At some point in the next few weeks there will be a definitive conclusion to the Manchester City Numbers Game, the equation not balancing as it is and serious names set to miss days like this if nothing gives.
None of Rodri, Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol – three players integral to Pep Guardiola’s plans for a revamped City – were named in the squad at Wolves through fitness issues. All three are certainties to make every single matchday squad when fit so it made you peer at the bench and wonder who the unlucky few might be in future.
And that is a very difficult question to answer, especially when Nottingham Forest target Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb start on the opening day, combining fabulously down the right, plus a previously out-of-favour Nico Gonzalez receiving the nod as the No 6.
The away section were singing about how ‘City are back’ as they witnessed Tijjani Reijnders tear up Molineux on Premier League debut, carving Wolves open for Erling Haaland’s first, setting up the Norwegian’s second and scoring himself in between.
There cannot have been many more complete first outings in this division over its four decades, Reijnders proving the assertion that he is the long-term replacement for Ilkay Gundogan. These moments, driving through midfield, improvising with scooped passes, striking across Jose Sa with precision on the run, are the Gundogan of old.
Reijnders topped the Serie A charts for carrying possession into dangerous areas last season – actually so far ahead of the competition that he was in a league of his own – so it’s quite clear why City parted with £46million to land him from AC Milan.
Man City were superb against Wolves but Pep Guardiola will still have to swing the axe
The likes of Rodri (left), Phil Foden (right), and Josko Gvardiol are bound to return to the team
It leaves Pep Guardiola with a huge conundrum over who misses out as the season progresses
The Dutchman operated deeper at the Club World Cup but crashing late into the box or taking two markers away with powerful dribbling, as evidenced for the opener, is more his bag.
The Reijnders role is clearly defined and victory in an emotional part of the west Midlands, who paid touching tribute to the late Diogo Jota, was evidence of how omnipresent he will be within this system.
The rest of it, from team selection to tactics, is perhaps less in line with what we may expect. The spirit and fervour with which City operated was more in line with what Guardiola, and his new assistant Pep Lijnders, want. Smooth on the ball, direct through the thirds. Less stodgy, certainly.
But with the absences and Rayan Cherki and Omar Marmoush only substitutes, the starting XI doesn’t feel close to how it will ultimately look. Given the four-goal rout, good luck picking who to jettison elsewhere before the end of the window. Ederson, left out and officially ‘unwell’ amid interest from Galatasaray, may be one but they are looking at Gianluigi Donnarumma to replace him. As it was, James Trafford stood out as calm, completing a couple of fine saves.
The rest? Answers to questions City weren’t necessarily asking. The kids, Bobb and Lewis, did more than all right and there has to be a way of utilising two technically gifted homegrown academy products. The Lewis cutback for Haaland’s 26th-minute tap in was precise, his shifting into deep midfield and creating a solid block seamless.
He knows the Guardiola drill and helps make City tick while possessing some bite – mastering a bit of gamesmanship, arguing with Jorgen Strand Larsen. His contribution spoke of somebody who is still fighting to prove his worth and that hunger can only be a good thing.
Bobb is another case of it being disappointing if City allowed his talent to pass them by. He had the shirt at the start of last season before fracturing his leg in training. A year of his development vanished and now there is Cherki, Foden, possibly Rodrygo if Savinho leaves, to fight with.
Cherki’s goal, eight minutes into his league bow, suggests serious talent in tight spaces. The flick to begin with, the drive into Sa’s far corner. A sublime passage of play.
Rico Lewis fought hard to prove his worth and helped the team with an incisive assist
Years of development would vanish if City let Oscar Bobb be choked out by the competition
But City have spent big on the likes of Rayan Cherki and he put in a masterful display
Tijjani Reijnders had one of the best debuts ever in the Premier League and looks an appropriate long-term replacement for Ilkay Gundogan
Pep Lijnders’ imprint on the team already appears obvious, but they are set for changes
Muscling in ahead of those names is a tough assignment yet then Bobb has ample ability. His pouncing on Emmanuel Agbadou’s misplaced pass on halfway, striding 40 yards to feed Reijnders as City doubled their lead, indicated the Norwegian’s value. He had Wolves defenders on strings at times, often inside their own box.
His close touch control is as mesmeric as anybody’s in this team. Ruben Dias used a late break in play to congratulate Bobb on his evening.
Guardiola studied all of this from the edge of his touchline, only retreating for a sit down once. It felt, to the naked eye, that City had more energy than last year and the statistics bore that out. At half-time, all of the midfield had completed 6km. That must be a result of Lijnders’ arrival.
He does appear infectious, Jurgen Klopp’s old No 2, and while players have talked up training sessions he devises, it was also noticeable that when all was said and done, City starting the campaign perfectly, Lijnders was seeking out every member of backroom staff with a wide grin. The style and essence is there already, even if the substance is eventually likely to take a slightly different form.
