Four Man City goals in Club World Cup hint at exciting new attacking threat

Manchester City might have left the Club World Cup with their tails between their legs after a shock defeat to Al Hilal, but there were positives to be gleaned from their stay in America.

The Blues exited the tournament with concerns that the problems they suffered last season hadn't been entirely fixed after the defeat to Al Hilal, but at the other end of the pitch, there were clear signs of steps forward being taken.

In four games, they scored 16 goals, and although the opposition wasn't always at the top level, they put five past Juventus in what was their best performance for a long time and looked threatening in every match.

They scored three against Al Hilal and could and should have had more. They created chances aplenty across the four games, and that has to be good news heading into the new season.

Some of that creativity was interesting in the context of Pep Guardiola's new coaching appointments. Pep Lijnders and James French arrived from Liverpool, and the improved pressing within the City ranks and some of the patterns of play out wide had the fingerprints of the former all over.

French has taken over set-piece duties from Carlos Vicens and he made a positive impression on the squad during their stay at Boca Raton and regular training sessions at Lynn University. The 37-year-old spent 13 years working at Liverpool, and given the profile set-piece coaches can have now, he is likely to become a recognisable figure at the Etihad this season.

His responsibilities will be stopping goals from set-pieces as well as creating chances from them and it's with the latter where he can be pleased with his work in Florida. City scored three of their 16 goals from corners, while Claudio Echeverri scored a direct free-kick.

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