Not blaming him for last night but on the whole this season he's getting it wrong vs good teams, I mean the best teams we've beaten this season are Villa/Leipzig. It's what has made this title race tight as we've only really dropped 4 points in the games we should be winning(Wolves & Palace). But have lost points EVERYTIME we've played those around us.
Teams are happy to sit in and let our CBs and Rodri have the ball 35 yards out as they're not as likely to make things happen(Akanji was brilliant last night though). This compacts the play even further and gives us even less space to play in. Then in turn makes us even more susceptible to counters as we are higher up the pitch and our CBs aren't the quickest, hence why Kyle played centrally in possession.
We lack the incisiveness and movement from the middle. It's all side to side until we end up crossing it. Then we are essentially crossing it to one player.
The solution in the current iteration of our play/set up/tactics? As with our current squad I don't know what it is and don't think Pep does either. Pep will definitely come back after summer with a different approach.
I think the solutions are more likely to be found in the transfer market going forward, don't think we can have a 1 player in kind of window like a few in the past.
Attacking fullbacks?
Ball carrying and creative midfielders?
A right winger with aerial ability(Bale like)?
Maybe an older experienced striker to give us a different option?
All in all, Peps done well to keep us in 3 comps until tail end given with what is in all honesty, a far weaker squad than last season(when you account for injuries too). It has helped to temper my expectations for the season. Like I've woke up this morning and I'm obviously disappointed we're out but don't hold any frustrations at our team. We played well, should have won but went out on pens, classic Champions League, we go again.
Anyway im excited to see how rest of season plays out and what Pep comes up with next as he continues to shape modern football. Our manager.
Lots of good points. For me, Guardiola has a big decision to make in the summer regarding where this team goes. The defence is a relatively solid platform but one that can be exposed by pace and by players running to the ball. However, the failings at the back are generally only accentuated when we have failed to take our chances.
We lost the ball retention skills of Gundogan and Mahrez, and to an extent Palmer, and added Doku, Kovacic, and Nunes. Now, while Kovacic can retain the ball quite well, he doesn't have the physique/engine to get up and down the park nor the goal/assist return of Gudogan. And for Doku and Nunes retaining possession is not their forte.
I look at the attack side of the team and see two sorts. We now have players such as Grealish, Bernardo, Kovacic, Alvarez, Bobb, and Rodri who are built to keep possession. We also have players such as Haaland, de Bruyne, Foden, Nunes, and Doku, who are 'risk takers', but who for a number of reasons are also prone to giving possession away. The more players we add to that latter group, the more like basketball our play becomes and we put extra pressure on the defence. However, the more players we add to the former group, then while we have far more control it also means there is less need to have as many risk takers on the park at the same time.
Guardiola has lots of good players but striking the right balance is proving problematic.
