How Pep Guardiola’s Tactical Adjustment Secured Man City’s Title-Winning Victory | Premier League 2023–24

Pep Guardiola showed his tactical nuance as Man City overcame West Ham to clinch fourth consecutive Premier League title

Man City manager Pep Guardiola guided them to a record fourth consecutive Premier League title as they defeated West Ham United in their final match of the 2023-2024 season. Amidst Arsenal bearing over their shoulders, City needed a win to take the title matter into their own hands. If Manchester City had lost the game against West Ham, and considering Arsenal won theirs against Everton, then things would have come down to goal difference and ultimately the goals scored.

However, considering City’s home form and their ability to perform under extreme pressure circumstances, one highly doubted that Pep’s side would slip against the Hammers in the crucial phase of the campaign. Things folded out on a similar brink as the reigning Champions thrashed West Ham United 3-1 to get their hands on the 2023-2024 Premier League title.

One thing that was imminent throughout the match was how Guardiola handled his troops to get the best out of them in the all-important fixture. His tactical tweaks restricted David Moyes’ West Ham from grabbing a foothold in the game. Man City pressed higher up the pitch whenever the Hammers got the ball, forcing them to make bad decisions on the ball.

Phil Foden scored two goals on the day to bolster City’s dynamic performance. He was spotted in a much-advanced position for major junctures of the match. During some of the moments, Foden was even higher up the pitch than City’s striker, Erling Haaland. The midfielder popped into attacking positions to drag West Ham’s defense with himself, leaving Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne in lots of space.

Another thing that stood out during the match was that, whenever West Ham’s players defended in pairs of two-three players on a single City player, and left an open angle between them and the goalkeeper, the very Man City player passed the ball to his closest teammate and they took quite a few long-range shots from distance, testing the Hammers goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

The same pattern was followed by Pep Guardioal’s players since Phil Foden’s first goal of the match, which handed his side an early lead inside ninety seconds from the start. The Spanish manager also made balanced substitutions in the form of Manuel Akanji and Foden, who were replaced by Nathan Ake and Mateo Kovacic to see out the final few moments of the match.

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