The Evolution of Pep

Three Pep Teams, One Obsession

and how I rebuilt them in Football Manager 26 (with video cutaways)

I’ve never bought the idea that Pep Guardiola has “a” system. He has principles — and a habit of solving problems so thoroughly the rest of football has to catch up.

Spain asked him: How do you dominate deep blocks without opening yourself up?
Germany asked: How do you keep your football and survive transitions?
England asked: Can you do it every week, through chaos, second balls, and teams who’d rather tackle you than admire you?

So when I recreated his three iconic sides in **Football Manager 26**, I wasn’t chasing possession for the sake of it. I was chasing the *logic* of each era:

Barcelona: break reference points with a false nine + constant central superiority
Bayern: build safety into the structure + press with traps
Manchester City: industrialise positional play — inverted base, free 8s, high wingers

And in my City version, I played Cherki in the KDB role. Not because he’s “the next De Bruyne”, but because he can do the job from that lane: receive in the right half-space, disguise the final ball, arrive late, and keep the attack alive.


The Pep translation layer (how I stop FM turning this into sterile possession)

1) Rest defence is the real tactic

When we attack, we’re also setting up the regain. In FM terms, I’m always checking:

* Do we have enough behind the ball?
* Is the centre protected?
* If we lose it, do we swarm — or sprint?

2) Five-lane occupation

Pep wants the pitch filled across five lanes:

LW — left half-space — 9 — right half-space — RW**

3) The 8s are the knife

The free 8s create chances from the half-spaces — the zone defenders hate turning in.

4) Width is leverage

High wingers pin full-backs. That pin opens the half-space. Then the 8s eat.

Act I — Barcelona

The false nine era: the striker who isn’t where your centre-back needs him to be

Barcelona passed to make you move, then punished the space you just gave away. The false nine wasn’t a quirky role; it was the moment defenders realised the striker doesn’t have to stand still for you to mark him.

When the 9 drops:

* follow him and you open the channel behind
* hold your line and he turns between the lines
* step out from midfield and Barça play around you

The false nine dilemma: the striker drops, the back line hesitates, and the space behind becomes the real attacking lane.*

The real theft here is reference points. Once your centre-back doesn’t know whether to step or hold, you’ve got the defence thinking instead of reacting — and Pep teams eat hesitation.

Barça’s core picture: central superiority, constant triangles, and short angles everywhere — the opponent can’t screen every lane at once.*

Now add the bit that turns nice football into lethal football: third-man runs. The pass isn’t the pass. It’s the pass that moves the marker so the next pass becomes possible.

Third-man football: the first pass pulls a marker, the second pass breaks the line, and the runner arrives facing goal while the defence is still turning.*

FM26 note: how I stop Barça from becoming sterile

This is where most FM recreations die: everyone comes short, nobody threatens depth, and you get 70% possession with a polite xG.

So I always ensure:

* at least one wide forward is on an aggressive duty (to threaten behind)
* one CM is an arrival runner, not just a recycler
* the DM holds the middle
* full-backs don’t both gamble at once

[img]https://fmshots.com/images/2026/02/03/Football-Manager-26-Screenshot-2026.02.01---10.49.20.903251da162d53daae.png" alt="Football Manager 26 Screenshot 2026.02.01 10.49.20.90" border="0">[/img]

[img]https://fmshots.com/images/2026/02/03/Football-Manager-26-Screenshot-2026.02.01---10.50.26.72702c90abc8b37301.png" alt="Football Manager 26 Screenshot 2026.02.01 10.50.26.72" border="0">[/img]

[img]https://fmshots.com/images/2026/02/03/Football-Manager-26-Screenshot-2026.02.01---10.50.37.21155478e7cba0bf12.png" alt="Football Manager 26 Screenshot 2026.02.01 10.50.37.21" border="0">[/img]

[img]https://fmshots.com/images/2026/02/03/Football-Manager-26-Screenshot-2026.02.01---10.51.02.782ceb6a6233771400.png" alt="Football Manager 26 Screenshot 2026.02.01 10.51.02.78" border="0">[/img]

Act II — Bayern

The control system: pressing traps + structure that survives transitions

Germany asked Pep to keep the ball and keep his team safe. This is where the football becomes more engineered: traps, compactness, and a real obsession with stopping transitions before they become sprints.

Bayern’s trap: guide the opponent into the wide lane, swarm the receiver, and let the touchline act as an extra defender.*

The difference from Barça is subtle but massive. Barça destabilise you by removing reference points. Bayern stabilise the match first — then attack from a platform that refuses to be countered.

