Erling Haaland celebrates scoring against Al Hilal
Erling Haaland celebrates Manchester City's second goal against Al Hilal
Manchester City might have left the Club World Cup with their tails between their legs after a shock defeat to Al Hilal, but there were positives to be gleaned from their stay in America.
The Blues exited the tournament with concerns that the problems they suffered last season hadn't been entirely fixed after the defeat to Al Hilal, but at the other end of the pitch, there were clear signs of steps forward being taken.
In four games, they scored 16 goals, and although the opposition wasn't always at the top level, they put five past Juventus in what was their best performance for a long time and looked threatening in every match.
They scored three against Al Hilal and could and should have had more. They created chances aplenty across the four games, and that has to be good news heading into the new season.
Some of that creativity was interesting in the context of Pep Guardiola's new coaching appointments. Pep Lijnders and James French arrived from Liverpool, and the improved pressing within the City ranks and some of the patterns of play out wide had the fingerprints of the former all over.
French has taken over set-piece duties from Carlos Vicens and he made a positive impression on the squad during their stay at Boca Raton and regular training sessions at Lynn University. The 37-year-old spent 13 years working at Liverpool, and given the profile set-piece coaches can have now, he is likely to become a recognisable figure at the Etihad this season.
His responsibilities will be stopping goals from set-pieces as well as creating chances from them and it's with the latter where he can be pleased with his work in Florida. City scored three of their 16 goals from corners, while Claudio Echeverri scored a direct free-kick.
Part of the reason for that might be the sheer number of corners they had in games. They had 43 corners in their four games, including a remarkable 19 against Al Hilal, and they looked like scoring from many of them.
Erling Haaland did bundle a loose ball home from one corner against the Saudi Pro League side, while Josko Gvardiol had a header tipped over, Jeremy Doku put a chance over the bar, and Manuel Akanji hit the post. Haaland's follow-up was cleared off the line.
Kevin de Bruyne is one of - if not the - greatest players to play for Manchester City.
He leaves the club having won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, five League Cups and a memorable Champions League victory!
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To mark his amazing time at the Etihad Stadium, this special edition has been produced - KDB The King - to celebrate Kev's career with the Blues. We look back at his 10 best games in Blue, celebrate his title wins and hear from the City boss and a host of team-mates and football elite who give their views on what makes him so special.
Many of these chances came from the quality of Bernardo Silva's delivery. They were simple routines, but strengths had clearly been identified.
It was another second phase of a corner from which Ilkay Gundogan scored, a little fortunately, against Al Ain, but Gvardiol also hit the post with a header in that game, and Akanji won a penalty because of the panic a pinpoint delivery caused.
There was also a goal in the first game from a corner, with Phil Foden's cross volleyed home by Doku. This was an area where City looked strong throughout the tournament, and with a little more fortune, they could have scored twice as many goals from corners as they actually did.
It is clearly an area of potential improvement for City, who scored just seven set-piece goals last season, level with relegated Leicester City and Southampton. Only Ipswich (six) and Fulham (four) scored fewer, while Nottingham Forest topped the charts with 17.
French will be keen to get those numbers up. If Bernardo can continue to put in such accurate deliveries, then players such as Haaland, Gvardiol and Ruben Dias have the height and aggression to make the most of them. It could become a profitable route to goal next season.
Kevin de Bruyne is one of - if not the - greatest players to play for Manchester City.
He leaves the club having won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, five League Cups and a memorable Champions League victory!
To mark his amazing time at the Etihad Stadium, this special edition has been produced - KDB The King - to celebrate Kev's career with the Blues. We look back at his 10 best games in Blue, celebrate his title wins and hear from the City boss and a host of team-mates and football elite who give their views on what makes him so special.
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