Is Pablo Maffeo the Unlikely Solution to Manchester City’s Full-Back Dilemma?

Among the myriad talking points drawn from Pep Guardiola’s first three competitive games in charge of Manchester City, the full-back situation is hot among them.

With much of the summer talk centring on who would line up in central defence in order to enact the “Pep way” and who might play in goal in order to keep the ball moving accurately at the back, it’s actually the flanks that have provided one of the biggest causes for speculation.

Granted, some activity in this area was expected—Bleacher Report’s Dean Jones reported interest in Ricardo Rodriguez earlier in the summer, and Pablo Zabaleta had a round of discussions with Roma, per Corriere dello Sport (h/t TalkSport)—but the Citizens eventually entered the 2016-17 campaign with a stable of the aforementioned Argentine, Aleksandar Kolarov, Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna at full-back.

Not the finest selection, but far from the worst.

On paper, it’s a serviceable quartet. It’s enough to hold over for one season and allow Guardiola to address the more pressing issues in the team.

But the way City have played in the first three games has asked things of his full-backs that they have no experience doing: That is, to drift inside, into central midfield, when in the possession phase and underlap more heavily than ever before.

It should come as little surprise that Pep has instructed them to do this. He spent the last two years at Bayern Munich asking the same of David Alaba and Philipp Lahm.

The issue, though, is that Alaba and Lahm—two of the most well-rounded and tactically versatile players on the planet—are naturally going to take to this role, but the likes of Clichy and Sagna won’t.

That young Pablo Maffeo was on the Manchester City bench against Stoke City, then, makes sense. The 19-year-old is one who has impressed Pep during these early stages of his tenure, and his rounded abilities as a footballer make him an excellent fit for the system.

The raw tools he has shown as a full-back make him just the sort of player who can make the breakthrough at the Etihad Stadium this season.

       

Instincts

One of the few useful parts of pre-season is the assessing of youngsters who are promoted into the first-team squad. They’re allowed to integrate and grab minutes by the manager, and those who perform well imprint themselves on their boss’ memory.

It’s a big chance, and there’s pressure to take it.

That reality sometimes sets in for …

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