Nico González

[cheekybids]

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Think the biggest issue we have is pace of attacks. We attack so slowly, which allows all our players to creep too far forward and then struggle to get back.

Hopefully Marmoush’s directness will quicken us up and negate some of our deficiencies as the players shouldn’t be too far out of position to stop transitions.

Don’t you think that’s due to the low blocks?

I’d also be quite interested to see what this would look like for first 10 games v last last 10.

 

[Ajm1985]

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Think the biggest issue we have is pace of attacks. We attack so slowly, which allows all our players to creep too far forward and then struggle to get back.

Hopefully Marmoush’s directness will quicken us up and negate some of our deficiencies as the players shouldn’t be too far out of position to stop transitions.

Yeah, that's completely by design by Pep and his preference a lot of the time. Slow attack so the team can set up correctly to ostensibly be in the right positions if it breaks down. But when we throw midfielders into their box they just can't do anything to recover. As much as I enjoyed his goal vs Brugge, Kovacic bombing forward and attempting a 1 2 with Gundo is what started the Brugge counter for their goal.

Still, I agree with you and Marmoush's usage - he wanted the mids to play to his runs vs Chelsea so hopefully we get to see that against high lines/man2man

 

[Chappie]

the mad thing about that stat is that we arent slow upfront , haaland, doku , savinho are all quick and now marmoush so it must be our style of play that negates that quickness

The mad thing about any stat,is that I've never seen them score a goal.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

Yeah, that's completely by design by Pep and his preference a lot of the time. Slow attack so the team can set up correctly to ostensibly be in the right positions if it breaks down. But when we throw midfielders into their box they just can't do anything to recover. As much as I enjoyed his goal vs Brugge, Kovacic bombing forward and attempting a 1 2 with Gundo is what started the Brugge counter for their goal.

Still, I agree with you and Marmoush's usage - he wanted the mids to play to his runs vs Chelsea so hopefully we get to see that against high lines/man2man

It is partly by design, but think it’s been exacerbated by the loss of Rodri’s ability to pass through the lines. Kova doesn’t do that. He dribbles through them, but not as often.

 

[mancboy]

The mad thing about any stat,is that I've never seen them score a goal.

as the old saying goes, football isnt played on paper

 

[Gumzy97]

If we listen to Pep to stop teams transitioning quickly on us we need players that can keep the ball. Nico Gonzalez is press resistant and hardly loses the ball in midfield ,exactly the profile Pep wants in the middle.

 

[SkyBlueFlux]

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Think the biggest issue we have is pace of attacks. We attack so slowly, which allows all our players to creep too far forward and then struggle to get back.

Hopefully Marmoush’s directness will quicken us up and negate some of our deficiencies as the players shouldn’t be too far out of position to stop transitions.

It's an interesting visual but I suspect if you looked at the equivalent chart over the last 5/6 years it might not look too different (happy for it to be proven otherwise). Pep has always set us up that we look incredibly inert in attack one minute and then suddenly there'll be a flurry of movement.

I'm not claiming to know the answer but I think our problem this season is that when we lose the ball high up the pitch, we've not been sharp enough in anticipating and closing the channels out. In previous years if we lost the ball high up the pitch we were like a swarm of bees, pressing from all sides and immediately closing off the passing lanes (Rodri was brilliant at this). This season teams seem to win it off us and then easily pass it around our press and then they're on the break. I do think a player like Gonzalez might help with that.

 

[eyalluvitt]

Quite similar circumstances to how we ended up with “3rd choice” Ruben Dias

Maya Jama’s double golden globe winner Ruben Dias

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

It's an interesting visual but I suspect if you looked at the equivalent chart over the last 5/6 years it might not look too different (happy for it to be proven otherwise). Pep has always set us up that we look incredibly inert in attack one minute and then suddenly there'll be a flurry of movement.

I'm not claiming to know the answer but I think our problem this season is that when we lose the ball high up the pitch, we've not been sharp enough in anticipating and closing the channels out. In previous years if we lost the ball high up the pitch we were like a swarm of bees, pressing from all sides and immediately closing off the passing lanes (Rodri was brilliant at this). This season teams seem to win it off us and then easily pass it around our press and then they're on the break. I do think a player like Gonzalez might help with that.

I agree with that and why I said we creep to far up the pitch.

Maybe that should be changed to Kova being too high and not being able to recover.

It’s not just him though. Sometimes you see a huge hole appear and it’s 3 defenders and Kova dealing with 4 attackers running at pace.

It’s probably a bit of all the factors though and the lack of Rodri’s reading of the game defensively, but also offensively. The lack of line breaking passes really slows us down.

