- Manchester City are yet to win in their last three pre-season friendlies, having recently drawn 2-2 at Barcelona after 90 minutes before losing 4-1 on penalties.
- The “Sky Blues” also have their final warm-up match in America, which is against Chelsea before going to play in the Community Shield against Manchester United.
- There were plenty of talking points in this game, from Kalvin Phillips’s positioning at centre-back to Nico O’Reilly’s impressive display.
Manchester City are yet to win in their last three pre-season friendlies and most recently drew 2-2 with Barcelona. After 90 minutes before losing 4-1 on penalties.
The Citizens fell behind on both occasions, with Pau Victor putting Barca ahead in the 24th minute but Nico O’Reilly equalising in the 39th minute. However, just before the break in the 45+2 minute, Pablo Torre scored to put Hansi Flick’s side back in the lead.
Pep Guardiola’s men fought back and managed to equalise through Jack Grealish, who fired a beautiful shot past Inaki Peña. There were no more goals in the remaining time. So it was decided in the penalty shootout.
Barca scored first and failed to score, while Man City missed two goals, Kalvin Phillips and Jacob Wright, and lost 4-1.
Man City also have one last friendly match in America. Which is against Chelsea before playing in the Community Shield against Manchester United on August 10.
There was plenty to talk about in this game, from Kalvin Phillips’s start at centre-back to the impressive performance of Nico O’Reilly. And here’s what we saw at the Camping World Stadium on Wednesday morning.
Phillips in the role of centre-back
Kalvin Phillips has come under heavy criticism for his poor form since joining from Leeds United.
With Rodri also part of the squad, the 28-year-old has struggled to make an impact when given the chance, and it’s no wonder Pep Guardiola hasn’t given him a chance. Leading to him being sent out on loan to West Ham United for the second half of last season.
The poor performances led West Ham to opt out of the buy-out option and send Phillips back to Man City this summer.
Although Phillips has not impressed in the past two friendlies as a holding midfielder, he has impressed at centre-back when partnering Josko Gvardiol.
There were almost no mistakes, the tackles were accurate. The positioning was smooth. Maybe Guardiola will have a new idea before next season.
Guardiola in his familiar position
When Man City first signed Josko Gvardiol. Many believed he would take over the centre-back position from John Stones and Ruben Dias for a huge fee.
However, the Croatian was moved to left-back for the entire season and it wasn’t until the second half of the season that he really got into the game.
Guardiola isn’t just a left-back who plays in defence. As we’ve seen him frequently roam the penalty area, which has led to more goal involvements.
Playing left-back has become his main position. So when he has to return to the centre-back position where he was born. Guardiola doesn’t seem to be playing naturally and has also had moments where he slips up. But we can find an excuse for him since it’s only pre-season.
O’Reilly has a good build.
There have been many questions about the name Nico O’Reilly, a 19-year-old midfielder. Who is he that has given him the opportunity to start all three of the past games?
The 193cm midfielder has impressed with his ability to get into the box and score goals, something he has shown since his debut against Glasgow Celtic.
In the game against AC Milan. He also had a chance to score a goal, but finally succeeded in the last game against Barcelona.
O’Reilly ran into space to receive a pass from Guardiola before firing past Peña, reminiscent of Ilkay Gundogan’s goal-scoring skills.
It will be interesting to see what Guardiola plans for next season, as the https://ufabet999.app
team’s midfield is solid. Perhaps loaning him out to play regularly in the first team would be a good idea.
Man City are yet to win in pre-season
Even though it’s pre-season, Guardiola probably doesn’t want his team to lose or even not win in three games like this. Otherwise, the Spanish coach wouldn’t have been hitting the bench to vent his frustration over his team’s performance.
Incredibly, the ‘Sky Blues’ have yet to spell victory, losing 4-3 to Glasgow Celtic, 3-2 to AC Milan and drawing 2-2 with Barcelona, but losing 4-1 on penalties.
Next up, Man City have their final friendly match against Chelsea before heading back to England to play in the Community Shield against Manchester United.
So if they can beat Chelsea, it will give them a lot of confidence before they go to the charity shield.