Manchester City secured an eventful 5-3 victory over Yokohama F Marinos in Japan on Sunday, with Erling Haaland on the scoresheet twice in sweltering Tokyo heat.
Pep Guardiola made 10 changes at half-time of City’s first pre-season match, providing 45-minute glimpses of basically all of his players on this tour, other than Ederson, who stayed on the bench, Kevin De Bruyne, who is out injured, and Bernardo Silva, who had 30 second-half minutes before being replaced by Argentinean youngster Maximo Perrone.
So with almost everybody on show, whose performances stood out as particularly noteworthy?
Just after Yokohama scored their first goal of the night, City’s analysts looked over the replays and highlighted a midfielder pushing up way too far in trying to win the ball back, getting bypassed and making the whole thing a lot more difficult for those behind him (not that the defending was particularly great it must be said).
That midfielder was Kovacic, and given he had lost possession in the first place with an ambitious through ball attempt from the halfway line, it was hardly a glittering start to his City career, following his £25million move from Chelsea last month.
Funnily enough, realising when to press and when to drop off was something Rodri had to learn in his 2019-20 debut season at City, and although the Croatian was playing a different role here (as a more attacking midfielder compared to Rodri’s holding task) it is a good reminder of the adaptation that a lot of new players have to go through at the club.
(Photo: Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP via Getty Images)
But there was something else of note among those ill-fated contributions to the hosts’ first goal: that was Kovacic’s second through ball of the night, the first one coming from around 35 yards and angled in behind Julian Alvarez. That failed to find its target, too, but the very intention to play a pass like it surely bodes well.
Guardiola highlighted at the end of last season that his team missed “10 to 25” passes to Haaland in the campaign’s early stages, and it is still an area he wants to improve despite them going on to win the treble. Even top City players such as Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo overlooked clear opportunities to play in Haaland last season — as did Phil Foden in the second half here — so it is good that they have somebody willing to try those passes.
It is a safe bet that they will become more accurate the more Kovacic finds his feet, too.
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It was a first half of ups and downs for Phillips, too. The City analysts had their hands on their heads when he miscontrolled a pass from goalkeeper Stefan Ortega; then Phillips was gifted the ball in midfield from the Yokohama ’keeper, only to miscontrol it again and gift possession straight back. With a quick ball in behind, the home side added their second goal — although again the defending was not great either.
Soon after, Phillips hit a fine crossfield pass to get the ball rolling for City’s first goal and then he won the ball from the opposition goalkeeper to gift Alvarez the equaliser.
How do you rate that, especially after such a difficult debut season at the club?
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Rodri’s far more assured performance after the break, even at this extremely early stage of the season, highlighted the task at hand for the England international, but stranger things have happened. It would not be simply another case of a City player coming good in their second season — Phillips has more ground to make up than Rodri, Jack Grealish, Bernardo and others did, due to his lack of minutes last season — but if he were to turn things around it would be very welcome news.
Phil Foden
The City analysts were animated again when Foden was rampaging through the middle. That’s something we can expect to see a lot of in the coming season, as Guardiola plans to use the Englishman in the De Bruyne role, and there was a fantastic glimpse of that in the Champions League final when he pulled off a superb turn and dribble, only to end it with a tame shot.
There was a glimpse of that here, too, as Foden missed a one v one in the second half; and then, after a failed through ball, the analysts were gesturing in a way that suggested the final pass — or shot — needs to just be that little better. Again, it is early days, but if the official staff are taking it that seriously then they all will be.
(Photo: Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)
There was another example of analyst annoyance a little later when Foden again turned and burst forward majestically but overlooked the pass to Haaland — exactly the kind of thing Guardiola wants to improve.
Unlike Kovacic and Phillips, Foden is a much more known quantity and the thought of him driving through the middle next season is an exciting thought, both for City and England. A little bit of extra sharpness in the final third would go a long, long way, because everything before that is breathtaking.
The chances are that City sign a right-winger over the next few weeks to replace Riyad Mahrez. That is certainly the intention if the Algerian completes his move to Saudi Arabian club Al Ahli.
But transfers are never certain and after a teenage Rico Lewis blazed a trail for City’s youngsters to make an unexpected surge into the first team with his pre-season performances last year, you never know if Bobb, who turned 20 just over a week ago, could fill a gap if needed.
The Norwegian winger is exactly what Guardiola wants from a wide man at this moment in time — more touches in tight spaces than fast bursts in behind; and he showed that after coming on at the break, dancing down the right, cutting inside and curling a fine cross to the far post that was Mahrez-esque.
(Photo: Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP via Getty Images)
He does have pace, too, and City’s wingers certainly can, or should, have that, but it’s about knowing what to do at the right time and Bobb certainly seems to have that. And having won City Under-23s’ player of the year award for two years in a row, with six goals and 17 assists last season, he has certainly done his bit in the youth ranks.
Guardiola does not want Cancelo in the City squad for next season, but right now there is no alternative to getting on with it.
Cancelo almost losing an easy ball, getting it back and immediately pulling off a nutmeg, then firing off a shot, sums up how he has come to be known — compared to the almost mythical solidity of the defenders who contributed to City’s treble last season, he is a maverick.
He is more than that, of course, and he got a good assist for Haaland at the very end of the game but his stock has fallen among the fanbase and, it must be said, within the club too.
Guardiola’s praise for City’s ‘proper’ defenders after winning the Champions League final, while presumably not pointed, did highlight a major difference in the back line compared to the days when Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko (a player who Guardiola dearly loves) were part of it.
(Photo: Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP via Getty Images)
The same cannot be said of Cancelo given the circumstances of his exit — Guardiola desperately wanted him gone in the winter transfer window after some extended sulking around the camp. It is hard to envisage any sort of redemption story.
“He is here,” Guardiola said on Saturday. “Joao has been so important for us in the past. He is back here and is part of the group. We will see what happens.”
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It was a perfunctory answer and although Cancelo got 45 minutes here in Tokyo, there is not a lot of appetite for him to get more pre-season game time. There have been reports that Saudi Arabian clubs rejected the chance to sign him when approached by his agent, Jorge Mendes, which, if true, significantly narrows his options.
At this point, it is hard to see City getting a good deal even for someone who is a top player, but if they can get any deal at all for Cancelo, they will be happy enough.
(Top photo: Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)
