But we've seen City play with a more traditional setup under Pep. I think it was the 17-18 season when Sane was on the left and Sterling was on the right. They hugged the wide lines and provided that typical ball across the 6 yard line to Aguero and Jesus every game. He plays inverted now primarily because up till this season, there's been no reliable wide option on the left with Mendy crocked and Sane sidelined/leaving. Mahrez can't play on the left either.
This idea of Pep being dogmatic to the point of insanity needs to die. One can argue that in the CL he is overly reactive to the the point of neutering his team's strengths. But he's always worked to maximize the capabilities of his players. Saying "he hasn't won the CL so he may need to find a better false 9 or convert to a more.traditional 9 setup" is overly reductionist
When he played sterling out wide on the opposite side did you find him better than he was as an inverted forward? You migh have.
I didnt really bring this up to talk about Pep being crap or him not getting the best out of Aguero.
It was more to do with what I see :
I see that Barcelona midfield of possession Xavi, iniesta, Busquests might not be exactly be the same at City but their possession is never an issue over the years with Silva, Fernandinho and De Bryune.
Many journalists have started to say that Pep's success is now due to Messi. Whilst I think that's unfair on Pep, I looked back during his Barcelona years and that same midfield and that same defence and even that same type of inverted forwards didnt cause the same type of fear when playing with Ibrahimovic instead of Messi.
Many of us thought it was just the player and put it behind us as Zlatan was not made for Barcelona or something.
Then we go to Bayern, same thing the possession is there, Lewandowski does well and score the goals but is he comparable to his current standard, is he comparable to the false 9 Messi formation of Barcelona?
Again people will say - well its Messi how could it be replicated but it hasnt been tried yet has it?
Then comes City. The guy didnt even want to try aguero at the start but he managed to work himself in and does really well but not comparable to his old self nor anything related to a season of that Barcelona team.
I'm just trying to see how Pep could get City to try and be like Barcelona again. Maybe stop with the inverted fullback stuff, maybe try a false 9 and see how it works. He hasnt struck a CL winning feat with a central striker in any of his clubs post Barcelona.
We saw this with Henry, Etoo, Villa who all got pushed out wide eventually, Zlatan, Lewandowski, Aguero and gabriel jesus.
The only one who sticks out as different is Messi not just due to his quality but the position he plays.
Possession football means that the team has most of the ball remember and when a false 9 ( your central striker) has the ball; they are in a 33% chance of dribbling and taking the defence in, 33% chance of taking a shot and 33% chance of making a game changing pass to a player like an inverted forward who finds themselves one on one.
Compare that to a central striker who has to be more predatory, has to be in the right area to predominantly finish his chances or lose possession then I think a false 9 player in Possession football is something that can be viewed as versatile but consistent with regards to possesion.
