Why Pep Guardiola's innovative tactical tinkering makes 2023 his most impressive Man City title yet

2018 was the year of the Centurions and that relentless front-three of Sterling-Sane-Aguero. 2019 was the year Manchester City fought off Liverpool to win an unprecedented domestic treble. 2021 saw Pep Guardiola use a false nine to take City to new heights, and 2022 added the inverted full-back to Guardiola's ever-evolving tactical playbook.

If each of those four Premier League title wins earn a chapter in that book, then 2023 will need an entire volume of its own.

Guardiola has developed his tactics on a game-by-game basis, from integrating Erling Haaland to solving the small issue of playing half the campaign without a recognised left-back. As City march on to try and complete the treble, it feels that Guardiola has his most complete squad when it comes to versatility, adaptability, and playing football in the Guardiola mould.

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After a full season without Sergio Aguero, and the majority of the year before playing without the Argentine legend, City had become used to playing - and winning - without a striker. The likes of Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez all took it in turns to play in the middle of a front three, and it seemed to suit the style of midfielder in the squad to play without that focal point.

When a player like Haaland arrives, though, you have to play with a number nine. And you can't ask a goalscorer like Haaland to come deep and play it short - or not immediately, anyway.

From pre-season, it was clear how City would ask Haaland to play. When Jack Grealish got the ball on the left and crossed to the six-yard box in a stormy Lambeau Field in Green Bay, just seven