Pep Guardiola opens door to change in Manchester City’s attacking format

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has shown a willingness to change his attacking format through different personnel, following the disappointing 1-1 draw against Everton at the weekend.

A second-half strike from Demarai Gray cancelled out Erling Haaland’s first-half opener, in a match where Manchester City were often restricted in creating clear goalscoring opportunities through a stubborn Everton defensive system.

Some supporters on social media were highly critical of Pep Guardiola’s decision to start Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez as Manchester City’s wide attacking duo, with the likes of Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez being named among the substitutes.

The latter pair made appearances from the bench late in the second-half, but despite the 11 minutes added on at the end of the game, it was simply too little, too late for the reigning Premier League champions.

Speaking after the match, manager Pep Guardiola was asked whether Erling Haaland being the mainstay at striker would restrict the number of opportunities to play for Julian Alvarez, despite his recent FIFA World Cup triumph with Argentina.

Guardiola insisted that is not the case, and Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland could line-up alongside one another for Manchester City, should the head coach deem that to be tactically the right format for his team.

“In the last minutes (against Everton), we need people with a sense of goal, to go to the box but even with that it’s not easy and that’s why he played,” Guardiola explained.

On Julian Alvarez specifically, he continued, “He rested a week or 10 days it’s not much after the World Cup final. We have two strikers to score goals but to create these chances you have to make the process. And in the process, sometimes you need other types of players to create these chances.

“But of course they can play together, especially against five at the back – that can happen.”

Julian Alvarez is expected to play an increasingly significant role for Manchester City in the second-half of the season, as the fixtures come thick and fast for Pep Guardiola’s side in their pursuit of another Premier League title.

In January alone, City take on Chelsea in back-to-back fixtures this week, before taking on the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham, as well as Southampton in an away tie in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.