Girona - Post match Thread

[chesterbells]

Yaya is a strength and a weakness! clearly he helps to control games and yes his passing and ball control is good but he does seriously slow the game down when we need to be moving the ball quicker. I expect we will see a lot less of him this season as Dinho and Gundo get most of the deep midfield opportunities

I agree that he is slower in his movement, but I actually dont think his passing as such is slower - his decision making and speed of passing is up there as good as anyone else - for me the 'slowing' element is with his movement off the ball / when we are defending - the point made by @Chippy_boy
I think youre right though in terms of what Pep will do re his opportunities this coming season -just think its a shame!

 

[YaYa's Left Peg]

We have been spoilt in our other pre-season games and been brought back to ground with both the performance against Brighton and yesterdays friendly.

It was just a friendly and a platform to test formations and lineups and get minutes in the legs of other players.

The main concern was how easy it was to stifle us. It was pass to yaya and back again and again and as soon as it went to anyone else the move fell apart. Sane is not a left wing back and is far more useful being used left of a front three.

I still do not like the 3-5-2 but it does seem to give us more balance. I just think we are losing out by not having one or both of Sane and Sterling on the pitch. Aguero and Jesus have great movement but it was qhite easy for Brighton to limit chances with Silva amd De Bruyne just faced with a wall of defenders.

Perhaps it is a plan of Pep to control and tire the opposition with Silva De Bruyne Aguero and Jesus before throwing Bernardo Sterling and Sane on for a bit more pace later on in the game.

One thing is for sure, we have plenty of options and Gundogans return is fantastic.

Pep still hasnt quite worked things out yet.

Agree with this.

I know it was a friendly, but I found myself getting increasingly angry as a I watched us struggle to put two passes together, or as Girona demonstrated how easy it was to breach the three at the back.

Very worrying that Pep hasn't worked it out yet, and will persist with the three at the back despite it leaving us hopelessly exposed. Not to mention how it stifles the development of Sane in particular - you could see how frustrated the lad was yesterday and against Brighton. But Pep couldn't give a shit by the looks of it.

 

[Father Paul]

Yes were absolutely wasting our attacking talent playing this way.

However highly you rate walker or danilo they are not wingers and do not have the skillset required to act as them. Also in a back 3 there moving forward later in the play and so teams are already set up defensively.

Think Sane away/home at Arsenal, Home v Spurs etc thats is what we lose from our play. The challenge next year will be breaking teams down and adding a Stones/Otamendi to our play rather than a creative player will not help with this.

Lose the three at the back and we would still achieve 65/70 percent possession. Pep imo is overvaluing possession and we will lose a bit of attacking instinct as a consequence.

Pep has been overvaluing possession for his entire career. I have said on many occasions I will give him up until the New Year of his second season before judgement. I still remain hopeful he can be a success but unless we become more ruthless going forward I can only see a battle for 3/4 again this season.

 

[Cityfan]

Pep has been overvaluing possession for his entire career.

Aye, its really tragic to see how little he has won throughout his career.

 

[Chippy_boy]

Pep has been overvaluing possession for his entire career. I have said on many occasions I will give him up until the New Year of his second season before judgement. I still remain hopeful he can be a success but unless we become more ruthless going forward I can only see a battle for 3/4 again this season.

I really don't know how it will pan out, so reserve judgment and I remain hopeful and positive.

That said, one of the patently obvious drawbacks of such a possession-obsessed approach is that it invariably forces the opponents into a pattern of deep defending, which makes them very difficult to break down. In the case of the better and well organised teams, almost impossible to break down. And as we press more and more in search of the goal, we leave ourselves increasingly vulnerable to the swift counter attack. We saw this time and again last season and with Bravo in goal and no Kompany in front of him, often we were punished. The Chelsea home game and Leicester games spring to mind, for example.

It's all very well if you have Messi leading the attack, who can break down even the best of defences, but you do wonder whether this is going to work with the players we have.

 

[OrigamiNinja]

I think some are getting a little too down, based on a friendly, where we were at nothing like full strength.

 

[Aytoun]

Not sure about Yaya seems we use him as a fulcrum in our own half. But this really slows everything down with 4 or 6 passes to get 1 metre forward, also allowing the opposition to get in defensive positions. It is just like last season if we continue this way. I thought he is much slower now & even the commentator on Eurosport said he was strolling !

But it was only a friendly lets see what happens on Monday night.

 

[meeesh]

I think some are getting a little too down, based on a friendly, where we were at nothing like full strength.

I ain't moaning,(for a change),as I have said already,a meaningless game,however a "B" team should be despatching Girona with all due respect,no excuses with that side we had out really is there ?

 

[franksinatra]

I think some are getting a little too down, based on a friendly, where we were at nothing like full strength.

To be honest its not the nature of the result in Girona but the way the team is being set up which worries me.

Were inviting teams to defend deep and and by not playing wingers like last year the play is becoming more congested in central areas which further negates the effective of our creative 8s.

I said this prior to the season starting in Wallya tactics thread, it was the wrong way to go, and what I have seen so far mirrors my concerns. Just think were limiting the effectiveness of the side currently and playing with the brake on.

 

[OrigamiNinja]

I ain't moaning,(for a change),as I have said already,a meaningless game,however a "B" team should be despatching Girona with all due respect,no excuses with that side we had out really is there ?

I saw things in our play last night which I didn't like but getting beat by Girona doesnt mean anything. Lets see how we go on Monday.