#8 | Ilkay Gündoğan - 2020/21 Performances

[W12]

Both Sterling and Mahrez slow us down.

Sterling definitely doesn’t just change direction by using his right. He cuts back onto his right and just passes backwards far too much on the left wing.

Sterling by far is the player who slows the game down the most. The opposition take ages to get the ball back from the stands.

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

The first three games of the season emphasises why Pep selects Gundogan , he's a calming influence when needed and his experience alongside younger players like Foden,Torres , Sterling , Garcia etc , is invaluable , his ball retention is excellent and the opposition cant score if we have the ball.
Hope Gundo is fit for the Goons game but not alongside Rodri because it simply doesnt work.

 

[WestGorton]

A very good player who is the oil in the wheels of the midfield. Played the last games of 2018 -19 when Fernandinho was injured and we won the lot

 

[MeatHunterrr]

Yeah don't want to see him jogging around the pitch. We won't even press for 20 minutes then.

 

[thesting]

The first three games of the season emphasises why Pep selects Gundogan , he's a calming influence when needed and his experience alongside younger players like Foden,Torres , Sterling , Garcia etc , is invaluable , his ball retention is excellent and the opposition cant score if we have the ball.
Hope Gundo is fit for the Goons game but not alongside Rodri because it simply doesnt work.

Calming influence my foot. He gets my blood boiling every time I see him on the team sheet. Every time we play him against a big team we get hammered. Recall spurs 1-0 cl and Liverpool 3-0 when pep supposedly wanted to "calm" things down with gundogun. Too slow physically and mentally. Doesn't give the defence or the goalie an option to receive a pass when in a tight spot, cannot pass forward, cannot dribble, cannot shoot, and cannot protect the defence. Wish he never plays again for city, but I know that's too much to ask for.

 

[Dage]

Yea because it's bollocks without any facts to back these claims up.

 

[bluemoon32]

Get back soon Gundo, our midfield misses you

 

[Dobsy]

Can we all agree then that the issues are much more than whether Gundogan plays or not?

Not saying things would be different if he played but it's definitely not down to one player

Classic City fans though, we love a whipping boy and Gundogan is the latest.

Mahrez next in line.

 

[The Black Shed]

Sterling by far is the player who slows the game down the most. The opposition take ages to get the ball back from the stands.

The use of comedic value to criticise Sterling is not allowed. I tried that couple of days ago and got pelters, surprised you haven't had any yet. But you get a like from me

 

[Damanino]

He certainly gets better and better when he is out injured...

But he is no help whatsoever when we dont have the ball, he cannot tackle, close down players, press or even sprint.

In possession he is a good player to have but again the balance of the team when we dont have the ball is seriously lacking for City and Gundo is a typical player in that sense, lot of advantage in possession and basically 10 vs 11 when we dont have the ball.

The more the clubs will believe they have something to hurt us with and our tactics the more problems we gonna have unless we go bit more pragmatic to regain confidence.

And get some practice for atttackers of finishing sitter, finishing half chances etc. Clearly they dont practice enough of that or if they do whoever is in charge of practice of shooting needs to be replaced.

Kun needed nearly always 2-3 bad games after injuries to find rythm again, and he is 32 while losing some of his pace, we cant afford that right now we need to start a winning run with CL coming up quickly in schedule as well.

 

[HelloCity]

Sterling by far is the player who slows the game down the most. The opposition take ages to get the ball back from the stands.

You have no idea how fucked we’d be without Sterling.

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

Calming influence my foot. He gets my blood boiling every time I see him on the team sheet. Every time we play him against a big team we get hammered. Recall spurs 1-0 cl and Liverpool 3-0 when pep supposedly wanted to "calm" things down with gundogun. Too slow physically and mentally. Doesn't give the defence or the goalie an option to receive a pass when in a tight spot, cannot pass forward, cannot dribble, cannot shoot, and cannot protect the defence. Wish he never plays again for city, but I know that's too much to ask for.

