Kompany's Form and Tactical Balance Are Behind Manchester City's Searing Start

With eight scored, none conceded and nine points from nine in the bag, many are suggesting Manchester City are back. They’ve wowed in every aspect so far despite barely integrating two new summer signings worth €60 million between them, destroying West Bromwich Albion on the opening Monday Night Football fixture, soundly beating defending champions Chelsea the following weekend and then overcoming a stern test from Everton away from home.

It’s always dangerous to examine small sample sizes such as these; drawing conclusions from the first three games of the season is a fool’s errand in truth. It’s akin to scouting at the World Cup and deciding to drop £15 million on a player solely based on their performances at the tournament, and it’s worth remembering Aston Villa accrued 10 points from their first four games in 2014-15, including an away victory at Anfield, before sliding down the table and fighting off relegation for the rest of the season. It’s rarely truly representative.

But what we can do is analyse the Citizens tactically and take a look at how they differ from last season’s iteration—that can give us clues as to whether they really are a changed animal. Here, B/R examines the three key factors in City’s early, impressive run of form.

1. Marked Defensive Improvement

When Martin Demichelis is your best and most consistent defender in 2015, you’ve got a problem on your hands. Many, many questions were asked of Vincent Kompany last season as his form hit the gutter, and £40 million man Eliaquim Mangala managed to play even worse when given the chance. That Joleon Lescott, discarded from the City squad last summer, had an absolutely terrific season with West Brom was a fact positively marinated in irony.

But whatever Manuel Pellegrini has said to the defensive corps this summer—full-backs included—it’s had a major effect. Be it motivational or coaching, the Chilean has fixed his captain’s performances and everyone else seems to be feeding off them.

Kompany made his name as an aggressive stopper-type centre-back; he’s the man who spots danger early and dashes out to quell it to a roar of approval from the crowd; he’s the clever one of the two central defenders. But somewhere along the line, over the past 18 months, he ended up looking more like a lost child when dashing out. He became an aimless, wandering figure, sauntering out of the line and leaving gaping holes for opponents to exploit and constantly missing interceptions. His defending of the near-post also took a turn for the worst, and any striker in his general vicinity felt they had a chance of nipping ahead of him and scoring if fed the ball.

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That fact was hammered home by Wilfried Bony’s Swansea City at the Etihad Stadium last year despite losing the game 2-1. The Ivorian, now a Citizen of course, swept home a lovely chipped pass by Nathan Dyer to give his side the lead in the fixture, and it was a goal made possible due to Kompany’s horrendous judging of the situation.

He got into a nasty habit of tearing out and misjudging patterns of play, leaving a hole to be exploited and then simply gesticulating half-heartedly in the aftermath of another goal.

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But now he’s focused, honed in on the play. He’s stepping into midfield successfully to snap at the deep-lying forward’s heels, being decisive in his play when he chooses to venture forward and dominating aerially as usual. Mangala is responding to this and adopting the sweeper role in the partnership, dropping off and at times man-marking the striker if Kompany drops in to take the runner.

Over the course of the first three games Mangala has looked every bit the £40 million player, and that’s not only because Kompany has found form, but also because their partnership (with roles and responsibilities) is set. Mangala is being exposed less because Kompany is making significantly fewer mistakes, and the stopper-sweeper combination—tried and tested throughout time—has created a platform for success.

2. Balance Across the Pitch

Cast your minds back to the opening weekend of the 2013-14 season, in which Manchester City won the title in Manuel Pellegrini’s maiden season with the club. The blueprint with which the Chilean got the job was free-flowing, attacking football, and in the Citizens’ opener at home to Newcastle United, they showcased just that.

The opening goal of their season epitomised the approach; in stark contrast to the rigid, organised Roberto Mancini, Pellegrini let his players off the leash and offered the chance to express freedom and creativity. The first goal scored that day against Alan Pardew’s men saw Edin Dzeko separate to the left and cross for David Silva, filling his colleague’s usual position up front during a nuance in play, to head home.

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It set the tone for the rest of the campaign—a campaign City would go on to be crowned Premier League champions in. Pass and move, duck and weave, entertain the crowd and dazzle the fans while accumulating points.

Right now, it feels just like that opening weekend in 2013.

A sizeable part of the Citizens’ eye-catching improvements are down to balance, or rather the restoration of. Despite suggesting he’d ally himself to a rotating 4-3-3 in pre-season, Pellegrini has pressed ahead with the 4-2-3-1 in the early parts of the schedule and been rewarded with superb attacking displays.

