku, and Mateo Kovacic, you’ll be playing through the middle.

And then what happens when Kyle Walker splits minutes with Rico Lewis? Walker won’t invert, that then probably means Josko Gvardiol plays that left-back to left-wing role he played last season. Alternatively, that could mean Rico Lewis inverts from the left.

There is always at least one experiment happening in this team. There are so many different options due to the versatility; your head could spin; you’ll never get bored.