You misunderstand. City's system is based on positions and rotations in zones. Where they constantly seek to create numerical superiority, positional superiority, and qualitative superiority. The latter is often seen when City leads the opponent to one side of the pitch, then switches the ball and sets up Mahrez in 1 vs. 1 situations. The point is that the whole team is playmakers, and the whole team is destroyers. Rodri / Fernandinho is usually the only constant. Their task is to circulate the ball, and be a link between defense and attack.
When they lose the ball, the whole team presses against the ball, closing the passing paths, and regains the ball. Kyle Walker has perhaps the most important role when it comes to offensive marking. In this way, they can constantly circulate the ball, and constantly wear out the opponent. Unlike the German school, Guerdiola pushes to win the ball again in order to be able to circulate the ball again, while the German school seeks to push to regain the ball in dangerous zones, and thereby go straight to goal. But it still requires that the whole team has an intense pressure on the opponent.
It is less about formation, and more about guidelines. What I think is outdated is that we build the team around a creative player (who is also a lot injured), and hope that he will come up with something magical. We are also so deep in the field that it is impossible to control possession of the ball, and we have no significant counter-pressure. An analysis was written in Athletic about just this.
