Are the Manchester City of old back?
A thumping 4-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday was certainly a good marker to put down as the Citizens attempt to rebuild after last season’s failings.
One man in particular stood out.
REIJNDERS RAMPANT
Tijjani Reijnders (£5.5m) had been the most impressive of Man City’s new signings at the Club World Cup.
And that was again the case on Saturday, with Reijnders producing a masterclass that left pundits purring and Fantasy managers scrabbling to buy him. He looks like being the first FPL ‘riser’ of the season.
Historically, he’s never been a prolific goalscorer. But 10 goals for AC Milan in 2024/25, his best total in a single league campaign, hinted at greater potential. Reijnders’ 77 shots last season ranked among the top 10 players in Serie A, indeed.
Fbref loosely likens him to Ilkay Gundogan (£6.5m) in terms of playing style – and it’s the old box-breaking Gundogan role that would be great for Reijnders in terms of FPL potential. That’s effectively what he was doing at Molineux, registering more penalty box touches (five) and shots (three) than any other City player bar Erling Haaland (£14.0m):
One burst into the area saw him lash in his first Premier League goal. Another saw him brilliantly tee up Haaland with a reverse pass for the Norwegian’s second of the evening.
“He has an incredible quality to make runs in behind, to attack the gaps. It’s really, really good, good finishing.” – Pep Guardiola on Tijjani Reijnders
There will be times when Guardiola uses Reijnders differently. We saw that in the Club World Cup, especially against Wydad. There will be times when Pep Guardiola uses a ’10’ ahead of him. The City boss said this after full-time on Saturday, saying that he would “need” Rayan Cherki (£6.5m) in certain games against low blocks.
“The talent from Cherki is unbelievable in smaller spaces, the creativity in the final third is extraordinary and sometimes, in certain games, of course, we will need him.” – Pep Guardiola
There will be times when Reijnders ‘assists the assister’ more than sets up a goal himself. We witnessed that against Juventus this summer, and it happened again for Haaland’s opener, with Reijnders superbly setting Rico Lewis (£5.0m) away.
And, of course, there will be times when he doesn’t start. No one is immune to the odd rest. But the early indications – no City player started more Club World Cup games that the Netherlands international – are that he will be integral to Pep’s set-up in most weeks.
Bigger games – of which City have a few coming up – might actually suit Reijnders. Not only would Guardiola be less likely to drop a pivotal player but you’d imagine that he’ll also use a ‘six’ (Nico Gonzalez (£6.0m)/Rodri (£6.5m)) and Bernardo Silva (£6.5m) in midfield, allowing Reijnders the freedom the box-crash. Against someone like Burnley at home, Reijnders might be part of a midfield two, as he was against Wydad.
HAALAND OFF TO HIS ANNUAL FLYER
There’s not as much tactical analysis needed on the big man up top.
We know exactly what he’s all about: he’ll plonk himself in the middle up front (the pass map below is pretty comical) and get a lot of chances, both missed and taken. There were six in all yesterday, including a header from very close range that he couldn’t direct on goal.
He always starts the season well, scoring in Gameweek 1 of all four of his seasons at City. In the three years before this one, he’s hit a hat-trick by Gameweek 5.
He’s never sustained the ridiculous early-season scoring rate as the campaign goes on but there always seems to be an extra spring in his step at the start of a season.
AIT-NOURI NOT QUITE AS GUNG-HO BUT…
Just when we thought Guardiola was going back to orthodox full-backs, the inversion returns.
Lewis was the man inverting into the ’10’ here, and having a cracking game while doing it.
Coupled with Jeremy Doku (£6.5m) holding width on the left flank, it meant that Ait-Nouri was a bit more reserved. He still cracked off a couple of shots, but didn’t touch the ball in the Wolves box once.
However, with greater defensive responsibility came defensive contribution (DC) points! Ait-Nouri sailed over the threshold of 10 clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles (CBITs), getting 15 in all.
James Trafford (£5.0m) started between the posts, meanwhile, a day after Guardiola insisted that Ederson (£5.5m) was his number one. Ederson was ill, apparently, although it remains to be seen if that was just a smokescreen amid talk of a move away.
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR STRAND LARSEN
Most owners of Wolves players wouldn’t have expected much from Saturday’s game.
But Jorgen Strand Larsen (£6.5m) put in an encouraging showing, going close to scoring on a few occasions and picking up some good positions in the City box.
Ki-Jana Hoever (£4.0m) got the nod at right wing-back as expected – but while this was a better-than-expected display, another option in that position is anticipated to arrive in the coming weeks.
