The 2024/25 season was below Man City’s usual standard. Weak form, defensive weaknesses, and wasted chances saw them come up short, raising questions about whether Guardiola’s dominance was finally at an end. As Liverpool start the 2025/26 campaign as bookmakers’ favourites, the pressure on Pep Guardiola has increased. He needed to demonstrate that his tactical genius could still transform the Premier League.
What ensued was a great lesson in evolution. The readiness to change, focusing on defensive stasis, tactical domination in the midfield, and versatile formations, made Guardiola re-establish Man City. The result? A team has regained its identity and is once again a ruthless challenger for the Premier League crown. Is Citizens going to keep the ball rolling and be in the title mix come May? Let’s find out.
Historical Evolution of Pep Guardiola’s Tactics
Guardiola arrived at Man City in 2016 with strong values. His school of thought was position play, disciplined movements and well-organised zones. Players had designated zones and well-drilled buildup patterns and routines. His style has changed almost a decade later to a more flowing hybrid system.
Man City is now allowing its players to swap positions based on the pressure and match situations. This development reflects Guardiola’s view that contemporary football should be fluid rather than reliant on sophisticated defensive formations. The tactical adjustments achieved since the Spanish genius took over at the Etihad are as follows.
The Box Midfield Redux
The overwhelming box-to-box midfield formation was a characteristic of Man City’s recent seasons. This form contributed greatly to their title run in 2023. It enabled City to dominate the middle third. One of the full-backs would step up to assist Rodri when building up at the centre. Two midfielders worked between the lines to overload key central space, enhancing ball retention and defensive stability by sustaining City’s possession.
But the 2024/25 season has revealed new flaws in this arrangement. Renegades took advantage of transitional loopholes and counterattacked City with rapid attacks. Defeats to Tottenham and Brighton this season demonstrated the speed at which teams went around them. Guardiola reacted by being elegant in pressing triggers and improving defensive coordination.
The Emergence of the “Christmas Tree” Formation
The 4-3-2-1 formation, known as the narrow Christmas Tree, is one of the most exciting recent developments at Man City. This formation allows City to dominate the midfield and the rivals to duel with City on their terms. It was particularly successful against such strong rivals as Liverpool. Close midfield lines disrupted transitions and consistently blocked key passing lanes.
In advanced areas, turnovers enabled City to make instant attacks. The intelligence of central compression and spacing adds to the brilliance of the shape. Full-backs and wingers are freed to use wide channels as defenders are hauled narrow. It is a strategy chess game that the competition has not succeeded in countering.
Defensive Resurgence and Pressing Adjustments
Rectifying Defensive Inconsistency
Man City’s defensive performance in 2024 posed one of the most difficult challenges for Guardiola due to Rodri’s season-long injury. He was the barricade before the Citizens’ backline, which enabled them to stay focused. Being without him had seen them concede more goals than anticipated, courtesy of lapses in concentration during important matches.
Losses to Tottenham and Brighton highlighted deeper issues with discipline and structural organisation. Guardiola retorted by adding a defender back into midfield in the buildup. This formed a supple back three and greatly improved the coverage in the centre. The transition defence was enhanced, and gaps that opponents had exploited the previous season were minimised.
There has been a significant improvement across all competitions in this campaign, as indicated by the statistics. City now has 2.3 goals on average with only 0.8 goals against. Notably, the level of offensive output is also elite, and the anticipated goals are close to the highest in the league.
Refining the High Press and Transition Defence
Guardiola has always lived with a tactical identity as a city because it is aggressive. This made it dangerous last season, as opponents took advantage of gaps at the back of advanced midfield lines. Rapid retaliation strikes penalised City whenever it lost its possession in hazardous regions. During the transition periods, Guardiola modified the triggers for pressing and optimised recovery patterns.
Better defence mechanisms against rest are now in place, so those under fire do not get separated. Full-backs are more disciplined and decide when to proceed. They also sneak in where they are required to assist in creating a lean-back three. The outcome is a pressing system that combines intensity and enhanced defensive security.
Personnel and Player Integration
The line between defence and midfield has been indistinct with the use of inverted full-backs, especially Rico Lewis. This movement disrupts conventional patterns and creates uncertainty in resistant backlines. The full-back assists City by congesting the centre areas by going inside, and the wingers keep the width. This places defenders in a lose-lose situation: either follow the opponent with the ball inverted, leaving open spaces, or stay in place and allow City to control the midfield.
Rico Lewis represents this mixed position. His technical confidence allows him to play like a defender and a midfielder, which enables him to provide safe passing to build up play and provide defensive transition coverage. Combined with traditional touch-line wingers, City goes across opponents horizontally and, in the middle, takes the vertical upper hand.
Moreover, the pace, movement, and lethal finishing of Erling Haaland pose a direct threat to City that it did not have before. Haaland is the consummate vertical outlet, transforming half-chances with cold bloodiness. The genius of Guardiola is that he managed to integrate Haaland while maintaining City’s essence. Instead of having hopeful crosses, City makes use of Haaland to open space to wingers and midfield runners.
This dual-peril model possesses explosive directness, rendering City unpredictable and almost impossible to contain within the ninety minutes. The 14 EPL goals Haaland has already provided are a testament to the structural changes City has made to the club, which have brought balance and enhanced the quality of service to their main goal provider.
Impact of New Signings and Depth
The summer transfer window at Man City was aimed at addressing major areas of weakness and providing tactical versatility. Left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri is a balance of speed. Rayan Cherki’s creativity is an alternative to Kevin De Bruyne’s influence. Even though the injury has reduced Cherki’s impact, his comeback should be another dimension to City’s attack.
The energy in the midfield came from Tijjani Reijnders, who is dynamic and also presses well, complementing Rodri’s positional discipline. The intention is to make the Dutchman a partner of Nico Gonzalez to replace Rodri.
On deadline day, the greatest step was made with the contract signing of Gianluigi Donnarumma. Ederson is replaced by the Italian international, who can provide leadership and elite shooting skills. His initial run of four clean sheets has already helped City regain defensive control.
The integration of youth is one of the attributes of Guardiola’s project. Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb are mature enough for their age. The rise of Nico O’Reilly shows how deep the academy is, and that City can compete on several fronts without compromising quality.
Can Pep’s Tactical Shift Win Man City the League Title?
The tactical identity of The City of 2025/26 is constructed based on the established principles but executed in a more modern way. They remain the league standard in terms of ball retention and record possession above 60%. Guardiola has introduced a more direct, quicker edge to complement City’s traditional patience. There will be even more transitional strikes, particularly against the top European adversaries, as this is a sign of a more advanced recognition that many problems require a flexible solution.
New statistics support the change. More than 60 per cent of the City’s victories have been by one or two goals, indicating a safer, more controlled approach following an uneven opening. This is not the ruthless, high-scoring City of the old days, but a team that prevails by perseverance, discipline and controlled superiority.
Conclusion
Guardiola is not only an excellent tactician but also a leader willing to change. Most managers would have returned to the same systems after a dismal season, excusing the performance as a lack of execution. Guardiola settled on evolution, which addressed defensive shortcomings and even perfected the box-to-box midfield to avoid being exploited. He included players who complemented his vision and allowed the youngsters to play a significant role.
The 2025/26 season focuses on resilience and not radical innovation. There is still tactical sophistication, but City has switched to defensive solidity, discipline and consistency. This was visible in their victory over Liverpool before the break, as revealed in our round 11 EPL betting tips.
The Premier League crown is still attainable, as Guardiola’s team seeks to reassert dominance through collective determination rather than relying solely on new systems. Can they outsmart their rival to the title once again? It still depends on other variables and season dynamics.
