Despite Pep Guardiola’s style of play being based around dominating possession, he seems to give his players at Manchester City the freedom to shoot from distance.
Last season, City scored the most number of goals (15) from outside the box in the Premier League, as per the club’s official website.
Pep Guardiola must especially encourage his players to go for goal from range due to how many low-blocks his team faces every season.
Shooting, in general would perhaps be encouraged by Guardiola as often, it is the only way to trouble an opposition defence that sets up in two banks of four.
City are masters of sustaining pressure and as a result, they manage to pen teams into as deep as possible.
However, defences in the Premier League can allow for little to no space for the Sky Blues to be able to carve them open.
Furthermore, Manchester City have plenty of players at their disposal who have a venomous strike on them, such as Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Rodri to name a few.
Gabby Agbonlahor makes fresh observation about Jack Grealish at Man City
Foden and Rodri in particular scored plenty of goals where they decided to test the goalkeeper from distance while De Bruyne’s shooting from both feet is why he never seems hesitant in trying his luck.
Previously, the likes of Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and Fernandinho also never came across indecisive as they were preparing to go for goal.
However, some players tend not to shoot for one reason or another.
David Silva often used to try and always play a pass instead of letting a shot fly.
However, the Spaniard’s selfless playing style perhaps meant his focus was always on providing others with a chance to score a goal.
A player who is currently at Manchester City who Gabby Agbonlahor feels looks scared to shoot is Jack Grealish.
The pundit said on talkSPORT: “When you watch Jack [Grealish] over his career, he can score from outside the box, he can test goalkeepers from outside the box. I don’t think he shoots enough. When I watch him, I think, like, he gets in the position to shoot and like he will pass.”
“I think in his mind, he is thinking, oh, [Kevin] De Bruyne is there, I should pass to him, maybe Haaland on for the pass instead of shooting. I think this season, you will see Jack shooting more, getting more goals as well.”
Why Jack Grealish struggles when he shoots
While Grealish can sometimes choose to pass rather than take a shot, as Gabby Agbonlahor claimed, when he does shoot, more often than not, he tends not to even get it on target.
The £300,000-a-week man struggles to create enough of a distance between the defender and the ball.
As a result, when a defender puts his body in front of his shot to block it, the player in question more often than not is deemed successful.
Unlike the likes of De Bruyne, Foden and Rodri, who often do not give defenders much of a chance to block their shot.
Furthermore, Grealish also struggles to create any sense of elevation when he shoots the ball, making it much easier than in some of his teammates’ cases to block his attempt at goal.
The Englishman should perhaps be working on this aspect of his game in pre-season.
