Ilkay Gundogan - 2019/20 Performances

  • Thread starter Deleted member 81382
  • Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
How did we do today? 82% possession in first half, with Gundo and KDB pulling the strings.
Yeah i watched him quite closely based on our conversation. First half was fairly easy for him as they were playing a team of cardboard cutouts and i think i would have done ok. He gets a lot of the ball and generally found his man. Second half slightly different at least for first 15/20mins when Newcastle came out of their own penalty box. Not a bad performance overall though. One trait he has is to pass the ball, then direct the receiver, where to play it . Does most of the time. Always think maybe he should play that ball in the first place and cut out the middle man? I know it goes against the keep ball style but often he's asking a less technical player to hit the longer ball. He could be more penetrative. KDB bossed the midfield as he was asked to sit deeper but he was more incisive going forward and Silva livened things up when they came on. Overall he did ok, most of the team did . Jury still out for me
 
Last edited:
Yeah i watched him quite closely based on our conversation. First half was fairly easy for him as they were playing a team of cardboard cutouts and i think i would have done ok. He gets a lot of the ball and generally found his man. Second half slightly different at least for first 15/20mins when Newcastle came out of their own penalty box. Not a bad performance overall though. One trait he has is to pass the ball, then direct the receiver, where to play it . Does most of the time. Always think maybe he should play that ball in the first place and cut out the middle man? I know it goes against the keep ball style but often he's asking a less technical player to hit the longer ball. He could be more penetrative. KDB bossed the midfield as he was asked to sit deeper but he was more incisive going forward and Silva livened things up when they came on. Overall he did ok, most of the team did . Jury still out for me
It’s not just “keep ball style,” but play the easy pass, as the percentages are so much greater. We used to call it “play the way you’re facing,” but the high percentage pass might not always be in that direction in a scheme with so much movement. We have a lot of “around the corner” passes, which are very high percentage if you know the player is there (you clocked his movement before receiving the ball) and in an acre of space. Indeed, we saw where this falls apart, when you “think” the player has made the run, because he always does, but then this one time he doesn’t and you play it straight to an opposition player with no City player within meters. It happened to KDB yesterday! I saw it, I knew EXACTLY what he had done and why, and he just shrugged it off and chased down the ball and the man.

The system City play is an “all team” system, such that everyone needs to be on the same page. When they’re not, you see the arm waving and stern words/faces, esp from Silva and KDB more recently.

The problem with the system is that you can be a world class player, but unwilling to play in the system, and Pep simply can’t play you, because it undermines the team! That’s where Sergio found himself before the sit down with Pep and his agent at Pep’s restaurant in town. Sergio changed and has been a better player since. It is also why we have players who go on to do well elsewhere, but who will never fit in this system and why the likes of Laporte were so highly valued that City did something they very rarely do...go BACK to a player they tried to get and failed in the past. It’s also why City don’t have any “individual” players who are the superstar, and why KDB says he EARNS the right to have some freedom in the Park, which Pep gives him, because he understands the system and is always willing to work harder than anyone else to ensure it’s success. That’s from a Ballon D’Or contender (s/b winner, but...!) and that kind of work ethic, coupled with amazing footballing brain and technique, will ALWAYS be the pinnacle of football for Pep. He knows a Messi is a once in a lifetime player, and will always be “at the top,” but that players like KDB, who can be technically elite AND the hardest working player on the field are “at the top table.”

Gundo will never be “at the top table.” However, he not only understands the system, but knows how to be a vital cog in it, even when that system is constantly tweaked during a game. Gundo has the football brain Pep admires, even if he is a step slower than he was before his knee injuries. He knows a pass and can ping it (sometimes a little too hard based in distance), but he has serious technique and the footballing brain needed to operate in that pivotal role in this system.

Funny thing, early on against Newcastle, he played in a midfield two with KDB on his right, yet still played well. It’s not always him, but sometimes the players around him, and the team you’re playing against, that cause the problems.
 
It’s not just “keep ball style,” but play the easy pass, as the percentages are so much greater. We used to call it “play the way you’re facing,” but the high percentage pass might not always be in that direction in a scheme with so much movement. We have a lot of “around the corner” passes, which are very high percentage if you know the player is there (you clocked his movement before receiving the ball) and in an acre of space. Indeed, we saw where this falls apart, when you “think” the player has made the run, because he always does, but then this one time he doesn’t and you play it straight to an opposition player with no City player within meters. It happened to KDB yesterday! I saw it, I knew EXACTLY what he had done and why, and he just shrugged it off and chased down the ball and the man.

