Pep's Press Conferences - Watford (A) Post Match (Page 129)

[simon23]

I think he's wank but he wasn't the reason we lost yesterday

He was a small part of it...I think he could certainly have done better with the last two goals and the second goal was scarcely similar to the William goal where he has failed to react and got nowhere near it

 

[CC1]

Ive said it previously but ill say some of it again

1. Stop asking the fullbacks to push so high...this is where huge amount of our problems are coming from )especially on the left hand side as neither Kolarov or clichy are great at defending but especially when chasing players...neither of them are great going forward from fullback so they offer very little _Kolarov has always imho been highly overrated in this aspect)

2. Play a midfielder who will actually sit and shield the two centre halves........this has to be one of the ferns - now here in lies 2 problems....what players are capable of and what pep is telling them to do.....Both Fernando and Fernandihnio are capable of being more defensive.......however when fernando has played he is being asked to be something he is not.(i.e. be a more creative player).....and when fernandihnio plays he is going forward so much that he isn't defending ...and we know Yaya is very poor at it.

3.Stop asking Kun to drop deep...its actually lessening his effectiveness...I know Pep wants him to be more involved with play but it aint helping us...and besides he aint that good at it either (one good game at it vs West ham doesn't prove anything especially with the amount of room we were afforded in that game)..he is so much more effective playing not he shoulder of the last man......this also gives their defenders something to constantly think about and the rest of their team as well......we know how lethal he is when in those positions...this is where his pace is useful..that first 5 yds to get in behind or just to stand them up for a second and then go again.....playing from deep he can do neither.

4. Make it clear to the forwards and midfielders to start defending from the half way line...as soon as w lose the ball we defend from there and drop....the problem is that at the moment some are pushing on to defend from the front and some aren't...leaving huge gaps which are easily passable through. We do one or the other...at the moment we are doing neither....as Pep said there is very little point to pressing up from as teams just knock it long but at present some of the players are still doing it.

5. Ask the players to take more risks in passing forward......there is too much (and too slow) passing sideways.........if we stay more compact by having a holding midfielder we don't have to worry about losing the ball with more risky passes as teams won't be able to break on us (also with the fullbacks not so far up the pitch - move as units....we are not doing it at the moment.

6. Realise that teams aren't pressing us so we don't need a keeper who is good with his feet....... (ok that one is a bit of a rant about Bravo and something he cant change at the moment but its his decision int he end and it's backfired hugely)

The crucial bit is the balance in midfield - you cant play all creative players...it just aint working as none of them can defend and have no inclination to do so.

Sorted then

 

[slicky202]

Think it was Thierry Henry who said Pep has a very rigid set of instructions for the defence and midfield however in the final third he wants players to innovate and entertain.

That's fine when you have front 3s like Messi, Eto'o, Pedro / Messi, Ibrahimovic, Villa / Messi, Villa, Sanchez / Ribery, Lewendowski, Robben.

Doesn't work so well with a front 3 of Navas, Aguero, Sterling or whoever else we put out.

Exactly it's just a balance of probabilities we create 5 chances score 0 and give away 3 or 4 clear cut chances. If a team is good enough to convert 1 of 4 chances and in any way organised defensively they embarrass us.

 

[MCFC1993]

Spurs (H) Pre-Match:

 

[BlueBlood27]

Exactly it's just a balance of probabilities we create 5 chances score 0 and give away 3 or 4 clear cut chances. If a team is good enough to convert 1 of 4 chances and in any way organised defensively they embarrass us.

I agree, at the beginning I thought it was bad luck and poor finishing which was letting us down (Everton, S'hampton home). But now its become clear that in order to create our chances, we have to commit a huge amount of players forward, which leaves us exposed at the back.

Possession football works when your attacking players are creative and lethal, and your defensive players make few mistakes on the ball. We have been awful at both for a long stretch now.

 

[BlueBlood27]

Also I feel this idea that we need 5 opportunities to score a goal, whereas the opposition only need one, is slightly misleading.

The quality of our chances are generally quite poor. The opposition's defenders are deep in great numbers, the space is minimal, are attackers have to act very quickly and the goalkeeper is set and prepared.

Inevitably, the chances we concede, our defence is pushed up the pitch, players are in the wrong position, there is no pressure on the ball and Bravo is off balance pulled in multiple directions.

 

[SamBlue]

What I really like about Pep is the way hay he gives answers for 'pure' footballing questions. I noticed the same when he was a manager in Germany. His face immediately relaxes, the speech becomes clearer and fluency in English improves. :) He would be fun to watch as a pundit. Unfortunately this media mafia are only interested in 'psychological' questions.

 

[MCFC1993]

Spurs (H) Pre-Match Embargo Extras:


This one is a decent listen, bit more substance to it.

Proper twat who asked the question about the quality of the players around 11:00 in the video above, trying to open bait Pep into saying the players are shit. I mean we know they aren't as good as Bayern or Barca's but of course the manager wont say that.

 

[Mancity1980]

Spurs (H) Pre-Match Embargo Extras:


This one is a decent listen, bit more substance to it.

Proper twat who asked the question about the quality of the players around 11:00 in the video above, trying to open bait Pep into saying the players are shit. I mean we know they aren'ts as good as Bayern or Barca's but of course the manager wont say that.

It's been a while since I bothered watching a press conference but there were a few questions there I did not like. The comment about not knowing when Aguero's contract expires was not nice.

I was never a fan of fergie's bullying of the press but baring in mind that what they write tends to be even worse it's time to start banning some from the stadium. Let them concentrate on blowing smoke up the ar*ses of the rags and dippers.

 

[jared]

Spurs (H) Pre-Match Embargo Extras:


This one is a decent listen, bit more substance to it.

Proper twat who asked the question about the quality of the players around 11:00 in the video above, trying to open bait Pep into saying the players are shit. I mean we know they aren't as good as Bayern or Barca's but of course the manager wont say that.

Yep. Just read the JJ article on guardian reporting on this trying to make it a bigger issue than it is. Yes pep does sound irritated but not from the pressure the rag press is trying to force us to believe. He is pissed off at the stupid baiting questions from the reporters.