- TFA - Total Football Analysis
- Posts
- Pep Guardiola Final Third Tactics At Manchester City 2025/2026 & João Palhinha Scout Report At Tottenham
Pep Guardiola Final Third Tactics At Manchester City 2025/2026 & João Palhinha Scout Report At Tottenham
Today, we have a tactical analysis article focusing on Manchester City's final third tactics under Pep Guardiola & Pep Lijnders, along with a João Palhinha scout report at Tottenham Hotspur in 2025/2026.
In partnership with
The Home Of Tactical Analysis
In Partnership With 🤝
How 1,500+ Marketers Are Using AI to Move Faster in 2025
Is your team using AI like the leaders—or still stuck experimenting?
Masters in Marketing’s AI Trends Report breaks down how top marketers are using tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Breeze to scale content, personalize outreach, and drive real results.
Inside the report, you’ll discover:
What AI use cases are delivering the strongest ROI today
How high-performing teams are integrating AI into workflows
The biggest blockers slowing others down—and how to avoid them
A 2025 action plan to upgrade your own AI strategy
Download the report. Free when you subscribe to the Masters in Marketing newsletter.
Learn what’s working now, and what’s next.
New TFA Podcast Episodes 🎤
If you previously subscribed to the TFA podcast, you may have noticed it's back!
Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other players via RSS.
Today’s TFA Posts ⚽
We began this series intending to dissect Manchester City‘s in-possession approach for 2025/2026.
First, we explored the build-up, analysing the ideas of Pep Guardiola and his new assistant Pep Lijnders, particularly against man-marking high-pressing schemes, which is a common trend these days.
Then, we examined their progression phase and the objectives they pursue against different defensive structures.
In these two phases, we went into significant detail, making it a journey quite similar to Man City‘s path toward the final third.
This represents Pep Guardiola’s most favourable phase.
Here, his team operates close to the opposition goal, maximising goalscoring opportunities.
At the same time, this phase is further from his own goal, thus reducing the likelihood of conceding, which adds a layer of safety.
Now, with Pep Lijnders alongside Guardiola, we explore Man City’s in-possession tactics in the final third using examples from their 2025 FIFA Club World Cup campaign against Wydad, Juventus, and Al-Hilal.
Tottenham Hotspur have been spending heavily this summer to keep up with the rest of the traditional ‘Big Six’.
Thomas Frank needs reinforcements in this midfield as they switch tactically, and they may have found the perfect midfielder for him in João Palhinha.
João Palhinha was the best defensive midfielder in the Premier League two years ago, earning a big-money move to Bayern Munich.
Things did not go well for him in Munich last season, as he saw very little playing time.
It was a mixture of injuries and his skill set not matching Vincent Kompany‘s tactics.
Now he gets a fresh start back in the Premier League with a manager who will, without a doubt, get the best out of him.
In this article, we will examine what Palhinha brings to Tottenham and how he fits Thomas Frank tactics at Spurs.
TFA Archives 📆
Barcelona’s 2025/2026 La Liga campaign kicks off today.
Read our Marcus Rashford scout report ahead of his potential debut!
Nicolas Jackson can leave Chelsea this month.
Read back over our 2022/2023 scout report when he was lighting up La Liga.
Which club should be all over this potential deal?
Hugo Ekitike scored on his Premier League debut as Liverpool earned a 4-2 win over Bournemouth.
Read about how the Reds’ data-driven recruitment rebuilt the Champions of England to prepare to defend their title in 2025/2026.
