Why Benjamin Mendy is the deep-block siege weapon Man City were desperate for last season

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Huddersfield Town were the only team to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League at the Etihad last season. On Sunday they conceded six. The main reason? Benjamin Mendy.

Despite admitting he wants to “kill” Mendy at times, manager Pep Guardiola praised the Frenchman’s impact in helping to break down what was an impenetrable deep block last season.

“Last season Huddersfield played five at the back. We decided today, we would play with two strikers,” he said.

“All the players made a good performance. We could not attack in this way last year because we did not have Benjamin Mendy. He is so clever to go up and down. When we have him we are able to attack in that way.”

Relentless crossing and extreme width proved Mendy is the vital player when it comes to ensuring teams that sit back against Manchester City can still be blown to smithereens.

The 6-1 thrashing of Huddersfield – and Guardiola’s post-match quotes – was the perfect example of it. So we’ve decided to break down the exact reasons why.

1. What Mendy does

After sustaining a serious knee injury shortly after his move to England, some may have worried that Mendy would never get the chance to demonstrate his undoubted quality on a regular basis in the Premier League.

However, he has started this season in fearsome form, combining relentless energy and pace with quality crossing from the left flank.

The 24-year-old has enjoyed more touches of the ball in the opening two games (196) than any other member of Guardiola’s squad and has delivered more than twice as many crosses as his nearest challenger, Bernardo Silva. All 16 of the Frenchman’s crosses have been from open play, the next highest Man City is two.

As a result, Mendy sits at the top of the Premier League assist charts. However, with some of his crosses fumbled and subsequently gobbled up by Aguero, the league-high three to his name does not tell the full story.

Furthermore, the only City player to have completed more dribbles than Mendy is the mercurial David Silva and while it is his athleticism that garners most of the attention, the Frenchman’s finesse cannot be overlooked.

When comparing his performances to his replacement last season, Fabian Delph, Mendy’s value to the Man City squad becomes even more apparent.

The Bradford-born midfielder had to adjust quickly after filling Mendy’s shoes, but acquitted himself well in an unfamiliar role. Interestingly, Delph completed more dribbles per 90 minutes than Mendy (1.55 to 1.5) having attempted far fewer (1.7 to 3) – a reflection of where each full-back is dribbling and how adventurous each take-on is.

However, Mendy has attempted on average an incredible eight crosses per 90 minutes this season, dwarfing Delph’s figure of 0.67 from the previous campaign, despite enjoying fewer touches of the ball per 90 minutes (105.31 to 98) and making far fewer successful passes (77.37 to 55).

Delph’s contribution to Man City’s record-breaking Premier League season should not be overlooked, but he is the complete opposite to Mendy, hence the stark statistical differences.

Whereas Delph behaved as a pseudo-centre-midfielder, plugging gaps that could potentially be exploited by drifting in from the touchline, his counterpart is tasked with making the pitch as wide as possible and is given full license to do so with three centre-backs behind him.

2. What it allows Man City to do

Mendy’s presence on the left allows City’s other attacking talents to congregate on the right, creating an overload with their intricate passing before switching the play and waiting for the devastating low cross Mendy has perfected.

The 4-3-3 system concocted in the wake of Mendy’s serious injury in September meant that the responsibility to provide width usually fell to Leroy Sane, for the reasons mentioned earlier about Delph, and, to a lesser extent, Kyle Walker.

The 3-1-4-2 deployed against the Terriers made Mendy the man expected to bomb down the wing and the primary source of any width given Bernardo Silva was nominally the right-wing back.

Mendy is, of course, effective in the aforementioned 4-3-3 system, a tactic that bore fruit on the opening day against Arsenal. An excellent display encapsulated by a well-weighted cut-back that was swept in by Bernardo Silva arriving from the right.

But the absence of Leroy Sane was notable. Even in this formation, it was the Frenchman that was charged with providing the width as Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez were both deployed as inverted wingers. Kyle Walker’s lightning overlaps were also constant feature at the Emirates as Guardiola’s side punished the lack of support for Unai Emery’s back four. There was more symmetry to the style of play at the Emirates.

However, City’s 0-0 draw against Huddersfield three months ago, while immaterial, did demonstrate that without sufficient width against a five-man defence, they can be stifled.

But now, with Mendy in the side and David Wagner deciding on a last-minute 4-4-2 on this occasion, the deep-set defence looked worryingly porous.

Guardiola’s most potent attacking weapon was credited with one assist, but played a massive part in three of his side’s six goals as they ran riot.

After Aguero’s sumptuous chip, Mendy helped double the hosts’ advantage after dribbling past two stray Terriers before sliding the ball through to Jesus. He returned the favour before the ball broke to the Brazilian to slam home.

David Wagner’s side seemed unsure how to deal with Mendy and it appeared the visitors had lost all hope when he was given oceans of space to whip in a delicious ball that goalkeeper Ben Hamer spilled at the feet of Aguero, who gleefully snaffled up the opportunity for the third.

City’s defence did look in disarray during the passage of play that led to Jon Gorenc Stankovic’s consolation, but Mendy was back to his attacking best in the second period, sending in another irresistible ball for Aguero’s third hat-trick of 2018 and his team’s fifth goal of the game.

The reigning champions may have scored a record 106 goals in the Premier League last season, but it is possible that they could eclipse that number in 2018/19. One thing’s for sure: Benjamin Mendy will have a big role to play.

The post Why Benjamin Mendy is the deep-block siege weapon Man City were desperate for last season appeared first on Squawka News.



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