The anti-chaos principle: short distances, aggressive regains, and a midfield structure ready to win the second ball before transitions form.*

And the press in this era isn’t just “press more”. It’s press with a map. You force the ball where you want it, then you jump as a unit — one presses, one covers inside, one anticipates the loose touch.

Pressing with intent: the jump isn’t random — it’s triggered, coordinated, and designed to force predictable exits.*

FM26 note: how I built Bayern

I prioritise:

* compactness
* disciplined midfield positioning
* controlled full-back behaviour (no reckless double-commit)
* enough runners ahead of the ball to turn control into penetration

[img]https://fmshots.com/images/2026/02/03/Football-Manager-26-Screenshot-2026.02.01---11.42.51.1787591e389c60171a.png" alt="Football Manager 26 Screenshot 2026.02.01 11.42.51.17" border="0">[/img]

[img]https://fmshots.com/images/2026/02/03/Football-Manager-26-Screenshot-2026.02.01---11.43.09.31c6bf2bbaecdc2b68.png" alt="Football Manager 26 Screenshot 2026.02.01 11.43.09.31" border="0">[/img]

[img]https://fmshots.com/images/2026/02/03/Football-Manager-26-Screenshot-2026.02.01---11.44.17.87c5f13e0a2c9f60f2.png" alt="Football Manager 26 Screenshot 2026.02.01 11.44.17.87" border="0">[/img]

[img]https://fmshots.com/images/2026/02/03/Football-Manager-26-Screenshot-2026.02.01---11.44.27.5001ceea51d3365412.png" alt="Football Manager 26 Screenshot 2026.02.01 11.44.27.50" border="0">[/img]

[img]https://fmshots.com/images/2026/02/03/Football-Manager-26-Screenshot-2026.02.01---11.44.43.3165f1b4f38e4e472c.png" alt="Football Manager 26 Screenshot 2026.02.01 11.44.43.31" border="0">[/img]

Act III — Manchester City

The production line: inverted base + free 8s + high wingers

The Premier League is where Pep’s ideas became repeatable. Not just brilliant. Reliable. Week after week.

City’s modern template is clean:

* an inverted base underneath (to stabilise build-up and guard counters)
* a pivot as a metronome and an emergency brake
* two free 8s between lines
* high wingers to pin full-backs and create isolation

City’s in-possession picture: an inverted base underneath, free 8s between the lines, and five lanes occupied to stretch the block until it splits.*

Once you’ve got the platform, the fun starts: the 8s operate like unlocked chess pieces — arriving in half-spaces, slipping runners, and finishing the second phase when the box collapses.

The free 8s in action: receive in the half-space, play the disguised final ball, then arrive late again for the cutback or second phase.*

Same mechanism, same outcome: City turning control into repeatable chances through half-space occupation and timing.*


Cherki-in-the-KDB-lane logic: keep the structure, then let the creator solve problems with disguise and timing from the right half-space.*

[img]https://fmshots.com/images/2026/02/03/Football-Manager-26-Screenshot-2026.02.01---12.16.50.726ce4253da52ec5af.png" alt="Football Manager 26 Screenshot 2026.02.01 12.16.50.72" border="0">[/img]

[img]https://fmshots.com/images/2026/02/03/Football-Manager-26-Screenshot-2026.02.01---12.18.12.23de2117fa81914cb2.png" alt="Football Manager 26 Screenshot 2026.02.01 12.18.12.23" border="0">[/img]

[img]https://fmshots.com/images/2026/02/03/Football-Manager-26-Screenshot-2026.02.01---12.18.29.224dc443d1e6aa041d.png" alt="Football Manager 26 Screenshot 2026.02.01 12.18.29.22" border="0">[/img]

[img]https://fmshots.com/images/2026/02/03/Football-Manager-26-Screenshot-2026.02.01---12.18.35.597c61906f58648731.png" alt="Football Manager 26 Screenshot 2026.02.01 12.18.35.59" border="0">[/img]

[img]https://fmshots.com/images/2026/02/03/Football-Manager-26-Screenshot-2026.02.01---12.18.43.89b469d342e3cdebdf.png" alt="Football Manager 26 Screenshot 2026.02.01 12.18.43.89" border="0">[/img]

The evolution, without the clichés

Barça is invention — breaking the map with the false nine.
Bayern is security — building the trap-and-structure that survives transitions.
City is production — turning positional play into a weekly points machine.