Kalvin Phillips' Butterfly Effect at Manchester City
After securing the capture of Kalvin Phillips at Manchester City…
Pep Guardiola may be left with a conflicting decision in the holding midfielder role…
The signing of Phillips is tactically fascinating and could have a knock-on effect on Rodri, who has proven himself as somewhat of a midfield maestro in possession this season.
And his return of seven goals and two assists from defensive midfield has reflected his efficiency as a well-rounded asset.
Though, his defensive numbers have faltered slightly and fall short of the metrics sustained by Phillips, leading us to believe that the England international will be the first choice pivot in Pep’s 4-3-3 system.
So, what happens to Rodri?
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Rodri’s… Promotion?
Rodri’s stability and attacking efficiency in the season just gone may have influenced the thinking of Pep, who could now be flirting with the idea of pushing the Spaniard up into a more progressive role as a central midfielder.
The 26-year-old made 19 appearances for Villarreal as a central midfielder and has registered some elite level numbers in-possession this season.
With an average of 80.79 passes per 90 at a completion rate of 92.7%, he is City’s best midfielder in terms of passing metrics, beating the likes of:
Kevin De Bruyne who achieves an average of 46.49 passes at a completion rate of 76.2%,
Bernardo Silva who averages 50.99 passes completed at a completion rate of 88.6%
as well as new City signing Kalvin Phillips who averages 43.36 passes completed at a completion rate of 81.5%.
He’s not exactly passive (excuse the pun) in-possession either, registering a match average of 7.69 passes into the final third and 5.68 progressive passes - beating Bernardo and Phillips, whilst falling just short of De Bruyne who averages an elite level 6.36 progressive passes per 90.
Why Rodri to CM makes sense
Phillips’ arrival will enable Pep to employ a 2-3-5 system in the build-up, which will vary throughout the attacking phase.
One method would require both full-backs to join the midfield throughout an inverted approach to accompany Phillips, which would see the central midfielders get forward in the same fashion that they did last season.
Whilst the second method would see Pep deploy his full-backs throughout an asymmetrical approach, in which Cucurella and Cancelo would mimic that of Robertson and Trent in sharing attacking duties through overlapping runs to create an overload down each flank on a rotated basis.
This method would still require stability in midfield, so one of the central midfielders would need to support Phillips both in and out of possession.
Which is why playing a well-rounded and defensively sound asset like Rodri as a central midfielder makes even more sense.
With the Spaniard averaging 96.12 touches per game, the majority of Manchester City’s play goes through him, and with 68.29 carries, he’s a progressive asset in midfield.
As a central midfielder, he would essentially carry out the role that Thiago Alcantara does for Liverpool, dropping deep to pick up the ball and dictate play through progressive passes.
In a 4-3-3 system, it’s a move that makes a lot of sense.
Though, if Pep is to revert back to the 4-2-3-1 system that we saw him use when he first arrived at City, a double-pivot duo of Rodri and Phillips would make even more sense.