Manchester City wrapped up their pre-season tour of America with a convincing 3-0 win against Tottenham. David Silva returned to the line up sporting a new haircut, which initially confused and excited me as I thought it was Pablo Zabaleta back at City!
The win brought with it some really inspiring moments and passages of play which have really excited me for the upcoming season. It has been good to see how the squad has moved and improved under Pep Guardiola since last season and when we play like that I believe we could beat anyone.
But it wasn’t all beautiful and faultless. Within the game itself, I could still see the negative aspects of our game from last season which saw us finish way off the title race.
And so, with that in mind, I have compiled a list of five things, some good some bad, which I picked up from last night’s game.
Ederson is an upgrade
Yes, most of us might like to see Joe Hart back, but that isn’t going to happen.
For me, our current number one, excluding the Romelu Lukaku goal, looks solid between the sticks. Last night he came and narrowed angles, gathered balls and, get this, saved shots. You know what I say to such a good performance? Bravo!
Our captain is back!
Overall, last night, Kompany looked the sharpest I’ve seen in a while. Yes, he got overly excited on a couple of occasions going in strong on Dele Alli but I think he is back to his best. And when Kompany is at his best our defence also seems to step a level or two up.
Beautifully neat passes
Going forward and keeping the ball was not a problem last season. In the majority of our games, we enjoyed a significant possession percentage over our opponents.
Last night’s game though showed a level of understanding of movement. Slick passes and through balls cut the Spurs defence open at will almost. If this continues in the season then no side will look forward to facing us.
Exciting youth
In the first game, against United, it was all talk of Phil Foden. The last two games though the talk has turned to another young star, Brahim Diaz. Scoring against Real Madrid a few days ago he showed composure to get City’s third last night after a pinging ball landed at his feet.
Dropping his shoulder also dropped the Spurs keeper leaving Diaz to slot the ball home. Both Foden and Diaz look good prospects, as do a couple of other young players who were given the spotlight during the tour.
Still not clinical enough
It might sound a bit nit-picky after all we have just beaten the side who finished second in the Premier League 3-0 in what, I have described in the previous slides, was a performance on another level.
Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling, among others, were all guilty of missing chances. Not just half chances, but sometimes one on ones, close to goal.
This frustrated Guardiola last season and it frustrated me last night. City had 20 shots on goal and 11 of those on target for City, who would score their second with just over 15 minutes remaining in the game (after going 1-0 up 10 minutes in).
Hopefully, our strikers find the sharpness and ruthlessness in front of goal and if they do, with everything else I’ve seen, this promises to be a great season for City fans