 

[Carrl]

Thought i'd check out Rodri's top speed for comparison. Speedsdb makes Gonzalez look positively Speedy compared to Rodri. I should add i have no interest in the accuracy or relevance of these numbers other than that they shouldn't be used to disparage a Rodri replacement.

Rodri - Top Speed 29.80 km/h
Gonzalez - Top Speed 31.50 km/h

Yes everything is relative. All i am saying is it would be nice to have a midfielder faster than average for once. We seem to need it. Too many old players have lost their legs.

 

[southamptonblue]

I'm not claiming to know the answer but I think our problem this season is that when we lose the ball high up the pitch, we've not been sharp enough in anticipating and closing the channels out. In previous years if we lost the ball high up the pitch we were like a swarm of bees, pressing from all sides and immediately closing off the passing lanes (Rodri was brilliant at this). This season teams seem to win it off us and then easily pass it around our press and then they're on the break. I do think a player like Gonzalez might help with that.

I think it's more where and when we lose the ball high up the pitch, Doku is awful for it, and Savinho not much better.

 

[deano ou812]

What’s the latest with this,is it possible we get this done before Monday if we are interested..

 

[SkyBlueFlux]

I agree with that and why zi said we creep to far up the pitch.

Maybe that should be changed to Kova being too high and not being able to recover.

It’s not just him though. Sometimes you see a huge hole appear and it’s 3 defenders and Kova dealing with 4 attackers running at pace.

It’s probably a bit of all the factors though and the lack of Rodri’s reading of the game defensively, but also offensively. The lack of line breaking passes really slows us down.

Yeah, it's crazy really, people have trouble pinning it down to just one issue this year because Rodri added so much going forward and back. Truth is we miss his presence as a leader, a midfield engine, a creative spark, a defensive wall and a goalscorer.

We might need to clone him to preserve the long-term success of the club.

 

[Gaz (FMwkdsoul)]

What’s the latest with this,is it possible we get this done before Monday if we are interested..

no movement yet, and maybe.

 

[Ajm1985]

It is partly by design, but think it’s been exacerbated by the loss of Rodri’s ability to pass through the lines. Kova doesn’t do that. He dribbles through them, but not as often.

Agree with that. Also how quickly Rodri would pass and his accuracy with the pass out to the wingers has been missed. Kova takes a couple of touches, the easier pass or carries it.

 

[wolviedinho]

Another point and this is just me trying to get a grasp of transfer plan - there existed a player who has a similar profile to Rodri and whose family has connections to City - Dad worked for Pep yet it took us 30 days of January to start negotiations with him.

I am just a little intrigued by the timing.

Maybe the player didn’t want to leave Portugal? Maybe city changed their mind on who we wanted?

I always start with a few questions. Is the club badly run? Normally that is a NO. Are we mugs in the window? Largely NO.

Things like these normally work in a simple way. The players name was probably mentioned, quick call to the father and player to see if he is interested and then go to the club. Wouldn't surprise me if this all happened over a meal and bang, game on.

So many variable in a transfer. It ain’t always about City not acting quickly enough.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

Agree with that. Also how quickly Rodri would pass and his accuracy with the pass out to the wingers has been missed. Kova takes a couple of touches, the easier pass or carries it.

Probably worth saying that it isn’t really Kovacic’s fault. He’s doing his best whilst playing out of position. We were even more dreadful without him.

Anyway, if González does come, let’s hope he can pick the passes and allow Kova to roam more.

 

[SkyBlueFlux]

I think it's more where and when we lose the ball high up the pitch, Doku is awful for it, and Savinho not much better.

You're right on that one, we seem to protect it too much in the parts of the pitch where we can probably afford to take a risk, but then don't protect it at all and lose it in areas which are really damaging.

I do think in Savinho/Doku's case we can maybe say it's exuberance of youth and they might learn, but they're not the only ones. Kova, Nunes, Gundogan, Foden, KDB - they've all given the ball away in crazy areas this year.

 

[Marvin.]

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Think the biggest issue we have is pace of attacks. We attack so slowly, which allows all our players to creep too far forward and then struggle to get back.

Hopefully Marmoush’s directness will quicken us up and negate some of our deficiencies as the players shouldn’t be too far out of position to stop transitions.

This stat is meaningless in terms of low intensity in possession because City are adept at managing possession but I am surprised that City still press hard out of possession. My impression is that we are less effective in doing so this season

 

[Stelea]

Probably worth saying that it isn’t really Kovacic’s fault. He’s doing his best whilst playing out of position. We were even more dreadful without him.

Anyway, if González does come, let’s hope he can pick the passes and allow Kova to roam more.

We have been miles better since Kovacic came back after his injury suffered in the international break. During Kovacic injury, Gundo played there and we lost most games.
Kovacic is unfortunately the best option we have until we one day sign someone