Pep Guardiola has identified one of Manchester City’s biggest problems against Real Madrid, which cannot be repeated in their next Premier League fixture.
There is a long list of things which went wrong for Manchester City on Wednesday night, with problems at both ends of the pitch.
Keeping Real Madrid at bay was clearly an area where Man City failed, as Federico Valverde ran riot throughout the first half.
However, City also struggled in attack and one of the reasons for this was an unwillingness to move in the box and connect with crosses.
Erling Haaland was seen as one of the biggest culprits for this failure, but Pep Guardiola sees this issue as being down to more than an individual.
Pep Guardiola instructs Manchester City to make movement in the box
There was a clear difference between how Man City have been playing in the Premier League compared with their display in Madrid.
Guardiola has noted this and called for those inside the box to make runs in anticipation of crosses being delivered.
He told Hayters TV: “You have to move better. We have to move better. Players in the box, they have to make a movement before the pass to smell where the ball will go. You make a movement, you beat your man before the ball goes, and the ball goes there, you score a goal.”
Speaking on when his players have done this well in the past, Guardiola continued: “Why Savinho scored in Newcastle? Different movements and they are there. That’s why he scored. If Matheus is not there, Hall is [making a] clearance. And Savinho wouldn’t score.
“That’s why you put Antoine [Semenyo], he’s really, really good. You see the goal against Leeds? Oh, Antoine, I love to put it there because I want to try to make a threat in Bernabeu.
“And Nico O’Reilly, the goal against- a shot with the head to the near-post? He loves to arrive to the box. And Erling is the number one in the world in that position.
“And having two wingers that make good movement and Bernardo [Silva] reading, how he drops to play and Bernardo [Silva] arriving to the box and he arrived three or four times.”
Looking ahead to Man City’s upcoming matches against West Ham and Real Madrid, Guardiola added: “But now we need that movement, and Madrid defended really well because Madrid is a master to defend the previous season. They are really good, a top team. But it’s a question of improve and improve and improve and maybe next time, we’ll be better.
Movement is not Man City’s only problem
While the likes of Haaland need to be more proactive inside the penalty box, Guardiola actually believes his team are not doing enough to feed the striker.
Haaland has looked isolated at times in recent weeks and the Man City manager would like to see him more involved. This means his teammates have a responsibility to be finding him with their passes.
Guardiola said: “He needs goals. The team needs goals. We have to find him more.”
If City can reignite Haaland’s threat, this could go a long way in helping them to a victory against West Ham on Saturday night.
