The stark reality of watching a Pep Guardiola midfield in 2025

“There was a time when Pep Guardiola used to fantasise about fielding a team made entirely of midfielders. … He pushed boundaries — or rather he turned the entire pitch into one vast midfield. His central defenders and even his goalkeepers (Victor Valdes at Barcelona, Manuel Neuer at Bayern Munich, Ederson at Manchester City) would pass the ball as precisely as other teams’ playmakers. Full-backs or central defenders would instinctively and seamlessly push up into midfield. Often he would go without a conventional centre-forward, preferring a ‘false nine’ who could drop back into midfield, flooding the middle of the pitch with nimble, intelligent technical players who enabled his team to dominate almost every game they played. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
NY Times/The Athletic – Manchester City 3 Chelsea 1: Is Sanchez’s position becoming untenable? How did Guardiola unpick Maresca’s plan?