City's real formation revealedUpdated: February 12th, 2007
(City’s formations home & away: click on graphic to view full details)
I’ve always wondered how useful descriptions such as 4-4-2 and 3-5-2 actually are. Well according to an analysis of Premiership tactics by Bill Edgar in the Timesonline last week (part 1 and part 2), they mean very little nowadays. In fact, judging from this graphic Pearce’s typical formation is more like a 2-8.
The Times also reveals that City play less long balls than most sides (and only slightly more than Liverpool), but have conceded more fouls than anyone else, while the analysis of where and how goals are scored and conceded is also well worth a look.
I also came across some staggeringly detailed player analysis at Eurosport.com. The site has graphics showing how many times players pass to each other and how long they play in each part of the pitch, and even shows which part of the net goals are scored in.