[Overlapping centre backs]

I have wanted this for ages! If you go back and watch Guardiola's Bayern when they played 3-4-3/3-5-2 they often had Alaba as the wide left CB, who would then roam forward or join the midfield when the play was in the final third to create a 2-3-5, I'd love to be able to create something like that.

Maybe have a player instruction on the BPD to either join the midfield (as in move into the DM strata) or move high and wide (as in the WB strata)

Or alternatively allow the Libero to be selected in any of the CB positions

[Manchester City Pep Guardiola Tactic Recreation]

4 minutes ago, fasmercurio said:

You are losing your time. It’s just impossible to represent in ME. All you can do is theorize about it. You can “write in the paper” but it won’t work.

I 100% agree, but it's fun to try and get as close to it as possible

[Manchester City Pep Guardiola Tactic Recreation]

4 minutes ago, themadsheep2001 said:

IWB support had really nice movement, then moving back out wide.

I've never got it to work fair play to you!

[Manchester City Pep Guardiola Tactic Recreation]

8 minutes ago, LeonardSnart said:

Yeah, 4-1-4-1 is intresting option. Definitely I'll think about it.

One more question:

What about a high won matches, such as 7-2 against Stoke (last season) or 6-1 against Southampton (this season) where Sane played on the left and Sterling on the right?

Wingers were wingers(A) and fullback were IWB(S/A)?

I have to say in real life Sane and Mendy do not work on the left so I wouldnt want to recreate that on football manager, it was essentially a W (S) and a CWB (A) and both were taking up similar positions

 

The IWB (A) doesnt really work in a Pep system as it would end up taking up the same positions as the MEZ (S) (I know this because I tried it haha)

[Manchester City Pep Guardiola Tactic Recreation]

12 minutes ago, XcilPersion said:

Thinking about it, ain't it better to start in some sort of 4141 instead of 41221 if you want to replicate Man City? With the IWB you might benefit more of the ML/MR during build-up compared to AML/AMR so the CB can actually play it to the wide midfielder?

4-1-4-1 doesn't press high enough for me, even if you increase the line of engagement to its highest, if you play with W (S) in the AMRL strata they still get back to defend in a 4-1-4-1 shape, even to an extent a W (A) will, the Raumdeuter does so rarely but still does on occasion, IF (S) and (A) doesnt work for me at all for Pep Guardiola formations, it might help if you could ask them to move into channels, they obviously work for other formations

[Manchester City Pep Guardiola Tactic Recreation]

19 minutes ago, themadsheep2001 said:

Some really nice suggestions here. I agree that Walker is very much an inverted Wingback, with Mendy playing higher and wider. Aguero definitely isn't on an attack role, he's somewhere between a False and a support forward (CF-S would be my pick). You could play either  a 4-14-1, or a 4-3-3 with support roles for the wide roles. But the wide roles and the RB role are often subject to change. and of course the formation is subject to change too

This might interest some here: https://betweentheposts.net/manchester-city-united-3-1-guardiolas-side-dominate-lopsided-attack-display-sublime-possession-skills-secure-win/

Problem with the IWB (D) position is that yes, it copies Walkers movements when he moves into midfield, but it doesn't create his main position of a wide center back, which is why I like the No Nonsense Full Back with Sit Narrower selected

[Manchester City Pep Guardiola Tactic Recreation]

40 minutes ago, Gegenklaus said:

Pretty exciting to read this. One thing is formation, roles and duties. Another thing is mentality and team instructions. How would you set that up?

I go with Tiki Taka and just change the width to as wide as possible that's all I'd change

[Manchester City Pep Guardiola Tactic Recreation]

4 minutes ago, argenmik said:

seconded. this is bang on. all season you have been defending in a 4-1-4-1 and attacking with a 3 man defence, always with the right fullback whether its Walker or stones acting as a 3rd cb in attack. to be honest i think its all very much dependant on the players avaialabe. in midweek when zinchekno played full back his qualities lead to an inverted fullback and sane on the wing is much more of a traditional winger than sterling when he is on the left.

Very much agreed, when Zinchenko and Delph play at left back they become Inverted Wing Backs and it tends to change the structure to this;

 

GK - SK (A)

DR - NFB (D) - Sit Narrower, Cut Inside with Ball

DL - IWB (S) - Hold Position, Shoot Less

DC - BPD (C)/Libero (S)

DC - BPD (D)

DM - RGA (S)

MC - MEZ (S) - Shoot Less, Dribble Less

MC - MEZ (A) - Shoot Less, Dribble Less

AMR - W (S) - Get Further Forward, Cross From Byline

AML - W (S) - Get Further Forward, Cross From Byline

STCR - CF (A)

it still attacks as a 3-5-2 and defends as a 4-1-4-1, to make it a 3-5-2 the attacking Mezzala becomes the auxiliary striker, thus the movement of the striker to the wider striker position, which also frees up space for the inverted wing back to move into, becoming a central midfielder.