The Chilean tactician has infused his XI with dynamism and pace in the form of £49 million man Raheem Sterling, rebuilt Jesus Navas’ confidence to retain natural width and allowed David Silva—perhaps too often marginalised in a wider role during his time in England—to ruin riot from the No. 10 position. The results have been devastating.

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Linking that trio of players together, behind a roving, roaming, hungry Sergio Aguero up front, has worked wonders. Pellegrini believes in maximising the amount of space his team have to play in and that requires stretching the pitch both ways; Sterling does it vertically, while Navas enlarges it horizontally.

The full-backs, too, have a nice feel to them. In 2015 it’s become preferable to pair one more attacking defender with a more reserved one—not many go Seamus Coleman plus Leighton Baines when they configure their XI—and Bacary Sagna provides a steady defensive accompaniment to the marauding Aleksandar Kolarov over on the left. Kolarov’s ability to overlap and drill in crosses complements Sterling’s lust for cutting inside; Sagna’s more reserved nature gives Navas the chance to take a few more risks when weedling down the sidelines.

Yaya Toure is pushing forward while Fernandinho holds, and if another man is needed in midfield, Vincent Kompany steps in to mark between the lines. City have made the pitch big and they’re having fun with it; they’re utilising the space created by interchanging and roaming, but crucially the strategy and personnel are balanced.

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Silva was stunning last season, as was Aguero, but the others struggled. The midfield looked a little laboured, Fernandinho suffered from a fitness/form hangover from the 2014 FIFA World Cup and Toure’s second half of the season was destroyed due to Africa Cup of Nations-induced exhaustion.

Pellegrini’s introduction of Sterling (and Fabian Delph when fit enough) gives them a direct, speedier edge they were lacking, while Navas’ comeback has been quite the welcome tonic too. Attacking-wise this team are clicking in every department, and Pellegrini deserves credit for matching up the right players with the right approach.

3. A Sprinkling of the Good Stuff

Of course, even with new-found defensive solidity and a wonderfully balanced outlook, you still need that dose of elite quality to put you in the position City is in. Pellegrini has the best striker in the league in Aguero, but also the best No. 10 in Silva and, on his day, the best No. 6 in Yaya Toure. That helps a lot.

Aguero is yet to really start sizzling, as the Copa America wrecked his chance at a pre-season (again) and he’s playing catch-up on fitness. Bony held the fort in the first game, but Pellegrini couldn’t resist throwing the Argentine in for Game 2 against Chelsea and was rewarded with a scintillating, goalscoring display.

Silva and Toure, though, are flying. The former has been the best performer in the entirety of the Premier League over the course of the first three games, while Yaya Toure has been the third-best (second is Riyad Mahrez).

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"We spoke a lot before the season and I am sure we are going to see the same Yaya we saw a couple of seasons ago," Manuel Pellegrini told the Guardian after his blistering display against West Brom. Two seasons ago Toure scored 20 in the league as City pipped Liverpool to the title, wrecking a number of teams in the process and showcasing his awe-inspiring blend of technique and power.

Surging from deep he’s been a difference-maker—be it with his splendid passing range or his shuttling, forceful runs—and combine that with Silva’s red-hot form, in which he’s been tormenting defences with the ball as you would a cat with a string toy, and you establish the star quality needed in the essential central zones.

4. Moving Forward

Pellegrini has always been rather mindful of balance, so it would be a surprise to see him tinker with the team too heavily despite new arrivals pressing for playing time and fringe players chomping at the bit on the bench.

Kolarov currently has Gael Clichy at arm’s length and Pablo Zabaleta’s out for a month, meaning the Serbian can continue to play opposite the quietly impressive Sagna for another four games at least. Bony can slip in up front in lieu of Aguero and nothing truly needs to change in terms of approach.

But Nicolas Otamendi is a stopper-type central defender like Kompany, which could cause issues, as both may be looking to hunt for the same balls and make the same movement. Kevin De Bruyne, rumoured to be a £54 million target for the club, per the Guardian, is an inventive No. 10 who needs to play centrally in order to drift laterally to find space. He likes to dart wide and create overloads and evade defensive attention by finding horizontal pockets to abuse and that could disrupt Silva’s flow. De Bruyne won’t thrive if he’s played right wing; he can’t move as he’d like and City would sacrifice the important width Navas provides.

So despite an incredibly impressive start, the next three weeks will in fact shape City’s season far more than the previous three. How Pellegrini adjusts his defensive line for Otamendi and how he fits De Bruyne in, if the Belgian joins, could take them to the next level...or facilitate a collapse from the inside.