Manchester City's Antoine Semenyo nets a hat-trick to secure victory over rivals!
Antoine Semenyo: Manchester City’s double-edged sword forcing tactical rethink You don’t often see the traditional two strikers deployed in modern football. However, since he signed Antoine Semenyo in January, that seems to be Pep Guardiola’s preferred system. The question is, does this hinder Erling Haaland?
It is undeniable that Manchester City have two aces in their attacking deck, possessing both Semenyo and Haaland – two of the Premier League’s most prolific scorers – with a combined 37 league goals between the pair this term. A positive for the Blues, no doubt, but Semenyo’s arrival has coincided with a considerable drop in performance from Haaland, which begs the question: can the duo perform as a unit? Guardiola has reinvented his team’s tactical approach on countless occasions during his time at the Etihad Stadium, revolutionising the way football is viewed each and every time he has introduced a new approach.
Pep Guardiola provides Erling Haaland injury update and outlines major Manchester City problem after West Ham draw For example, adapting to Sergio Agüero ‘s departure by utilising a fluid system without a recognised striker and using Phil Foden , Ilkay Gündogan or Kevin De Bruyne as deeper-lying, roaming false nines to make his front line less conventional and far more challenging to counteract. Or perhaps the decision to move to a back three in possession – allowing John Stones to invert into the engine room alongside Rodri to create a double pivot and an overload in midfield – was eventually one of the defining factors as Manchester City secured a historic treble and their first UEFA Champions League in 2023. Now, in March 2026, we are witnessing the latest instalment of many intriguing Guardiola experiments – electing to deploy winter recruit Semenyo in a striker pairing with Haaland in hope of taking a fraction of the load from the Norwegian’s shoulders and making efficient use of Semenyo’s goalscoring prowess.
This systematic transition, though, may not be as smooth as those of a City persuasion may have initially hoped. His inspirational journey through every stage of the English football pyramid has seen him play for Bath City, Newport County, Bristol City, Sunderland, and Bournemouth – before joining Manchester City a few months ago. Semenyo has primarily been utilised as a direct left winger, but, as is so often the case, Guardiola views players in a unique way and thought the 26-year-old would be most effective centrally.
There is a hypothesis, though, that this positional shift may be doing more harm than good. Of course, Semenyo is a supremely talented player, as evidenced in his early months at Manchester City, where he has adapted swiftly and provided nine goal contributions in 15 appearances for the Blues, which most recently earned him Premier League Player of the Month for February – a very welcome sight. Despite this, whether there is a direct correlation or not, Haaland seems to be experiencing a significant drop in output since the arrival of the former Bristol City man.
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