The striker has changed to an attacking role, due to less players breaking from deep, this formation wouldn't work with a Raumdeuter, due to the spaces the attacking Mezzala takes up, so we need to supporting wingers to stay wide, keeping the central areas unoccupied, we saw this alot last season when Mendy was injured.

If you want to know as well we play 3-5-2 as a set formation and a 3-4-2-1 which I particularly like.

3-5-2;

GK - Ederson - SK (A)

DCR - Vincent Kompany - BPD (D)

DC - John Stones - Libero (S)

DCL - Aymeric Laporte - BPD (D)

MR - Raheem Sterling - W (A)

MCR - Kevin De Bruyne - MEZ (S) - Shoot Less, Dribble Less

MC - Fernandinho - DLP (D)

MCL - David Silva - MEZ (S) - Shoot Less, Dribble Less

ML - Benjamin Meny - W (A)

STCR - Gabriel Jesus - F9 (S) - Roam From Position

STCL - Sergio Aguero - F9 (S) - Roam From Position

 

3-4-2-1;

GK - Ederson - SK (A)

DCR - Vincent Kompany - BPD (D)

DC - John Stones - Libero (S)

DCL - Aymeric Laporte - BPD (D)

MR - Raheem Sterling - W (A)

MCR - Ilkay Gundogan - DLP (D)

MCL - Fernandinho - DLP (D)

ML - Benjamin Mendy - W (A)

AMCR - Kevin De Bruyne - AM (S) - Get Further Forward, Move Into Channels, Shoot Less

AMCL - David Silva - AM (S) - Get Further Forward, Move Into Channels, Shoot Less

ST - Sergio Aguero - CF (S) - Roam From Position

The 3-4-2-1 might be abit odd in that there are 4 players on with a defend duty, however it is integral so that the formation creates the "magic box" of 2 defensive midfielders and 2 attacking midfielders, I have tried it with 2 DLP (S) in the DM strata but that is a lot less stable due to having no players in the CM strata.

It is excellent in outnumbering teams that have 3 players in the CM strata, or only one defensive midfielder.

Never play this against a 4-2-3-1 of any kind, I am yet to work out which formation is best against that formation.

[Manchester City Pep Guardiola Tactic Recreation]

It is very tricky to replicate in real life, as he uses very similar formations with slight differences every match (Am a City fan, from Manchester believe it or not!)

For example, against United yesterday he used a 4-3-3, which in defence is a 4-1-4-1 and in attack is a 3-5-2 which I would set up as below;

GK - Ederson - SK (A)

DR - Kyle Walker - NFB (D) - Sit Narrower, Cut Inside With Ball

DL - Benjamin Mendy - CWB (A)

DC - John Stones - BPD (C)/Libero (S)

DC - Aymeric Laporte - BPD (D)

DM - Fernandinho - RGA (S)

MC - Bernardo Silva - MEZ (S) - Dribble Less, Shoot Less

MC - David Silva - MEZ (S) - Dribble Less, Shoot Less

AMR - Riyad Mahrez - W (S) - Cross From Deep, Shoot Less

AML - Raheem Sterling - RMD (A)

STCR - Sergio Aguero - F9 (S) - Roam From Position, Shoot Less

It's really important to have the striker in the striker centre right position, so that the Raumdeuter has space to move centrally, and the Complete Wing Back has the room to move forward into a left winger position, the No Nonsense Full Back acts really well as an auxiliary center back, however you will have to train them to not Get Forward Whenever Possible

Against Liverpool however in defence it acted as a 4-4-1-1, and in attack it was a 3-5-2 as below;

GK - Ederson - SK (A)

DR - Kyle Walker - NFB (D) - Sit Narrower, Cut Inside with Ball

DL - Benjamin Mendy - CWB (A)

DC - John Stones - BPD (C)/Libero (S)

DC - Aymeric Laporte - BPD (D)

MR - Riyad Mahrez - IW (A) - Cross From Deep, Cross More Often

ML - Raheem Sterling - IW (S) - Cross From Deep, Cross More Often, Get Further Forward

MC - Bernardo Silva - DLP (S)

MC - Fernandinho - DLP (D)

AMCR - David Silva - AM (A) - Shoot Less

STCL - Sergio Aguero - F9 (S) - Roam From Position

To someone who hasn't followed City it could look like both formations were the same, but in fact they were very very different, the main reason we went with a player in the AM strata against Liverpool is to give their midfielders something to think about, as their pressing is excellent however if we managed to play through their press David Silva would be in acres all game, so it does one of two things A) gives Silva more room to work in B) it stops Liverpool pressing so high to cover the spaces Silva takes up

Both formations I would go with the Tiki Taka set up but change the attacking width to as wide as possible, other than that everything stays the same