The system City play is an “all team” system, such that everyone needs to be on the same page. When they’re not, you see the arm waving and stern words/faces, esp from Silva and KDB more recently.

The problem with the system is that you can be a world class player, but unwilling to play in the system, and Pep simply can’t play you, because it undermines the team! That’s where Sergio found himself before the sit down with Pep and his agent at Pep’s restaurant in town. Sergio changed and has been a better player since. It is also why we have players who go on to do well elsewhere, but who will never fit in this system and why the likes of Laporte were so highly valued that City did something they very rarely do...go BACK to a player they tried to get and failed in the past. It’s also why City don’t have any “individual” players who are the superstar, and why KDB says he EARNS the right to have some freedom in the Park, which Pep gives him, because he understands the system and is always willing to work harder than anyone else to ensure it’s success. That’s from a Ballon D’Or contender (s/b winner, but...!) and that kind of work ethic, coupled with amazing footballing brain and technique, will ALWAYS be the pinnacle of football for Pep. He knows a Messi is a once in a lifetime player, and will always be “at the top,” but that players like KDB, who can be technically elite AND the hardest working player on the field are “at the top table.”

Gundo will never be “at the top table.” However, he not only understands the system, but knows how to be a vital cog in it, even when that system is constantly tweaked during a game. Gundo has the football brain Pep admires, even if he is a step slower than he was before his knee injuries. He knows a pass and can ping it (sometimes a little too hard based in distance), but he has serious technique and the footballing brain needed to operate in that pivotal role in this system.

Funny thing, early on against Newcastle, he played in a midfield two with KDB on his right, yet still played well. It’s not always him, but sometimes the players around him, and the team you’re playing against, that cause the problems.
Interesting stuff. In that first half i reckon i would have looked good alongside De Bruyne , well 30 years ago maybe. It's the age old problem getting a team of top class players together that need to press and work as a team, some egos will do it straight away, some take time and realise it is mutually beneficially when it brings success, others aren't prepared to adapt and they'll get their agent to sort a move for them. Same issue with players that accept being on the bench or subbed after 60/70 mins or when they're on a hat trick but its for the benefit of the team. One quality Gundog has is that he will accept what Pep gives him and he'll try to follow his instructions
 
Gundogan was weird tonight. He struggled more than anyone with the press but whenever he evaded it we had a guaranteed attack.

On the one hand it was annoying and potentially costly, but on the other those moments where it worked out were absolutely key and I'm not sure anyone else could have done that tonight.
 
Gundogan was weird tonight. He struggled more than anyone with the press but whenever he evaded it we had a guaranteed attack.

On the one hand it was annoying and potentially costly, but on the other those moments where it worked out were absolutely key and I'm not sure anyone else could have done that tonight.

Thought he did well tonight. He does a lot of mopping up that he doesn't get credit for. He doesn't go in with crunching tackles and rarely tackles at all, but he intercepts loads and picks up heavy touches.

I think he's been one of our better players since the restart.
 
Thought he did well tonight. He does a lot of mopping up that he doesn't get credit for. He doesn't go in with crunching tackles and rarely tackles at all, but he intercepts loads and picks up heavy touches.

I think he's been one of our better players since the restart.

Yeah he's not playing for City by accident, that's for sure.

I think historically he's been a bit hampered by being in and out of the team so much. I reckon Bernardo is going through something similar atm.
 
Gundogan was weird tonight. He struggled more than anyone with the press but whenever he evaded it we had a guaranteed attack.

On the one hand it was annoying and potentially costly, but on the other those moments where it worked out were absolutely key and I'm not sure anyone else could have done that tonight.

Glad someone else saw it that way. I’m a big Gündy fan but his performance was bewildering. Some truly rotten passes, even when not under pressure, but equally he played so many great balls: between the lines, out wide, first-time passes into space.
 
He quietly went around and did the business tonight and proved my pre-match concerns were misfounded , he's a Gareth Barry type of player ,we will only miss him when he has gone , vastly underrated by many.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.