Manchester City drew with Crystal Palace, the Blues have shown fatigue in the first half of the league, and many Premier League *** Arteta may win the Barclays Cup this season. Manchester City's former star Adam Johnson analysed his old club's problems, believing that Pep Guardiola's system is not a problem, the team's midfield is relatively thin, and Begiristain needs to bring in some players during the winter break. Johnson believes Foden has adapted to the demands of the midfield, with Foden available as an attacking midfielder when Kevin De Bruyne is injured. Foden's feeling in the number ten position is different from De Bruyne's, maybe Foden's organisational skills are not very strong, but he has adapted to the basic requirements of this position, because he has developed tandem ability, and the pattern of Guardiola's development of the forward midfielder has some effect.
Grealish scored in the game and was met with some criticism in his early days at the Etihad Stadium, with some feeling he was too valuable, but his ability was limited to replace Kevin De Bruyne. And Manchester City are going to go the strength route, Grealish is the next Beckham in terms of appearance, and he will not be of substantial help to the club unless he reaches the level of Beckham back then. In other words, the Blue Moon Army don't need idols, but Grealish hasn't grown into Beckham either, and Johnson feels he's brave with Iniesta's style attributes – Grealish is a bit like Iniesta. When Grealish played for Aston Villa, Johnson thought he was the quintessential English midfielder, with his technical attributes okay but he had little to do with the technical stream.
In Johnson's view, Pep Guardiola is an important figure in changing Grealish's attributes, after all, Guardiola is the coach from Camp Nou, and no matter how he transforms, he can't change the fundamental nature of Catalan football, which is to create technical midfielders. Thus, Grealish began to develop in the direction of Iniesta. It is worth mentioning that Pep Guardiola used his template in the player era to ask Grealish, but used his junior Iniesta, resulting in the current Grealish's technical characteristics are a bit like Xiaobai, which is still considered in the overall tactical layout of Manchester City. Andres Iniesta's handling of the ball is quite delicate, and his dynamic feel is quite good, anticipating the running routes of his teammates and opponents very accurately, and now Grealish also has a bit of a novice kicking taste in it.
Foden is a typical wide player, he is more efficient as a full-back and winger, although some Arsenal and Liverpool legends have hinted in previous seasons that the Blues can win the Premier League title in a row, and the typical reason is that their squad is so thick, Guardiola can come up with two world-class squads to rotate, and they can certainly achieve success on multiple fronts. However, Johnson says City are not as thick as their opponents have suggested, at least after Gundogan's departure, and there have been problems with the thickness of the midfield. Even before De Bruyne's serious injury, the formation of the Blue Moon Army was "a carrot and a pit", but whenever a regular main player was injured, this position was vacated, and the bench was far from the strength of the main lineup.
It just so happens that the Belgian star was injured at the beginning of the season, and the midfielders and central midfielders are very important positions in Pep Guardiola's system, who can replace them? Originally, everyone thought that Grealish would return to his old job, after all, he is a midfielder, but Johnson believes that Grealish has adapted to the layout of the striker, and his change will be more difficult, and the younger Foden can make a cameo in the midfield. However, will he be able to adapt to the demands of the number 10 position? After all, the requirements of this position are more complicated, Foden can grab and shoot, he is good in the box and on the wing, but how effective is he in the middle? Along with these doubts, Foden has shown a strong ability to change, and at least in the past few games, the England star has adapted to the demands and style of the midfield.
Compile. The writer believes that Foden's ability to play as a central midfielder is also a good thing for England, with Southgate's formation at the European Championships having more room for change. Regarding Grealish's development, since he is a bit like Iniesta, then Guardiola can continue the mode of technical flow. In De Bruyne's absence, there will be no massive technical shift up front. Of course, there is still a lot to improve on Grealish, and if Iniesta is to be used as a model, Johnson thinks he needs to improve his sense of space and the efficiency of his crosses. After all, Manchester City has Haaland as the hegemon of the penalty area, and the scheduling of the midfield is very important.