Discover Pep Guardiola’s 17/18 Man City tactics, the Centurions’ incredible system, and how to replicate it in FM24 for stunning results!
Recreating the Man City Centurions’ Record-Breaking Season tactic in
Football Manager 2024
Included in Premium Members Area: Extra Downloads
& Benefits
Premium: Extra Benefits
When Pep Guardiola joined Man City in 2016, he arrived in England carrying the weight of the reputation as an immense serial-winner, following very successful spells at FC Barcelona and FC Bayern. However, his first season with the Cityzens didn’t go as planned, as his side finished 3rd in the Premier League. His second campaign, however, was dissimilarly resounding as Manchester City rampaged the league to win it by an emphatic 19 points. In total, his City team from 17/18 accumulated 100 points in an unprecedented ‘Centurions’ season, where they wrote themselves into the record books as one of the best sides in Premier League history. In this article, I talk you through my analysis of the tactics which achieved this magnificent feat, and I go through my recreation of the tactics on Football Manager 2024. Firstly, let’s look at the core principles of this system.
Unwavering Attacking Intentions
Pep Guardiola, down the years, has grown a reputation of being a ‘boring’ coach, due to his team’s absolute control of the ball in most games. However, this City side were nothing short of breathtaking at times! Yes, they did dominate the possession of the ball in most games (contributing to their highest average possession per game in the Pep/City era), but they did so with intention; to score goals. And they did score goals this season, as they scored 106 goals in the Premier League! They were especially proficient in transitional moments, as they were usually clinical in these moments. A key part of their attack was their commitment to creating ‘cut-back’ situations, in order to generate high xG chances. This commitment saw the best of Raheem Sterling in particular, as he ended the 17/18 season with 23 goals – 18 of which in the Premier League. Another method of chance creation City regularly used was through balls, with Kevin De Bruyne proving to be devastating in this regard. In fact, a Kevin De Bruyne assist for a Leroy Sané goal in a 7-2 demolition of Stoke City went viral from that season, as the Belgian supplied the German with the most sumptuous through ball you’ll see.
Changing the Tactical Landscape in England
In 2024, the ideas of ‘Inverted Wing-Backs' and the ‘3-2-5' shape in-possession are pretty common in the English game, with most of the Premier League utilizing a variation of the latter mentioned formation nowadays. However, in 17/18 when Pep Guardiola famously used Fabian Delph (a central midfielder) as a left-back, the ideas were completely foreign to the league, and had managers, fans and pundits alike scratching their heads in confusion. This added tactical nuance was arguably City’s greatest weapon in this season, and, even in 2024, it probably remains their greatest threat.
Fantastic Fernandinho
In this great City team, a player is usually forgotten due to their position – Fernandinho. However, the Brazilian was arguably City’s most crucial player in this season, due to his character and immense ability to control games. In a game vs Everton, where City won 1-3, Fernandinho almost had as much ball possession as the entire Everton team (around 15% to Everton’s 18%) - which is a stat I found incredibly impressive, and was worth a mention.
Let’s Break Down the Tactic
In Possession
When City had the ball, they mainly looked to find ways to build-up from the back quickly in order to establish their attacking 3-2-5 shape. Once they had built-up and established their shape, City would look to find the players (typically De Bruyne and D.Silva) in the half-spaces. From here, they could manipulate the opposition back-line, using quick combinations and ball manipulation in order to create a spare man. If the pair were unavailable, City could use the flanks to their advantage as a winger would typically be in a clear 1v1 situation against an opposition full-back. From here, the winger could either take on their man, or could play a through ball into the underlapping player who could reach the byline to pull the ball across for a cut-back. This would see City adopt a patient approach in these situations, as they looked to work the ball into the box. Therefore, I felt the team instructions seen in the picture above were most appropriate.
In Transition
When Pep Guardiola joined the club, he implemented a rule that he used in his previous clubs called the ‘six-second rule’. This would give his players six seconds to aggressively attempt to win the ball back. If his team couldn’t, they’d drop into a more disciplined shape to begin more organised pressing moments. If his team did win the ball back, they’d only look to counter-attack if the opportunity was right – otherwise they would retain possession. When City built-up play from goal-kicks, they would usually use Ederson’s passing ability to play accurate line-breaking passes into Delph (inverting into midfield). If this pass wasn’t on, they would pass the ball short. Therefore, I felt the team instructions seen in the picture above were most appropriate.
Out of Possession
When City didn’t have the ball, they would look to press aggressively and prevent the opposition’s build-up. To aid this, they used a very high line that could play offside traps when needed. Therefore, I felt the team instructions seen in the picture above were most appropriate.
Player Instructions
Sweeper Keeper – Attack
Ederson, in this system, was absolutely crucial due to his elite passing ability for a goalkeeper. His accuracy from passes were major outliers in comparison to the rest of the league, especially as the English game wasn’t all too familiar with the idea of ball-playing ‘keepers. He was particularly adept, as well, in sweeping situations.
Full-Back – Attack
Walker was another impressive purchase by the Cityzens, as he proved to be electric in this system. Due to his comparative lack of technical ability, Pep wouldn’t usually position him as centrally as Delph, however, he still had an onus on him to move slightly inside to offer support. He’d also help establish the back-three in possession, however, it wasn’t particularly strict positioning, as he was given licence to move forward and overlap Sterling to get to the byline for a cut-back. This attacking licence saw Kyle Walker conjure up 7 assists in all competitions that season. Therefore, I felt this player role was the most appropriate, with the added instructions pictured below:
(DCL & DCR) Ball-Playing Defender – Defend
Both centre-backs in this system had to be very comfortable on the ball, and have the ability to, at times, spray line-breaking passes into midfield and long-balls into the channels for the striker to chase. Otamendi, on the left-side, was particularly impressive in this regard, however, I was unable to add ‘More Direct Passing’ to his player instructions. Therefore, I felt this player role was the most appropriate on both sides. No additional player instructions.
