Tijjani Reijnders is ready to transform Manchester City's midfield – Pep Guardiola can smell it

New York Times

3 hours ago

The red mist came rolling in from behind Ederson's goal. Wydad's ultras — a 2,000-strong block of red — set off so many flares that the game had to be paused due to the fog and stench of cordite filling the nostrils of those inside Lincoln Financial Field.
This was after 80 minutes. By that point Pep Guardiola's senses had been tingled by something else.
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'He's a really good player — you smell it,' he said of City debutant Tijjani Reijnders.
The Dutch international started at the base of midfield as City beat their Moroccan opposition 2-0 to kick off their Club World Cup campaign.
Reijnders has had just over a week to train with his team-mates, some of whom admitted to struggling with the humidity in Philadelphia, but he looked relatively immune to the conditions.
This was as assured as debuts go. That may be expected of the reigning Serie A midfielder of the year who cost £46million from AC Milan, but to anchor an experimental team as smoothly as he did was confirmation of the classy style that attracted City to him in the first place.
With Rodri still building back to full fitness following the ACL rupture he sustained last September, Reijnders started in a deeper position with City building up in a 2-3-5 shape.
He was accompanied in the middle by the two inverting full-backs Rico Lewis and Nico O'Reilly but with Savinho and Jeremy Doku wide and a roaming trio of Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki and Omar Marmoush, he was the key cog in holding a very fluid team together.
'When he gets the rhythm, he will be top,' said Guardiola, who was asked if Reijnders could play deeper at times.
'We also have Nico Gonzalez there. Kova can come back. I see him more in the (higher) positions. Pace, in the final third.'
The sheer size of Reijnders is something that has perhaps not been appreciated fully. He is a top athlete and that running power was showcased several times in how he drove forward into space and was able to cover the ground quickly on defensive transition.
Reijnders' passing was sharp and incisive, rifling balls through the lines and to the small-space players at the edge of the box, or changing the direction of the attack by sweeping the ball out wide to the wingers.
Phil Foden conceded that City had to keep the ball for longer because of the heat but Reijnders injected speed into their possession. While Rayan Cherki looked a little sluggish at times and sloppily gave the ball away on occasion, Reijnders' decision-making was close to perfect.
He was positive without being overly ambitious, as seen when he powerfully surged past two players and slid a perfectly-weighted ball through for Savinho.
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Later in the first half, he attempted a disguised through ball with his weaker left foot through a crowd of players that was millimetres from finding Doku down the inside of the full-back. Had the defender not managed to dive and toe it out for a corner, it would have been a contender for assist of the tournament already.
He spoke this week about studying Kevin De Bruyne's game and watching Ilkay Gundogan up close to see how he can improve.
Watching him link the play against Wydad, it was impossible not to see bits of both players in the way that he glided with the ball at full pace like the Belgian, and the way he spun and intelligently navigated out of tight areas like the German.
Guardiola has conceded before that it can take players time to adjust to his instructions. The best compliment you could pay Reijnders is that it looked like he had been reading his new manager's playbook for years.
He sees the picture so clearly and so quickly, which is why it looks like he has all the time in the world to pick the right pass.
Small details like passing to the stronger foot of the receiving player or playing into the No 8 with enough pace that he can take it on the half-turn are things that can take time for players to learn but the most intelligent midfielders build that knowledge bank rapidly.
It is instinctive and he looks to have the right amount of risk management to his game — something that should provide City's midfield with a healthy blend of solidity and adventure.
Yes, it is only one game but given the angst about the De Bruyne-shaped hole in the squad, Reijnders looks like he will provide a ready-made starter to re-energise a midfield that looked like it has lost its steam during an arduous four-month period last season.
Reijnders shifted to No 8 in the second half when Rodri came on as a substitute. It is likely that he will play most of his football on the other side of midfield but how will Guardiola balance that midfield if it is still some time until Rodri is ready to start regularly?
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Deciding how he makes the collection of attacking talent at his disposal into a functional team is Guardiola's biggest challenge as Wydad, albeit against a second-string City back four, caused a lot of problems on the counter and should really have converted at least a couple of their breakaways.
Cherki, Foden, Savinho and Marmoush all showed their ability to combine in tight areas but when Erling Haaland starts as the focal point, finding the right balance and variation around him remains a difficult task. Reijnders already looks like he will be a key part of making everything work.