World class managers Louw and Guardiola appreciate your input, and looking forward to your next pearls of wisdom

 

[thesting]

World class managers Louw and Guardiola appreciate your input, and looking forward to your next pearls of wisdom

Just because pep is a great coach it doesn't mean he's right all the time. That's why this thread is called what it is - a blindspot. Every one of our last 3 CL exits (besides other disasters such as the FA cup exit) , I am convinced would have had a different result if Bernardo, foden, or kdb (in the case of the Liverpool 3-0 hammering) or someone more energetic had played instead of Gundogun

 

[Dax777]

Just because pep is a great coach it doesn't mean he's right all the time. That's why this thread is called what it is - a blindspot. Every one of our last 3 CL exits (besides other disasters such as the FA cup exit) , I am convinced would have had a different result if Bernardo, foden, or kdb (in the case of the Liverpool 3-0 hammering) or someone more energetic had played instead of Gundogun

Belief in what you don't have to prove is easy. The man didn't say just Pep. One great manager can be wrong. 3 great Managers? More likely than not, if 3 great managers agree, perhaps novices should show some humility and consider the possibility that just maybe they are possibly missing something.

Just maybe...

 

[thesting]

Belief in what you don't have to prove is easy. The man didn't say just Pep. One great manager can be wrong. 3 great Managers? More likely than not, if 3 great managers agree, perhaps novices should show some humility and consider the possibility that just maybe they are possibly missing something.

Just maybe...

Once in a while use your own senses and brain, don't follow the herd. Just because the master says so, it ain't always right. Perhaps his style suits Germany and international matches better but he just doesn't fit in the Pl and certainly not city, where our success has been built on energetic pressing and skillful passing. There should be no room for lazy players.

 

[alexmcity]

Once in a while use your own senses and brain, don't follow the herd. Just because the master says so, it ain't always right. Perhaps his style suits Germany and international matches better but he just doesn't fit in the Pl and certainly not city, where our success has been built on energetic pressing and skillful passing. There should be no room for lazy players.

Problem is it is the herd that says that Gundogan is too slow and lazy to be good enough for City. You are following the herd here.

The herd has forgotten the fact that Gundogan was excellent when Ferna got injured in 2019 and we continued to be rock solid in defence. The herd is also ignoring the fact that both Gundogan and Rodri played in our best performances last season, e.g. both games with Real, Liverpool at home, Manure away in the cup. The herd somehow happens to think it knows better than Pep and was outraged that Otamendi, Gundogan and Jesus started at Real, but not Ferna, Silva and Aguero, in what proved to be our best performance all season.

 

[Sir peace frog]

we will see an upturn when gundogan is back, he will bring the control back to our game.

 

[thesting]

Problem is it is the herd that says that Gundogan is too slow and lazy to be good enough for City. You are following the herd here.

The herd has forgotten the fact that Gundogan was excellent when Ferna got injured in 2019 and we continued to be rock solid in defence. The herd is also ignoring the fact that both Gundogan and Rodri played in our best performances last season, e.g. both games with Real, Liverpool at home, Manure away in the cup. The herd somehow happens to think it knows better than Pep and was outraged that Otamendi, Gundogan and Jesus started at Real, but not Ferna, Silva and Aguero, in what proved to be our best performance all season.

You cite a few examples. Fair enough. Now if you still have the recording go watch, for example, the Liverpool game that we won. Almost every time gundogun has the ball under some pressure, he mispasses or puts a teammate under pressure. From memory, on at least 2 occasions it let Liverpool in on goal. I still have the recording and can tell you what minutes to watch if you like. On the other hand there wasn't a single thing that you could call a positive contribution. We won, but won despite gundogun not because of him.

If you take the Real example, what happened in the fa cup against arsenal. Pep picked a very similar side and it resulted in one of the slowest dreariest performances in recent times.

 

[thesting]

we will see an upturn when gundogan is back, he will bring the control back to our game.

I hope so but I'm not holding my breath- let's see

 

[oldius]

Super player but a scapegoat, as have many been before him.