Burnley (A) - Pre-Match Thread

[birchwoodgingerste]

Is nobody listening to pep? dinho is a cb now and that's not changing unles rodders and gundy are out at the same time,he said exactly that last week

Karen whilst i agree i want fern there
We have to look at the way pep wants us to controll the possesion its the way his teams improve.gundogan is better in possesion so is rodri we as fans will just have to grin and bear it!.Although control possesion to draw or lose seems pointless.But if the team is passing better then eventually we will come good and would that be the case if fern played in there?.

 

[St.Pauli support]

...You are defintely watching a different Gundogan than me!

Same Gundogan, but different reception I guess ;)
Surely you make some good points and Gundo has his weaknesses, I am well aware.

As I am not really convincing, now maybe it's your part to describe his strengths,
otherwise Pep and the German squad manager know nowt about football,
and that would sound strange somehow, no?

Maybe there is some bias in judging Gundo.
Take that out and make a fair strengths and weaknesses analysis
and we should get a good idea why Pep and Low do start him regularly.

Anyway, I accept many want more physical presence in DM, me too!
Problem is: very very rarely you get both at the same time - a fantastic footballer and a great warrior.
Equally good in control, on the break and in defence.

Btw, Fern was great as a DM, but I also remember him struggling under pressure.
I also love young Phil, but he is not the God many want to see in him already.

Hope we see a giddy City team at Turf Moor, without Gundogan.
All I want is see the Blues win.

 

[A J Styles]

You’ll struggle getting a space near ground mate ‘cos its all side streets unless ur lucky!, curzon st multi-storey car parks prob ur best bet, right in town centre approx 10-15min walk to ground

Perfect will try there cheers mate!

 

[kaz7]

Karen whilst i agree i want fern there
We have to look at the way pep wants us to controll the possesion its the way his teams improve.gundogan is better in possesion so is rodri we as fans will just have to grin and bear it!.Although control possesion to draw or lose seems pointless.But if the team is passing better then eventually we will come good and would that be the case if fern played in there?.

I think the last 2 seasons has shown we are a much better team with dinho in the middle,neither gundy or at the moment rodders can mop up and do the dirty work,i just can't see what him changing it like this is hoping to achieve,i never see the point of changing it for the sake of it,we are a shadow of ourselves now,how long does he continue with it or is he seeing this as a transion season?

 

[simon23]

Same Gundogan, but different reception I guess ;)
Surely you make some good points and Gundo has his weaknesses, I am well aware.

As I am not really convincing, now maybe it's your part to describe his strengths,
otherwise Pep and the German squad manager know nowt about football,
and that would sound strange somehow, no?

Maybe there is some bias in judging Gundo.
Take that out and make a fair strengths and weaknesses analysis
and we should get a good idea why Pep and Low do start him regularly.

Anyway, I accept many want more physical presence in DM, me too!
Problem is: very very rarely you get both at the same time - a fantastic footballer and a great warrior.
Equally good in control, on the break and in defence.

Btw, Fern was great as a DM, but I also remember him struggling under pressure.
I also love young Phil, but he is not the God many want to see in him already.

Hope we see a giddy City team at Turf Moor, without Gundogan.
All I want is see the Blues win.

I dont have bias when judging players...i just call it as `i see it (rightly or wrongly)...they are all my favourites as they are city players.

Every manager makes mistakes...even the best so the old comments about maybe certain managers know bests doesnt hold any water...if so there would be little point in forums like this as well

Positives:

passing between the lines (at times)
Retaining possession in the middle third...
occasionally weighs in with the odd goal (not as much as he should and not as much as others - though probably more than rodri or ferna would)

Negatives

Poor at tackling (actually backs out of challenges) - the worst of ANY of our midfielders
Slow - gets bypassed with players on the ball all too easily. also means he is slow at pressing - especially compared to the rest of the midfield
Poor defensive awareness - gets bypassed by players running off the ball and doesnt track the runners.
Doesnt create enough (certainly less than all our other creative midfielders)
Long distance passing is no better than anyone else - he is a professional footballer -id expect him to make a 30-40 yd pass with consumat ease 9/10
Poor at heading/winning headers (especially when compared to Rodri and Ferna)
NO leadership qualities that have been visable so far.
~Gives the ball away trying to make creative passes a lot of the time
Doesnt break up play anywhere near as well as Ferna and Rodri

Its not just about a physical presence as can be seen above -he is a poor creative midfielder when compared to the rest of our midfield and a poor defenisve midfielder when compared to the other options. Simply put without the injuries he would be nowhere near the starting 11 on a regular basis

Ferna is stil a far superior defensive midfilder and all around footballer -can you imagine Gundogan trying to play centre half!

 

[simon23]

I think the last 2 seasons has shown we are a much better team with dinho in the middle,neither gundy or at the moment rodders can mop up and do the dirty work,i just can't see what him changing it like this is hoping to achieve,i never see the point of changing it for the sake of it,we are a shadow of ourselves now,how long does he continue with it or is he seeing this as a transion season?

I think he has no choice but to play Ferna out of position...thats the point.
He clearly doesnt rate Otto - and Im definitely going to agree with him on that one. So who else does he play at centre half with Laporte being injured...if it was a one of he could play one of the kids but not long term like this situation. There is no one other than Ferna if he isnt going to play Otto as as much as he rates Garcia he aint going to paly him against premiership sides at present by the looks of it.

Rodri is the other option top play at centre half but he clearly prefers Ferna - bit more pace and mobility about him

For me Rodri has done really well....he looked a fantastic addition there when laprote was fit

I think vs Burnley we will see

Ederson

Walker Stones Ferna Mendy/Angelino

Rodri

Rest of team

For me that is the best set up we have at the moment - Gundogan should be nowhere near the set up....as Pep has Sterling Marhez KDB the Silvas x2 ,Foden and Jesus to full the attacking options (7 players to fill 5 positions)

Rodri is a far better option at the base of the midfield than Gundo

all of the other options are far better attacking options (including Foden)

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

incredibly difficult game for us now. I expect a draw. To lose would be catastrophic right now. We need VAR to give us a break right now

 

[kaz7]

Pep Guardiola has RULED OUT any January signings for Manchester City. [via @andyhampson]

Pep Guardiola: “I think at the end of the season, we are going to decide on the situation. The players who finished their contracts, the players with full contracts, what we have to do is what we believe is the best for the club and organisation for next season.”

 

[kaz7]

John Stones: “We’re still the champions. We should have that healthy arrogance about it. It’s so unique and we should have every confidence in everyone, and I think we do that, we trust each other and play for each other.” [via @StuBrennanMEN]

 

[rnblade]

John Stones: “We’re still the champions. We should have that healthy arrogance about it. It’s so unique and we should have every confidence in everyone, and I think we do that, we trust each other and play for each other.” [via @StuBrennanMEN]

Start playing like you’re champions then!!! It’s all right talking the talk, when are you going to walk the walk??? We the fans are not impressed.