Was wondering how they do it so well and sure it’s been that way since Sheikh Mansour bought the club. At other big clubs there’s a first XI that’s going to play most weeks with some squad players on the fringes when fit whereas at City I’ve noticed that they could probably field 2 good starting XIs from one week to the next and wouldn’t struggle. Like sometimes you’ll see Stones and Ake in defence then another game it’s Dias and Gvardiol, sometimes Akanji plays there. Been like that for quite a while remembering when it was 4-4-2 under Mancini and Pellegrini having Aguero and Tevez up front with Dzeko and Balotelli before Negredo and Jovetic as back up. Whenever someone gets injured it’s barely even a problem and they seem to know how to manage big players really well, bit jealous as a United fan as whenever one player is dropped, it’s such a big deal.

Noticed that the formation also changes as well quite often, for example

3-2-4-1 vs Chelsea

3-4-2-1 vs Bournemouth

4-2-3-1 vs United

  • 19Ben80@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    Big big wages, Grealish is happy on the bench when earning £300k per week.

    Plus they are pretty much guaranteed to win some trophies

  • MuttonChopzzz@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    Probably because they have a fantastic manager who has a deep squad at his disposal due to the owners taking a massive, steaming dump on the FFP rules.

  • Circle_Breaker@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    Winning cures all ills.

    If they were just finishing top 4 every year they would see more players wanting out. But they win, and that keeps people happy.

  • ZookeepergameOk2759@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    The promise of at least twenty plus games,an amazing wage and multiple winners medals and league titles would be very tempting to most footballers.

  • Brilliant_Media5649@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    They have the money to buy elite players, they play in enough competitions (and usually go far in each of them) to where those elite players will still play a load of games, they win trophies, and they have a manager who knows how to rotate players correctly

  • Spurs_in_the_6@alien.top
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    1 year ago

    Excellent squad management. Constantly refreshing the squad before its needed rather than desperately looking for a fix after the fact like most teams do.

    Almost guaranteed trophies and massive wages also helps keep players happy even though they are rotated more often than they might be in other teams

  • kliq-klaq-@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    They don’t. They have the smallest squad and smallest number of players used. They have a core squad of 16 exceptionally gifted and tactically smart players who can play in multiple positions.

    • FearlessPeanut9076@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      This here, it makes it seem like they have more players than they do. Pep only like players who he can coach into multiple role

    • ShallotShallot@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      Their playstyle also limits the probability of injury and related crises, despite the small squad.

      City are the best in the world at keeping possession. In the dog days of the season, they will happily shut the game down at 1-0.

      They won’t commit men forward, but will also limiting the amount of “intense” running they have to do.

      Pep also implements a training regime that runs through 2 cycles across the season, with each cycle peaking (in terms of player fitness) in winter and the end of season, when there are the most games.

  • AlanHuttonsMutton@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    It’s more that they have a core group of 16-18 or so players who don’t lower the quality of the XI which ever combination play + a few talented young players to supplement that group. Those core players still play a lot of football and because they’re so integral and so good they’re happy being rested for a game or two or worked hard.

    For example last year 15 players played 30+ games. The senior players who didn’t were Laporte who played 24 times affected by injuries, Cancelo played 26 times before being shipped out and Phillips played 21 times because Pep hates Leeds scum. The squad has just been managed so well and when you have a great squad you can keep doing fine changes each year whereas a lot of clubs are doing massive changes year on year to try catch them.

    • daddyderose@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      Yeah that’s totally the entire reason. Please enlighten us then, how can united have spent the same amount of money and are so much worse if it’s just down to money. Fucking idiot

        • Dorkseid1687@alien.topB
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          1 year ago

          Do you think the etihad stadium deal was market value ? Do you think Mancini wasn’t paid under the table ? Do you think Man City have refused to co operate with investigations because they’re innocent? Ok

  • Wrathuk@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    they’ve got a core or really strong players which means they can manage a few missing but even so this season has shown they have issues when key players are out, stones missing has left the defence looking vulnerable.

    KDB being out has meant they’ve struggled at times to break down teams with low blocks.

  • Jealous_Foot8613@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    The two players per position thing hasn’t been true for a while , they just have a lot of players who can play multiple roles and are so flexible , for example Bernardo is probably seen as both a midfielder and attacker but if Bernardo is on the pitch playing as a winger he obviously can’t then be subbed on as a midfielder.

    • misteraaaaa@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      Exactly this. Look at the players mentioned in OPs post.

      Gvardiol. Ake. Akanji. Stones. Dias.

      They play CB and LB. That’s 5 players for 3 positions, and stones plays in midfield a lot.

      In the game against Chelsea, pep had 2 keepers on the bench and didn’t even name a full bench. That’s how lean their squad is. It’s just players being v positional flexible.

      For reference, United have 8 CBs/LBs - lisandro, varane, lindelof, maguire, Evans, shaw, malacia, reguillon - (8 players for 3 positions).

      Chelsea have 9 lbs/cbs - silva, colwill, fofana, badiashile, disasi, chalobah, cucu, chilwell, maatsen.

    • Disasterator@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      Their key seems to have been to have a solid playmaking midfielder and then the pieces around him. KDB/Rodri/Kovacic can have good skill set to play through