Talking tactics: Chelsea travel to a wounded and distracted City

Chelsea has a huge task as they go away to Manchester City but Pep Guardiola’s men are wounded and distracted by unattained silverware.

The world knows Pep Guardiola’s tactics by now. Or at least they pretend to when not willfully ignoring the long balls, crossing, and tactical fouls that are all supposed to be taboo for his alleged “right way to play”. So much of Guardiola’s style, in any of its iterations, is wrapped up in myth and smoke screens but the end result is largely the same; they win a lot and play well.

But one albatross around Guardiola’s neck has been the Champions League. Like it or not, Guardiola’s City has not achieved anything they had not before. The Champions League is their white whale. Few things would have irked Guardiola more than seeing his latest nemesis, Jurgen Klopp, lift the Champions League last season. Sure, City won the league, but that was not the trophy they really wanted most at the start of the season.

So if Guardiola’s team has come across as distracted this season, that is why. Liverpool has pulled ahead in the league as City goes through the motions in the league with all eyes on the Champions League. Injuries have also played their part with the defense best described as patchwork. Guardiola’s team is still a giant and will make things hard for Frank Lampard, but after winning the league twice they are distracted in their pursuit of something new.

The main thing Lampard’s team will hope for is City come out against the Blues like they did Liverpool before the break. Obviously the motivations will be different, but City came out against Liverpool with a chip on their shoulder. Because of that, they had little control over the match as they went too full throttle in search of a result. That played into Jurgen Klopp’s hands and his Liverpool side got the result they deserved.

Lampard has taken his inspiration from several managers but Klopp’s gegenpressing is high on the list. If Chelsea plays smart, they can use that to their advantage against one of City’s few blind spots. In general, the way to beat Guardiola’s sides is to either frustrate them with a perfectly parked bus or get right in their face with a gegenpress. Most sides attempt the former because playing a Guardiola side often provokes fear. That fear then plays right into Guardiola’s preferred methods of attack.

So the best thing Lampard can do is to encourage his side to go for it and play without that fear. City face that so infrequently that they tend to buckle and frustrate themselves in the face of it. It still needs to be done near perfectly because otherwise City will pounce on the openings. But Lampard has a side capable of taking advantage of City’s wounds and distractions before a Champions League fixture.

With the proper motivation, the Blues can find a good result. It will still be a huge task, but a doable one that can really build moral and momentum before the must win Valencia match.