Pep Guardiola finds himself in a difficult moment at Manchester City.
The Citizens have been far from their imperious best this season – losing 14 of the last 29 games across all competitions to crash out of the Carabao Cup and the UEFA Champions League – with hopes of winning the Premier League title also over this term.
Moves were made to ease this slide in January with the arrivals of Omar Marmoush and Nico Gonzalez – while Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov also joined to bolster the defence.
However, there is still work to be done by Pep Guardiola in order for Manchester City to improve – and Kasper Schmeichel has now claimed that the Citizens are “testing” an “extreme” new tactic.
Kasper Schmeichel says Manchester City are experimenting within the Under-18 side
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast during a discussion about overloading certain areas of the pitch during games, the Denmark international said: “I mean, Manchester City’s Under-18s, they are now playing the most extreme version I’ve ever seen. So they play a version where the goalkeeper’s over the halfway line sometimes, and I think they’re testing it to see how it works.”
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Schmeichel – who admires Riyad Mahrez – made ten appearances for Manchester City after emerging from the academy in 2006, so he is well connected at the Etihad Stadium and should know what he’s talking about.
Photo by Michael Mayhew/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Photo by Michael Mayhew/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
It would be an incredibly risky tactic to deploy the goalkeeper this high up the field – given the amount of quality players who can score from distance nowadays – but Guardiola, who wants Florian Wirtz, has always tried to be innovative during his career, so it would not surprise us one bit to see this actioned in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola tried to use Manuel Neuer in midfield at Bayern Munich
The Spaniard has actually wanted to test a similar tactic out before – during his time at Bayern Munich.
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, CEO of Bayern Munich at the time, told the club’s official magazine 51: “Manuel invented the art of being a footballer as a goalkeeper and revolutionised this position.
“I still remember how Guardiola, after winning a championship, seriously came up with the idea of putting him in midfield for a game. (I) found it difficult to dissuade Pep from this idea, which some of us felt might be interpreted as arrogance, but I am convinced that Manu would have done well in midfield, too.”
Neuer in midfield 👀#UCL pic.twitter.com/elIIRjFHCY
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 28, 2024
It is uncertain whether Guardiola wanted to use Neuer in midfield with someone else in between the sticks, or whether he actually wanted to deploy the Germany international as a goalkeeper playing midfield.
Nevertheless – knowing the man from Santpedor and his outlandish thinking – we would expect to see him do something quite bold tactically very soon in the Premier League, if he cannot solve Manchester City’s current slump.