Man City Defense

Manchester City utilise an aggressive counter-press whenever possession is lost. Their version of a counter-press is such that the closest person to the ball wastes no time in challenging for possession. The key to seemingly having so many players near the ball is John Stones. Stones will deploy as a sort of modern sweeper, which means that he is typically the deepest defender on the pitch (e.g. he is only as deep as halfway line).

With Stones’ positioning, Manchester City is then able to commit 8-9 players in the opposition’s half of the pitch at all times. This allows for a near-suffocation of any counter-attacks, as players will have next-to-nil time in scanning for attacking exploits.