Pep Guardiola has tried various different tactical tweaks in an attempt to unlock Manchester City's creativity this season. Some out of necessity, most by design. Not all have worked but they have got us talking.
We had the phase with two attacking midfielders - Matheus Nunes and Nico O'Reilly - at full-back, wingers as de facto central midfielders, as many No 10s on the pitch as possible, and most recently a take on two up top where Erling Haaland is either joined by Antoine Semenyo or Omar Marmoush.
Most of this has been in response to a clear change in the style and structure of Premier League teams and a widespread move towards man-to-man marking. The need to dislodge teams by playing more direct and quicker in transition has witnessed a big tactical shift, with a hyper fixation on set-play creation over open-play effectiveness.
Guardiola does not necessarily buy into that school of thought wholeheartedly, City have scored a Premier League low percentage of their 60 goals via set-pieces (16.6 per cent), but he has subtly acknowledged "we are moving in that direction" when asked to speak on it.
Fundamentally, such a shift has changed the DNA of the entire league and the profile of players recruited to play in it. Take City's approach of Abdukodir Khusanov, now one of the division's fastest and most aggressive centre-backs, as an indicator of the need to be good in individual battles against direct pace.
Guardiola has too accepted that there is an obvious advantage to being a side that can play a style of vertical football when the need arises. The route to goal is now navigated by patient control much less, rather dictated by the speed at which threat is generated, especially in transition moments. At points this season that ability to cut out the middleman has really benefited Haaland.
Why, then, have his goalscoring numbers dropped off a cliff since the turn of the year, with 25 goals between August and December and only five so far in 2026? At this same point in 2025 Haaland had already scored 11 times. Is he the problem?
Guardiola has admitted recently that he is yet to find the perfect formula with this newly evolved City collective, far less complete than teams of old, when David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne were running the show. What is clear is that City have failed on too many occasions to balance the stability and consistency Guardiola craves with proper top end threat. It's the reason Rayan Cherki is in the team one week and out the next.
Cherki's talents are obliging when in possession, but when City lose the ball, Guardiola prefers to have players predisposed to recovery work. He also favours players who are solid in duels and second phase ball wins. Neither of those facets are strengths of Cherki's and yet Haaland is undoubtedly serviced better when he is on the pitch.
It is curious to note that the performance Guardiola spoke most glowingly of in recent weeks, the 3-1 FA Cup win at Newcastle, was the one game that Haaland was absent with a knock.
A few weeks before that in a 2-1 Premier League victory over Newcastle, the Man City boss was effusive in his praise of Haaland, not because the No 9 had scored either of the goals, but because he was a colossus defensively. Not exactly his primary function.
And so here we reach a crossroads of sorts.
If City have proven to be a more balanced side without an off-colour Haaland in it, does Pep play him against Arsenal at Wembley on Sunday? It seems crazy to think, if fit, the best striker in the league (by some distance if measured by goal contributions), would not start in a final. One in five of City's total goals this season have either been scored or assisted by him, albeit March is a historically frugal month.
The headline issue with City's attack right now has got to be the underperformance of Haaland. "The lack of goals, we miss him of course," Guardiola said after dropping points to West Ham last weekend. "I always believe it's the connections and many things create the good interactions. But Erling, we need his goals."
Fatigue, niggles, and the quality and form of opposition in recent outings no doubt has a part to play. So too the quality of chances Haaland is being fed. Of the 15 shots he has managed inside the box since matchweek 22, only 33 per cent have been deemed 'big chances'.
His minutes-to-big-chance correlation has more than doubled over that period, up from 50 to 118. And therefore conversion rate has dipped to just 10.5 per cent, also opting to shoot far more from outside the box than he was at the start of the season, with a lower xG value and less chance of scoring.
"He will be back," Guardiola declared at the London Stadium, before Haaland scored against Real Madrid three days later, albeit only managing to find the net once from five shots on target.
This is rock and hard place territory for Guardiola, who would open himself up to major criticism if he risked leaving the league's most potent striker on the bench and City failed to score on Sunday - much worse if they failed to create entirely. Against the most compactly organised defence in the league that is a possibility.
Might the Spaniard opt to pack City's XI with direct dribblers - like Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and Jeremy Doku - and have Haaland as the focal point? Or are City better served with the pace of Semenyo and Marmoush in a 4-2-2-2 system to help draw Arsenal out?
Quite incredibly, City's Premier League win-ratio actually spikes from 55 to 75 per cent when Haaland does not play (using data dating back to the start of last season), although the sample size of games where he has not featured is much smaller.
The dynamism of City's attack against Real midweek should at least encourage those making the 200-mile trip down to the capital this weekend. City's finishing action was again lacking, Haaland more guilty than any, but they peppered Thibaut Courtois's goal even with a player less.
Cherki was insatiable, showing his appetite for strength and determination as much as skill. He's got every pass in the book.
This is a City side far from complete, but clearly not one totally devoid. More than anything Guardiola needs to find the right balance in his structure to ensure Haaland, should he be picked, consistently receives in the central zones he profits most.
Then it's up to the big Norwegian to break from recent form and deliver.
Watch Arsenal vs Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final live on Sky Sports Football on Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm.