Why Manchester City NEED Marc Cucurella
Manchester City’s reported pursuit of Marc Cucurella tells us a lot about Pep’s desired play-style for next season.
Ever since the signing of Erling Haaland was confirmed, there have been questions as to how the Norwegian powerhouse will fit into such a technical and patient side.
Though, it seems as if Pep will look to make Haaland’s life as easy as possible, by changing Manchester City’s approach play throughout the possession phase.
Pep’s inverted full-back experiment
Benjamin Mendy’s situation off the pitch and Kyle Walker’s injury issues have left Pep short of full-backs this season - with the Spaniard ironically selling two ready-made options in Angelino and Pedro Porro.
The management of depth at the back has seen the likes of Joao Cancelo, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Nathan Ake play a combined 65 Premier League games this season, with Kyle Walker also managing 20 appearances.
WATCH THE VIDEO
When Walker has started at right-back this season, Cancelo has performed as an inverted full-back, with the Portuguese looking to cut inside and join the midfield in-possession.
He’s performed tremendously as a right-footed left-back, registering five assists in 22 appearances this season.
But the reported pursuit of Cucurella would suggest that Pep’s experiment with Cancelo as an inverted full-back is clearly over, with orthodox full-backs now looking as though they will have a place once again in the Spaniard’s ever-evolving system.
City’s change in tactics
The potential move for Cucurella suggests a lot about Pep Guardiola’s tactics going into next season, as he clearly wants a more direct and orthodox option at full-back to accommodate Erling Haaland as the out-and-out target man.
Operating as a left wing-back for Graham Potter’s Brighton side, the 23-year-old Spaniard has created an impressive 42 chances this season - which is more than Walker, Zinchenko and Ake’s combined total of 30 chances created. Cancelo meanwhile is just short of Cucurella’s total this season with 39 chances created respectively.
In what has been his debut Premier League season, former Barca starlet Cucurella has proven his creative acumen, and as such, has attracted the interest of Guardiola who will no doubt be looking at a left-footed full-back to fire in chances for incoming target-man Haaland.
Guardiola is clearly looking to take a page out of Jurgen Klopp’s tactical notebook - the one that hits a fine balance between a mass-possession foundation, merged with a loud and abrasive pressing system that leads to direct counter-attacking transitions.
With or without Cucurella, it looks as though the arrival of Haaland will result in a more direct approach from Guardiola, who will continue to write new pages in his book of ever evolving football schematics.