Great stuff last night. And thank fuck no fans got hospitalised.
Pellers correctly identified the heart of their team, their no.6 (or in this case, no.17) and got the lads to do a job on him. Dude didn't get a chance to turn and face us with the ball all 1st half, and this completely destroyed the way they play. And they mentally collapsed. This was their first knockout round in ages, if I remember rightly, so they had to be a little nervous anyway. A few touches on the ball and a bit of distribution from their DM and those nerves might have disapeared. But nah :D we can't have that. Credit to Rebrov for changing things up in the 2nd half and attacking through other options. The earned themselves a decent spell and got a goal from it. But we were too dominant over the 90 mins.
This is the type of performance (and the Tottenham game) that I want to see form Pellegrini until the end of the season. Good game plans where we can earn the right to play. Folks may well judge the Kiev team as absolutely terrible and say that we should win easy no matter what. But it is this blinding 'on paper' arrogance that has left us scratching our heads after games. Too many times have I seen us struggle against teams we 'should be beating if we turn up' so well done for showing tactical respect. Dynamo Kiev have been good this season, but we made them look like they used to 5 years ago.
Silva was back to business this game, drifting from one side to the other, little overload here, a combination there. Sterling... I always bang on about it... but his tactical discipline and ability to carry out instruction is great for one so young. Once he sharpens up his overall technique, he will be well on his way to world-class. Ripping players all night on that left flank, constant threat and didn't shirk his defensive duties either. Fernando was masterfully disciplined this game. his positioning was good, and he was always ready to fly forward and hound their no.6 whenever he was about to recieve a pass from the enemy rear guard. Focused as fuck. And I struggle to think of a more well-rounded midfielder than Fernandinho. Sir is a one-man-army. Kompany, my word, what a relief it is to have him back. His organisational skills, his reassuring presence. and fuck me, his defending was sublime. Otamendi's aggression was channelled and focused, making him unstoppable for most of the game. The two CBs were essential at filling the gaps that Fernando was leaving with his bursts from the team shape to bully their no.6. Great fluidity.
We were superior technically, of course we were, you only have to look at the two clubs' wage-bills to see the difference. But that wouldn't be enough to dominate a game. We needed the 'collective power,' the tactics from the gaffer and the players gassed and willing to carry them out. We won't always have 11 days rest before a game, but we should still be able to play with this kind of tactical discpline and astuteness. This needs to be the norm from now on, and if it is, I have no doubt that we will see us becoming more than the sum of our parts.
Discipline. Game plan. Every match please, lads.
