Thank you, thank you, thank you Kevin De Bruyne.
If Manchester City’s midfield maestro hadn’t whipped in a sumptuous 70th-minute winner against Chelsea on Saturday, we’d have been stuck with a load of “ City need a striker” chat.
However, given De Bruyne extinguished all of that with one swipe of his right boot, perhaps you’ll be kind enough to indulge a little bit of “ imagine City had a striker” chat.
Many of the champions' best performances this season, including their total domination of Thomas Tuchel’s European champions at Stamford Bridge, have come because of Pep Guardiola’s signature false-nine tactic.
The extra playmaking body in midfield, the possibilities it opens up at the business area of the field - everything about the coach’s most famous gambit has turned the perceived weakness of not having a specialist centre-forward into a strength.
Recently, though, there has been a bit of a gear shift from City. In the 1-0 league win at Brentford and the 4-1 FA Cup triumph at Swindon Town, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva played pretty much as conventional strikers.
In the latest becalming of Chelsea, Foden’s average position tracked deeper than De Bruyne by the end of the game, according to Opta. But he frequently made probing runs in behind the visiting centre-backs, with clipped passes in his direction from right-back Kyle Walker a clear tactic as City probed for the breakthrough before half-time.
Walker’s fellow full-back Joao Cancelo was typically a major creative threat throughout, with his 47 passes attempted inside the opposition half 11 more than Rodri - the next most prolific City player in that regard. Cancelo's assist for the winner actually came from inside City territory.
Rodri and Cancelo’s steadying and judicious use of the ball freed up De Bruyne and Bernardo to attack the Chelsea backline from their attacking midfield positions.
Ilkay Gundogan being left on the bench compromised City’s usual total control - they had 55.9% possession, down on 60 in the meeting at Stamford Bridge and their Premier League season average of 67.9 - but it meant they were a slightly more direct attacking threat as the resurgent Raheem Sterling again made merry.
At times in 2021/22, it's been easy to wonder where a conventional striker would fit into Guardiola’s high-end winning machine. Against Chelsea, it was easy to imagine an elite one - ooh, let’s say Erling Haaland, for example - making merry.
Just after the half-hour, Foden vacated his central role and burst down his favoured left flank. He fired a ball across goal that begged to be tapped home. No one arrived and Marcos Alonso, in one of the rare moments where he wasn’t been tormented by Sterling, cleared.
Jack Grealish then passed up a glorious chance any striker would be happy to stake their reputation on, and it was the ex-Aston Villa favourite’s teasing cross when he broke free down the Chelsea right just after half-time that prompted the next wistful thoughts over a number nine.
Even though there are trademark elements to their play, Guardiola’s City are an evolving, shape-shifting entity.
The beloved 100-points team from 2017/18 looked very different to the methodical pandemic season heroes of last term. At the weekend, City gave a hint they might be shifting towards a slightly more attack-minded configuration once again.
Of course, they haven’t lacked for goals or wins without a striker, but Guardiola appears to be opening up a space for Sergio Aguero’s chosen heir to thrive, whether that’s the much-vaunted Haaland or some of the other pretenders to the throne.
