Man City: What to expect in the 2022/23 Premier League season

Manchester City have won the Premier League in four of the last five seasons, cementing their status as the dominant team in England’s top flight. It has not always been like this for the Etihad Stadium outfit, who were bought over by investors from Abu Dhabi and have gradually grown to become a behemoth.

Manager Pep Guardiola is largely responsible for their domestic success in recent years, with the Spaniard continuing his long-established trend of success at Man City. Previously, he excelled at both Barcelona and Bayern Munich. 

But though Man City have pushed neighbours Manchester United into the shade, Guardiola has yet to crack the Champions League with this group of players. That will be a major target for the 2022/23 season, as well, of course, as reclaiming their Premier League title for a third successive season.

Top players

Manchester City are led by Belgium international Kevin De Bruyne from an attacking midfield position. Their tactics are reliant on smart ball possession and clever passing to unlock opposing defences, which often try to restrict the space City’s players have to pass into. De Bruyne, though, is a magician in possession and offers incredible vision around the penalty area.

Phil Foden, meanwhile, is showing signs of gaining such a level. At 22 years old, he is one of the best young English players of an impressive generation.

In recent seasons, Man City have been criticised for lacking a physical focal point to their attack. Guardiola has tried to remedy that by signing Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund, a brutish striker expected to be one of the world’s best players over the next decade or more. Haaland is expected to thrive in his new side.

Guardiola has previously bought smartly when it comes to plugging holes in his side. Until two years ago, it was thought that Man City had a shaky defence. Ruben Dias was signed from Benfica and cured that problem. Now he is regarded as one of the best central defenders in world, capable of both defensive excellence and quality on the ball.

Similarly, City have seen their play down the wings develop in recent seasons. Joao Cancelo has emerged as one of their key players in a wing-back function. It seemed at times last season that Guardiola was effectively using Cancelo as a winger – and the 28-year-old thrived off this. 

And the stars of Guardiola’s side cannot be discussed without a mention for goalkeeper Ederson, who is one of the best in his position in the world. He is especially able with the ball at his feet, emphasising the importance that Man City place on technical players.

Raheem Sterling scored frequently during his Man City career, but Pep Guardiola is confident his team will be stronger without the England international

Tactics and formation

Pep Guardiola typically plays a variant of a 4-3-3 formation with Man City. This could be the traditional shape for this system or it might be a 4-1-4-1, in which the wingers are asked to play a more defensive role. Equally, it could be a 4-2-3-1, in which there is one advanced central midfielder, which is often De Bruyne.

With Haaland in his ranks this season, Guardiola may adapt his tactics a little to allow the pace and power of the former Borussia Dortmund player to be better exploited. During the 2021/22 season, Foden was often deployed as a false 9 with Gabriel Jesus, now of Arsenal, fielded in a wide role. Now it is expected that they will have a clearer focal point to their attack.

Perhaps more important than formation to Guardiola is the style. Man City will look to dominate teams with their relentless possession, which requires technically excellent players in the centre of the park, such as Rodri. They will look to create spaces out wide for their attacking full-backs to exploit, and if this cannot be done, they now have the option of a more direct approach to Haaland.

Defensively, Man City like to press opponents high up the park into making errors, which is similar in style to Liverpool, though they are not quite as energetic in this part of the game as their rivals.

Indeed, they use possession as a defensive tactic at times, too. The old adage that the opponents cannot score if they do not have the ball is certainly something that applied to Guardiola’s men at times. 

Strengths and weaknesses

Man City’s greatest strength is their ball possession. There is no team in world football as technically sound as Guardiola’s side, who can retain the ball for extended periods to frustrate opponents. This is such a power that in recent years it has been their chief tactic.

Equally, though, this has been their undoing in the past. At times it feels that City try to keep possession more than they try to score goals, particularly when the opponent sits in deep and frustrates them for extended periods. It is hoped the arrival of Haaland will alleviate this problem by giving them a ‘Plan B’ that they have lacked previously.

City’s grinding tactics generally have the desired effect, though. They scored 99 Premier League goals last season – and given there is a widespread belief that they can still step up a level offensively, this is ominous for their rivals.

They possess great unity and clear tactical idea of what they want to achieve. It is a formidable combination.

They have few obvious weaknesses. Defence certainly used to be a problem, but they finished last term with the joint best record at the back. Meanwhile, although they can be vulnerable on transition, very few teams are able to exploit that in a meaningful manner.  

How does the team compare to last year?

Erling Haaland is clearly the headline transfer arrival at Manchester City this summer. The former Borussia Dortmund striker found the net at the rate of a goal per game while with the Bundesliga side, and Guardiola will expect him to get something like that even in his first Premier League season.

It remains to be seen just how big a role Kalvin Phillips might have at the Etihad Stadium this season after being signed for big money from Leeds. The England midfielder is broadly expected to be a fringe player, despite his transfer fee. Nevertheless, he should add impressive depth to the squad. Goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, meanwhile, is little more than a supplementary player to the group.

Although there are technically only three new faces in Guardiola’s squad this season, there is excitement over Julian Alvarez, who was signed in January but remained on loan at River Plate. The young Argentine is spoken about in exceedingly high terms and excelled at the top level of South American football, so is one to keep an eye on.

Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus were the most prominent names sold this summer by Guardiola as Man City enter a period of rejuvenation in their squad. Between them, they had nearly 400 games and 150 Premier League goals. Sterling has moved to Chelsea and Jesus has been transferred to Arsenal, which is a sign that City are confident that they can offload significant players to their Premier League rivals and still be stronger than them.

Indeed, Gabriel Jesus is joined at Arsenal by Oleksandr Zinchenko, who was a player used on 28 occasions last season.

Man City are known for their big spending, but they have a healthy net spend this season, largely because they have been able to sell off these players at strong prices.

Supplementing these outgoings are Pedro Porro, Ko Itakura and Arijanet Muric, who would not have seen any first-team action at the club.

Five players have been released: Fernandinho, Daniel Arzani, Ryotaro Meshino, Zack Steffan and Diego Rosa. Of these, veteran midfielder Fernandinho is clearly the most important. He became an icon of Guardiola’s side with his sturdy performances in midfield, where he became Man City captain over nine years at the club. FernaNdinho has joined Athletico Paranaense, where he started his career.

Prediction

Champions. Manchester City remain the team to beat in the Premier League. They offer a formidable technical level and the addition of Haaland to Guardiola’s attacking unit should elevate them to an even higher level. A third Premier League title in succession is well within their grasp.