Leroy Sane - 2017/18 performances

[pee dubya]

I can see why we're trying it out, if Sane can adapt and develop himself, then the potential benefits are huge. Obviously it's not quite working yet, i don't think that means we should immediately give up on it though. Sometimes it takes a bit of time. Look at the positions Danilo got himself into yesterday, no reason Sane can't have the same kind of impact from deeper on the left, he's just not executing it correctly yet.

 

[Bentheblue]

He should never have been played there in the first place, it was painfully obvious against Girona that he cannot defend at all. I've never seen Pablo Maffeo be even half as effective going forward as he was against Sane and although people chose to optimistically see it as Maffeo being great I think it's pretty clear that the reality is that Sane is just bloody useless defensively.

He's a fantastic winger, so use him as a winger, stop trying to shoehorn players into this shit 3 at the back rubbish. No idea why we're doing it other than to try and get Aguero and Jesus on at the same time, but it's not as if they are some fantastic strike partnership that warrants fucking up the rest of the team for.

I think you are right about why we are playing 3 at the back, it's to accommodate Serge and Jesus but it is to the detriment of Raz, who cannot even get a start despite being one of our best players pre season and Leroy, who is forced to play out of position.
Silly to question the best manager in the world I know but he does have me scratching my head, particularly after watching Leroy's performance at wingback against Gerona. He was our week link last night and was targeted by Everton.

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

This is kind of a shit argument though. KDB, Silva, Aguero have all managed to massively up their defensive work rate for Pep.

So even if it was true that he was expected to defensive work - which IMO it isn't, he's expected to just do normal winger tracking back and mostly defend by pushing the fullback backwards - just saying "Oh well he didn't defend" isn't really good enough.

Because if Sané can't be bothered to defend or learn to defend, he can just sit on the bench while Danilo or Mendy play that role. He's not going to play in the front 2, where Aguero, Jesus and Sterling are ahead of him, so either he needs to do what dozens of other players before him have done for Pep, or get used to only playing when we go 433/4141.

Also it was barely 20 minutes in that Pep put Kompany on that side, so he had the benefit of our best defender inside him, and Fernandinho was clearly giving him extra help too. He was up against Mason Holgate, a CB out of position with almost 0 experience, he shouldn't have been outplayed even as a winger being asked to play as a very attacking wing back.


Plus he was even really poor when he went to play his normal position, and got hauled off.

Perhaps he just had a shite game? Perhaps he's part of the problem and not completely blameless as many people seem to want to think.

The move to shift kompany wasn't solely due to sane.... cleavers is spot on, pep is trying to accommodate and you're totally ignoring the lack of experience he has. It would of been like asking Ryan Giggs to play a wing back role, fecking pointless..

The point is we don't want to break the kids spirit, pep fucked up leaving him out there when it was so clear he wasn't at the races, play to strengths.

Koeman has made a point post match of how his team actually found it easier when Kompany switched, not because of his vulnerability defending but his insistence on having to switch inside onto his right foot, it became far to easy to read and allowed Everton to stay compact in the right areas..

Just to conclude, sane will remain our biggest attacking threat should he be played in his natural position.. using last nights example is extremely shortsighted as when he did switch his confidence was already shot!

 

[domalino]

The move to shift kompany wasn't solely due to sane.... cleavers is spot on, pep is trying to accommodate and you're totally ignoring the lack of experience he has. It would of been like asking Ryan Giggs to play a wing back role, fecking pointless..

The point is we don't want to break the kids spirit, pep fucked up leaving him out there when it was so clear he wasn't at the races, play to strengths.

Koeman has made a point post match of how his team actually found it easier when Kompany switched, not because of his vulnerability defending but his insistence on having to switch inside onto his right foot, it became far to easy to read and allowed Everton to stay compact in the right areas..

Just to conclude, sane will remain our biggest attacking threat should he be played in his natural position.. using last nights example is extremely shortsighted as when he did switch his confidence was already shot!

Right so I guess we just wheel him out whenever Pep doesn't want to play 3 at the back then? Which based on Pep's comments about the 352 giving control might end up limiting him to home starts against bottom half teams.

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

Right so I guess we just wheel him out whenever Pep doesn't want to play 3 at the back then? Which based on Pep's comments about the 352 giving control might end up limiting him to home starts against bottom half teams.

No, as for starters he'll have a natural left sided player behind him.... as many city fans before you, you are scapegoating a kid who will show inconsistencies throughout the year. The game isn't just about ability, it's also mental, from the off last night you could see his head go further down with every passing minute, pep had a mare tactically first half!

 

[jamesha]

Was very disappointed in Sane last night. His lack of concentration was the main issue - a professional should be mortified to be penalised for a foul throw not repeat it a few minutes later. I wonder whether he was sulking a bit about the role he was being asked to play? - he should take a look at some other wingers like Moses and even Valencia who have played competently in the fullback/wingback role and won medals doing so. Bale started as a left back and it does not seem to have hindered him too much.

He has great potential but should be happy to be on the pitch in any position given the players he was starting in front of. I will worry if he starts in the left wing back position in the next match although I can see Pep persevering with him until Mendy is ready.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Did anyone else see him rubbing his hammy in warm up and visibly wincing. Maybe it was this or something else but mentally, the kid was not focused on his job last night and put in a very poor performance as a result.

 

[cleavers]

pep had a mare tactically first half

Glad someone else saw that, it was obvious that things needed changing after 10 minutes, and it didn't have to be the personnel, just who was where. Could've moved Fernandhino out wide, brought KdB back a bit, and put Sane supporting the front 2, no change of player required, a defensive player defending, a midfield player orchestrating, and a forward, playing as an attacker.

 

[domalino]

No, as for starters he'll have a natural left sided player behind him.... as many city fans before you, you are scapegoating a kid who will show inconsistencies throughout the year. The game isn't just about ability, it's also mental, from the off last night you could see his head go further down with every passing minute, pep had a mare tactically first half!

You say he should only play on the wing, and not at wingback. When I point out that our current formation has no place for wings and that leaves him on the bench, you say I'm scapegoating.

Jesus Christ, behave.

 

[Dax777]

Is he really world class though?

He's got as much pace and agility as anyone else but he doesn't really seem to have many other stand out attributes. His dribbling and everything is decent but I really don't think he falls into the "world class" category.

Finally, an honest view of Sane. His pace and athletism gives him the potential to be world class. He is kinda like Bale. A player with a lot of weaker areas in his game but a few extremely super ones (speed, crossing and shooting) that propelled him to WC status.

I think Sane will require a similar trajectory. He has similar strengths and weaknesses to his game like Bale. But his pace and athletism is so devastating, I can see world class dominance eventually flowing from it.

But at present he needs enough more consistency to be deemed sure fire starter.

World class ascriptions are grossly premature.