Width and pace

[Chippy_boy]

Watching the Juve game on Wednesday, I was struck by how pedestrian it was for most of the game. Yes we had lots of the ball and yes we retained possession for large periods, but it was all too slow and everything in front of the well organised Juve team. It was going to take a miracle pass or something special to break them down and yes we created chances, but really not many. And we fluffed them anyway.

It struck me, it was like watching a Mancini side, only with a shit defence. During his reign often we would boss games, but really struggle to break well organised teams down. We said (and it was true) we had no pace in the team and no width.

We've now addressed that, so why the fuck are we playing in a style that doesn't use it. We have pace to burn on the left and the right and yet neither Sterling or Navas are prepared to run at or past defenders any more.

This was not the case when we bought them. Both of them were much more direct, and in the case of Sterling was much more direct in his previous club. (Don't know about Navas, I never really watched him).

It strikes me we've trained these players that they must retain possession at all costs. But the net effect is them stopping, checking back and passing backwards again and again. And often cutting inside. I don't remember Navas busting a gut to get to the by-line in the entire game.

If possession is everything, we've bought the wrong players! Sterling isn't particularly good at Nasri or Silva-style close control when surrounded. He's about bursting past players with blinding pace. Same with Navas. I really think we need to let these players loose and let them do what they do best. And if we lose possession, so be it.

 

[KnaresboroughBlue]

There does seem to be a safety first and not lose the ball attitude but against packed and well organised defences there isn't usually much space for players to run into which negates player's pace to a large degree.

 

[dronefromsector7G]

Watching Barca's goals the other night it was like night and day the difference between the pace of our forward play. Not just the triangular passing moves, but when their wingers have the ball they change gears and whip crosses in, as in the build up to the biter's goal.

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

We are pretty much 1D or 2D when it comes to general play. I watched Barca t'other night and some of their play came straight out of the Tardis - 5D and counting! I did feel a wee bit sorry for the Roma players, particularly Edin. They were chasing Will o' the Wisps!

 

[BillyShears]

Watching Barca's goals the other night it was like night and day the difference between the pace of our forward play. Not just the triangular passing moves, but when their wingers have the ball they change gears and whip crosses in, as in the build up to the biter's goal.

They are certainly the benchmark (along with Bayern) in terms of attacking quality. Although I think it's probably also fair to say that currently Barcelona have better attacking players and have a much better much more deeply ingrained style of play.

On Chippy's OP ... it's an interesting way of looking at things. From my point of view I think that it's difficult to utilise pace, direct running, etc when you're playing against an 11 man block basically set up in it's own half. Where we fell down in Juve was that our transition game was appalling. Too often players (Toure & Dinho in particular) chose the wrong option in a key moment. I think that's something which Bayern and Barca have truly perfected. I also think that KDB and Sterling will get better with time. It's only early days in their City career and they've both shown glimpses of the real quality they have.

 

[ono]

We are a confused team. We try and maintain too much width while maintaining a fairly rigid formation. There is a total lack of interchange and possession looks so slow because the gap between each player is too great. This also causes us massive problems when we lose the ball because we simply can't close the gaps. Take Juve's goal and how much space Pogba had. He isolated KDB on the half way line because there was no other blue shirt anywhere near him.

Another problem is that we don't have much balance. Our two quickest players are both right footed and in a possession based team, neither are every really in a position to use their pace because teams are normally sat back in their deep defensive positions. They are only able to use their main asset in a transitional phase of play and even then, both their finishing and final ball is fairly erratic.

 

[Gaylord du Bois]

The lack of overlapping of fullbacks kills our width. Without either Zab or AK on the pitch we're fucked it those areas.

 

[middleton___blue]

The lack of overlapping of fullbacks kills our width. Without either Zab or AK on the pitch we're fucked it those areas.

I'd have to agree that we miss Zab and Kolorov for there attack minded style of play. Raheem especially looks lost without AK supporting him

We're just missing that spark we had for the first 5 or so games in general though thanks to our annual winter injury list and a fairly stubborn manager at the helm when it comes to using different tactics and studying and adapting our style to the different opposition.

 

[ninjamonkey]

We've done it with every single player we've signed under Pellegrini. Players that have shown pace, ability to make clever runs in behind and the ability to run at and commit players seemingly have it all drilled out of them within a few weeks. Sterling took players on and made fantastic runs in pre-season and the first few games in the league. Now he does nothing but retain possession. Navas the same, remember him playing against Bayern pre-season when we signed him and he torn them apart, since then he's never made a run inside the fullback or took a player on. It's starting to happen to KDB too. First few games he wasn't afraid of making those 3rd man runs and shooting on sight. Not seen him have a shot from the edge of the box for the past few games. The players do what is asked of them. The problem is, what they are being asked to do is crap.

 

[gerrygowsjockstrap]

Was at the Juve game the other night & whilst the police kept us in. I got talking to some city fans about wingers. We agreed that Navas never gets to the line & puts a cross in. He looks scared & is always looking for the quick pass. Then like you always find someone with a different opinion butted in. Telling us that he won't put a cross in cos Aguero is to small. When it was pointed out that Bony was'nt he changed the subject. When I said that wingers should contribute with a few goals. His reply was when was the last time Joe Hart scored. He was in love with Navas saying about how he leaves defenders for dead. But there is never anyone up there with him.There was no winning with him. He had an answer for everything. This is the impression that I get of Pellegrini. He comes across like he won't change things in case it is pointed out he was wrong in the 1st place. He would get more respect for making early changes than not. But it is his job he is playing with.