EPL 2017/18: Five things that could be different at Manchester City this season

Manchester City, managed by Pep Guardiola, are already bookies favourites this season to secure their third Premier League title. There were very huge expectations after the arrival of the much revered Pep Guardiola last season, but they managed to only cling on to a Champions League spot after finishing a disappointing third last season.

They have gone all guns blazing in the transfer market, spending over £200 million on some new, impressive, young incoming signings in their quest for silverware.

The new season has already begun and here are the 5 things which could be different for Manchester City this season in their bid for the league title and the Champions League:

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#1 Change in formation

Manchester City started the preseason against their nemesis Manchester United in a 4-3-3 formation which they used for the majority of the last season, losing 2-0 against them. They shifted to 3-5-2 after the game against Manchester United in the preseason friendlies and followed it up with the same formation against Brighton in the opening Premier League fixture.

The defence looked solid with the cool head of Vincent Kompany marshalling the 3-man defence and the newly bought full-backs protecting the flanks apart from contributing to the attack.

Kevin De Bruyne looked to have found more freedom thanks to the solid defence and the screening from Yaya Toure and he looked like having a better understanding with Jesus. We might be able to witness more of Aguero-Jesus paired together up front this season.

With a solid defence and increased freedom for Silva and De Bruyne, teams might find it more difficult to stop them compared to last season. We might be able to witness more of 3-5-2 this season considering its success in the pre-season and in the opening fixture and it might turn out to be too good for the opposition teams to solve.

#2 Mentality of the manager and the team

Pep with his players in a friendly game

Pep Guardiola is definitely one of the most successful managers in the present era in terms of trophies. The expectations were obviously sky high right from his first day here.

Manchester City have always been title favourites after the past three pre-seasons but they have not even managed to put up a fight for the title, which delineates a bit about the winning mentality of the team.

A 4-2 loss against Leicester and a 4-0 loss against Everton further questioned the determination and resilience of the players, especially after dominating most part of the game against Everton. Pep was never convinced with the performances even after 10 consecutive victories at the start of the last season.

He was able to predict the pit-falls beforehand and was repeatedly emphasising that his team was not good enough to win the title. Fast forward 9 months, Pep has described his team to have played the best football under his tenure in a preseason friendly against Spurs. He was visibly happy with the performance against Brighton, especially in the boxes in spite of not creating many clear chances like they usually do.

That speaks volumes about the confidence of the manager at present. With the solid back line in the preseason and against Brighton, the chemistry in the team was better than ever and one can anticipate the same in the course of the season too. The resilience and the winning mentality was finally found to have started surfacing at the end of last season, when the boys managed to scrap past Leicester with a 2-1 victory in-spite of not playing the resplendent, vibrant football, the characteristic football that they demonstrate whenever they were able to win comfortably.

#3 A slight tweak in tactics, style of play

A band of cerebral coaches

The major and typical characteristics of the Pep's football will never be affected, no matter which club he manages. The style of playing from the back, having possession, wing backs occupying space in the midfield, high pressing et al. will be eternal in his football, but we might witness small differences in approach mainly due to the team's ability to adapt to various formations.

Pep wanted his Barca team to imagine the game as playing with a ball of fire and was against taking many touches with the ball. With the chemistry in the team burgeoning and with the players having a better understanding of the Pep's idea and vision, we can expect more intricate passes, more overlaps and more Barcelona-esque football this season. The money shelled to buy high quality players having superior abilities to retain the ball should help in the aforementioned.

Last season, we witnessed Sterling and Sane playing as traditional wingers, trying to cut inside from the wing and cross the ball to the strikers in the box.

City are now expected to shuffle between the 3-5-2 formation where there won’t be any outright wingers and 4-3-3 formation. In the latter, the players might be instructed to play more closer to the box and play more centrally with the superior ball retaining skills of the new signing Bernardo Silva and the agile full backs being able to provide the width.

We might also expect central midfielders to take more shots at the goal which was a very rare sight last season.

#4 The revamped defence

If Kompany can keep fit, City will have a solid defence

Pep Guardiola's style of football always relies heavily on the full backs. Dani Alves still holds the prestigious record of being the best provider for Messi, most of which was under Pep's era. Pep had the luxury of playing two of the arguably best full backs in the world with Bayern and they were highly influential too.

Thanks to the massive money spent on the full backs, Walker and Danilo looked like typical Guardiola full backs. Constantly bombarding down the flanks and supporting the attack, pinning down the opposition wingers and protecting their flanks, which was evident in the pre season and in the fixture against Brighton.

Walker was rightly adjudged man of the match for his all round show against Brighton. With the arrival of Mendy and ability of the Danilo to play on both sides of the pitch, they finally seem to have the much needed quality and depth on the sides to bully the opposition wingers and the wing backs.

With Walker and Mendy, City arguably have got the best full backs in the league. There have not been many changes in the central defence, with the exception of departure of Kolarov. However, Vincent Kompany could look like a new signing if he manages maintain the fitness throughout the season.

The dynamics of the defence entirely changed when the captain was fit and was on the pitch at the end of last season. The mystery of leadership which was missing for most part of the last season will no more be mysterious if the captain stays on the pitch this season. The world record signing, John Stones, who was very shaky last season, might thrive under the influence of the captain in a 3-man defence and there were signs of that in the preseason friendlies against Real Madrid and Spurs.

#5 Finally a goal keeper who can save

Ederson

Displacing a proven, a local and a fan-favourite Joe Hart was the easily the biggest and the most controversial decision which Pep undertook after his arrival. The proven replacement, Claudio Bravo, who had a very big shoes to fill, was expected to flourish after his heroics for his national team However, he floundered and ultimately turned out to be catastrophic.

Bravo had one of the worst saves-goals ratio of 28%, easily the worst among the teams which finished on the top six last season. Now, big money has been splashed for Ederson Moraes, a goalkeeper with an extremely high potential and the best custodian in the Portuguese league last season, moving ahead of the legendary Iker Casillas.

Being a typical Guardiola style goal keeper, he has an incredible passing ability, accurate distribution, has nerves like steel and is never afraid of coming out and playing as a sweeper keeper.

In spite of the poor start with an error leading to a goal against Romelu Lukaku, he has displayed glimpses of his shot-stopping ability with a brilliant triple save against United in the dying minutes of the preseason game.

He was solid and comfortable when called into action in the other preseason friendlies. Edwin Van der Sar, a Manchester United legend, described him as having the potential to become one of the best in the world. If his prophecy turns out to be true, City might have finally found out the one who can replace the memories of Joe Hart and most importantly make saves and occasionally assists as well.