It seems barely believable that Manchester City needed just ten minutes to prepare them for their ruthless display against Manchester United, but that's what Kevin De Bruyne has revealed this week.
Ilkay Gundogan had earlier admitted that City were unsure of how United would line up, so only decided on their gameplan in the hour before kick-off after learning the teamsheet.
De Bruyne's explanation suggests Pep Guardiola decided not to spend any longer on a tactical plan when it could have been made completely redundant before the game had even begun. Instead, Guardiola appears to have relied on his past five years of coaching as preparation for arguably the biggest game of the season, before finalising the approach when United's formation was confirmed.
It couldn't have worked any better - but De Bruyne is exaggerating with his 'ten minutes' claim. The real preparation for beating United took far longer.
Guardiola clearly had an inkling that United would play a back five, picking Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus as his wide players in order to have a left-footer on the left-wing and vice versa in order to pin back the hosts. The rest, though, appears to have been decided on in the dressing room at Old Trafford between 11.30 and 12.30 on Saturday. Not every team can approach a huge game like that.
City were able to minimise their preparation because they have been gradually working on the same tactics since Guardiola's arrival in 2016. It wasn't ten minutes, or an hour. Five years of coaching went into the Old Trafford masterclass.
A graphic of City's pass networks against United by Twitter user @amonixfootball highlights just how effective the hastily-devised gameplan was. City's formation is solid and well spaced out with the full-backs and wingers high. Even the fact that Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne are both apparently occupying a similar space on the right side of attacking midfield reflects their interchanging roles as the 'false nine'. It was a clearly deliberate formation, using the flexibility of Bernardo and De Bruyne to keep United guessing while the rest of the team stuck to their roles.
Rodri's influence as the pivot between centre-backs, full-backs and midfielders is clear, as is the game-plan to stretch United with an intentionally-wide formation and maintain possession throughout. The fact that every player touched the ball before Bernardo's second goal illustrates the effectiveness of the formation and tactical plan in a handy 26-pass move.
United, on the other hand, have no discernible formation, reflecting their disorganisation against City's possession-based dominance.
Luke Shaw was their most advanced player, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the opposite flank their furthest back in a zig-zagging back five. Fred and Scott McTominay effectively occupied the same position, leaving Bruno Fernandes isolated on the other side of central midfield with no outlet to pass to on the right-wing as Mason Greenwood and Cristiano Ronaldo stayed centrally, generally isolated.
For City to finalise such a one-sided game plan was a reflection of Guardiola's relentlessness over his five years at the club, rather than ten minutes before the Old Trafford as De Bruyne said.
What it did prove, though, was that Guardiola's philosophy is so ingrained in the minds of his players that they don't need any extensive training to tailor for each opposition, just some last-minute instructions. Similarly, De Bruyne suggested the false nine used at Old Trafford in 2020 only needed 15 minutes of preparation.
They may need some specific pointers or tweaks, but the general philosophy will remain the same, and Guardiola has built a squad that is intelligent enough to adapt to new situations and new approaches with ease.
In simplified terms, Guardiola has essentially done all the hard work in his previous five seasons. Now he's got a team that needs guiding but no more teaching.
It's a new position for Guardiola, who stayed at Barcelona for four years and Bayern Munich for three. The benefit of staying longer at City means he has reached unchartered territory as coach. In the early years of his coaching spells at his previous clubs, he has had to coach new theories to his players as well as day-to-day management around a busy fixture schedule.
Now, City players know those philosophies and principles like the back of their hands to the extent they can completely dominate a top-half Premier League rival with barely any preparation. Guardiola can be left to the management side of the job.
If the bulging trophy cabinet wasn't enough, it's a ringing endorsement of Guardiola's coaching credentials, and bodes well for the next 18 months of his City contract. He left Barcelona and Bayern Munich so as not to overstay his welcome, or because he felt he'd taken them as far as he could.
Guardiola has already stayed at City longer than those two clubs, and now the evidence suggests that he's taken them to a tactical level not seen before. For the first time in his career, Guardiola is in a position he's not been before as a coach. It's the position he'll have always strived towards in a tactical sense, but never quite reached.
Now he's built a platform he's always aimed for, City will start to truly play football in his ideal image.
