Manchester City's Stifling Midfield Paves Way for Cup Victory over Liverpool

Manchester City lifted the Capital One Cup on Sunday after beating Liverpool on penalties at Wembley (1-1 after extra time). Yaya Toure netted the winning spot kick after Willy Caballero had made three impressive saves.

Formations and XIs

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Liverpool were unchanged from their win over Augsburg midweek, meaning Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Daniel Sturridge all started.

City played all their usual big guns but did play Fernandinho on the right again (after impressing versus Dynamo Kiev there), and Caballero (the cup goalkeeper) kept his place over Joe Hart.

War zone

Inside the first minute of the game, Liverpool managed to free Alberto Moreno on the overlap, and Willy Caballero was forced to claim his driven, low cross. That moment hinted at the potential for an open, exciting game, but we were left disappointed with what was to follow.

Simply put, the central section of the pitch quickly became a war zone. The entirety of the first half was played out in a 30-yard area in the centre, with both sides recording plenty of tackles and interceptions and neither able to fashion much in terms of chances.

Only one occasion did a player break through the tangled mess of legs to create something: Yaya Toure shrugged off three markers and played in Bacary Sagna on the right for a cross which came to nothing.

Credit: Sky Sport

It was City who had it a rough spectacle—not that there’s anything technically wrong with that—by playing a lopsided midfield selection involving Fernandinho on the right wing. The formation flattened out into a very physical, lopsided 4-4-1-1, with the Brazilian frequenting the area Moreno would usually find so much space to surge into.

City closed the space between the lines well and, with Fernandinho playing narrow, lessened the strain on the generally-unreliable-when-tracking Toure.

Counters

With so much congestion in the centre, it really only left one method of attack open: counters. Liverpool weren’t able to fashion much, but City constructed three or four of note via different methods.

Early in the game it was Raheem Sterling who carried the ball into space well, prioritising with left side, and he won two early fouls that generated strong free-kick positions. As the game twisted and turned, though, it was Sergio Aguero who emerged as the chief channel runner—this time on the right side—and he gave the defensive line a lot of trouble.

It was from one of these types of attacks that City’s goal came: Aguero surged clear on the right, pausing on the edge of the box for support, and laid the ball on for the onrushing Fernandinho. With his options limited, the Brazilian powered a low shot at goal that squirmed beneath Simon Mignolet and into the net.

Liverpool panic

A goal down, despite the clock not yet reaching the 50-minute mark, Liverpool hit the panic button. It was truly, truly bizarre.

The cagey, considered performance of the first half—from which very little was created, but not too much was conceded—was hauled out of the window at the expense of a reckless, numbers-based approach.

The Reds simply threw bodies forward, pushing five or six into the box as they sought a quick equaliser. There wasn’t really any form of cohesive plan or strategy to it; they just ran at City and hoped something would happen.

Credit: Sky Sport

The result of this, of course, was that Liverpool were wide open defensively and extremely susceptible to the counter-attack. Aguero continued to run the channel between Lucas Leiva and Moreno and engineered three clear-cut chances inside a five-minute period. The Reds were fortunate he a) seemingly forgot his shooting boots and b) the referee opted not to give a penalty after Moreno tripped him in the box.

Jurgen Klopp accepted this after the match, stating that they “did not protect their offensive actions,” per B/R’s Karl Matchett. In other words, they went forward with reckless abandon and did not leave players in position to deal with clearances and counter-passes.

Switch to diamond

In bringing Adam Lallana on after 70 minutes, Klopp switched to a midfield diamond in order to try to bring some stability and organisation to the team. Shortly after, Divock Origi entered the fray too, and he lined up alongside Sturridge to make it a 4-4-2 diamond.

The equalising goal had a chaotic feel to it; a rogue ball in the box fell to Sturridge, who crossed, Lallana smacked the post, and Coutinho guided home the rebound. But as extra time started the system clicked, with Origi in particular offering a very different threat to Firmino before him.

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Going two vs. two up front stretched Vincent Kompany and Co., and in truth, the Belgian should have been sent off before the second half of extra time started. His aggressive nature got the better of him, and he committed several fouls high up to stop counters, yet he was booked for only one of them.

Origi’s speed and directness is something defenders despise, understandably, and his presence in the box was an issue for Caballero, who was finally called into action late on.

Quick Hits

• At the start of the extra time, Manuel Pellegrini brought on Pablo Zabaleta and Jesus Navas—a combo which essentially represented a new right-hand side. You’d expect that flank to become the focus of City’s play from then on—particularly given James Milner finished the game out of position at left-back—but they barely featured. Odd.
• Like Kompany, Fernandinho got away with a number of disruptive fouls on the turn that, under a different referee’s stewardship, could have seen him sent off. Moreno walked a real tightrope too, while some heavy fouls—such as the one by Lucas on Aguero—went unpunished. Michael Oliver did not have a good game.
• Toure tired as the game wore on, but he was absolutely fantastic on Sunday. Evading pressure, dictating play and pulling his team forward, he iced the cake by netting the winning penalty.
• Mignolet’s howler for Fernandinho’s goal was firmly made up for with a string of ridiculously good saves. Liverpool fans will still want to see him replaced, but he won’t be scapegoated for this loss.

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