Inverted Wing-Back – Support
Fabian Delph was the first successful inverted wing-back in the English game, barring the irregular use of Denis Irwin in this role from Sir Alex Ferguson in his Man United treble winners of ‘99. Delph’s inverted movement would help create the box midfield. Therefore, I felt this player role was the most appropriate. No additional player instructions.
Deep-Lying Playmaker – Defend
As aforementioned, Fernandinho was City’s metronomic midfielder in this season and would regularly accumulate the most touches from any City player in games. To replicate this prominence, I applied this role as I deemed it as best fit. No additional player instructions.
Mezzala – Support
Kevin De Bruyne’s potent threat from the right half-space was a headache in itself for opposition managers/teams. However, it’s his ability on the ball that was most threatening, as he was exceptional at through balls and whipped crosses from wide areas. Both central midfielders in this system were tasked with sitting in the half-space, however, both players did this in different ways, as we’ll get on to. Finally, Kevin De Bruyne also possessed a rocket of a shot at times, and was particularly skilled in this area. Therefore, I felt this player role was the most appropriate, with the added instructions pictured below:
Central Midfielder – Attack
This role choice, at first glance, may seem counter-intuitive and generally incorrect; However, let me explain... David Silva was an elite playmaker, however, not in the sense that the FM match engine replicates. David Silva wouldn’t chase to receive the ball, and he wasn’t more likely to receive it than others in the team. Therefore, I felt a ‘playmaker’ role was inappropriate. Furthermore, when watching highlights and analysing said highlights, I found David Silva would usually make very intense box-crashing runs. Same for Gundogan when he’d feature. Lastly, I mentioned both D.Silva and Kevin De Bruyne’s movements were different when sitting in the half-spaces, and I’ve tried to replicate that here. To put it simply, the latter was far more potent in these half-spaces, whereas the former would, especially in build-up, move into wide areas and generally roam from his position. Also, De Bruyne would typically cross the ball from deeper positions, whereas D.Silva would cross the ball from the byline. Therefore, I felt this player role was the most appropriate, with the added instructions pictured below:
Inverted Winger – Attack
Raheem Sterling was scintillating in 17/18, as he ended the season with 36 goal contributions. This came from an adapted role given to him by Pep Guardiola, which also saw some of his underlying stats differ drastically in comparison to the season prior. For example, Sterling’s crossing numbers in 17/18 dropped significantly in comparison to 16/17. In this position, Sterling, like Sané on the opposite side, was asked to hold the team’s width. However, unlike Sané, Sterling was allowed to drift inside and roam from his position. This would, in turn, see Kyle Walker accommodate his position. Finally, when Sterling did cross, it would be from cut-back scenarios, where he’d typically aim for the back post. Therefore, I felt this player role was the most appropriate, with the added instructions pictured below:
Winger – Attack
Leroy Sané on this side was also very impressive, as he racked up 34 goal contributions that season. On this side, Sané had far more responsibility to hold the width and would only move inside to attack the far post, or if the full-back behind him was holding a wider position. Sane’s main priority, in this system, was to create/get into cut-back positions and attack cut-back situations on the other side. Therefore, I felt this player role was the most appropriate, with the added instructions pictured below:
Complete Forward – Attack
The player in this position, Agüero or Jesus, could look to make runs in-behind, link-up play and could roam slightly from their position to achieve this. Therefore, I felt this player role was the most appropriate, with the added instruction pictured below:
Results
I’ll be posting the individual match results on my Twitter/X account @AshtonGgmu.
However, let’s have a look at how well this tactic performed in two tests on FM!
(I'll also be posting the season results of the second test on my Twitter/X profile, so keep an eye out!)
Premier League
In the Premier League, on the first test, we were absolutely staggering as we TORE UP the league. In the league, we won 36 games out of 38, whilst losing two – amounting to 108 points out of a possible 114! To achieve this, we scored 145 goals and conceded just 33, leaving us with a +112 GD. Even crazier is the fact that we conceded more goals than xG suggests we should have, as we supposedly should’ve only conceded 30 goals!
Champions League
In the Champions League, in this test, we were also very impressive. We ended up winning the competition, following a 3-2 win in the final against Inter Milan. On our way to the final, we beat Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen 5-3, 1-6 and 7-1on aggregate respectively.
Domestic Competitions
We completed this first test of the tactic in irresistible fashion, as we won a QUINTUPLE! This included the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Community Shield. In the FA Cup, we beat city rivals Man Utd 1-3 in the final after beating Bristol City, West Ham, Liverpool, Luton and Burnley on the way to Wembley. In the Carabao Cup, we beat Liverpool 2-4 in the final after beating Man Utd, Oxford, Charlton and Arsenal on our way to the final. Finally, we beat Man Utd 4-0 in the Community Shield to help achieve the quintuple!
Conclusion
On the 13th May 2018, a late Gabriel Jesus winner vs Southampton put the seal on a record-breaking season for Manchester City, where they completed an unprecedented ‘Centurions’ season, writing themselves into the history books as one of the best teams in Premier League history; A remarkable season where City were the most emphatic and attacking team in the country, and one of the best in Europe. In this article, I have shown you my recreation of these marvellous City tactics and demonstrated the utterly ridiculous results the tactics achieved in the first of two tests. If you want a taste of this outstanding tactic, make sure to download the tactic using the link attached to this article and follow FM Blog and myself on our respective socials. I hope you have enjoyed this article, and I wish you much success with this tactic on your saves! Thanks for reading!
