Pep's Press Conferences - Watford (A) Post Match (Page 129)

SalfordCityBlue said:
Is the solution to give away no chances, ever, then?

It's frustrating that for whatever reason no one can miss against us at the moment (every opponent is suddenly a world class finisher), but Pep is right in what he's saying IMO - we should be scoring more goals given our possession and our players, and when we start doing that we'll win many more times than we lose (or draw). We stop making individual defensive mistakes (or more likely replace those players) that will also help.

For one reason or another we are playing largely with the same team as last year, just another year older. Bravo looks horrific at the moment (not that I think there was anything he could really have done today to change the result) but surely everyone realises he's better than this? We need to support him, the manager and the team through a difficult spell.

The only way Guardiola is leaving is in the case of an absolute catastrophe, and I would hope no City fan is genuinely wishing for that to happen. He's had one transfer window, during which he was assessing the team and we had a disrupted/farcical pre-season. We tried to fix the central defence but for whatever reason that didn't happen (would we ever be this open with Bonucci? No chance) so it's not like he thinks it all good, and Kompany and Gundogan's injuries. while predictable, have not helped.

Today was hellish (well, the second half) but many said we would have some sticky times this season - we can't be even in anger talking about Pep out at this stage, it's fucking ridiculous.
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No one can miss as as I said previous the chances are pretty easy......Lukakus first today a semi pro would have put away just as easily. Yes its individual errors but they are being compounded by very poor defensive tactics seeming from he midfield set up and into the back line.

No one wants Pep to leave.......just want him to see what is blindingly obvious which I'm sure he can and therefore do something about it and stop making the same mistakes as Pellers did before him and he has made numerous times already this year,,,,,adapt to the team you are playing and also adapt to the players you have at your disposal instead of asking them to play in a way that they just are not capable of.

The defence would be much more secure with one of the midfielders detailed to play right in front of them in a proper holding role...

Our problem comes from the fact that the we are playing out from the back (no prob with that little bit) but what happens is that yaya (usually) drops between the two centre halves...who then split wide of him..............the two fullbacks invariably push up the pitch very high...and one of the other midfielders usually come short...so you are left with something like this


------------------------------------------Bravo------------------------------------

Otto----------------------------------yaya--------------------------------------Stones



30-40 yds up the pitch


Sagna-----------------------------------------silva----------------------------------------------------clichy


now when we pass the half way line we are still like this but now the opposition have started to press the ball where ever it is..........

and when we lose it you can see automatically what will and can happen...................you could drive a bus through the gams between the centre halves and yaya....if he is still there and the fullbacks are no where to be seen.........so many times this has been the case and teams are just waiting to pick us off.........and when they do it is easy due tot he amount of space they have to work in
 
simon23 said:
No one can miss as as I said previous the chances are pretty easy......Lukakus first today a semi pro would have put away just as easily. Yes its individual errors but they are being compounded by very poor defensive tactics seeming from he midfield set up and into the back line.

No one wants Pep to leave.......just want him to see what is blindingly obvious which I'm sure he can and therefore do something about it and stop making the same mistakes as Pellers did before him and he has made numerous times already this year,,,,,adapt to the team you are playing and also adapt to the players you have at your disposal instead of asking them to play in a way that they just are not capable of.

The defence would be much more secure with one of the midfielders detailed to play right in front of them in a proper holding role...

Our problem comes from the fact that the we are playing out from the back (no prob with that little bit) but what happens is that yaya (usually) drops between the two centre halves...who then split wide of him..............the two fullbacks invariably push up the pitch very high...and one of the other midfielders usually come short...so you are left with something like this


------------------------------------------Bravo------------------------------------

Otto----------------------------------yaya--------------------------------------Stones



30-40 yds up the pitch


Sagna-----------------------------------------silva----------------------------------------------------clichy


now when we pass the half way line we are still like this but now the opposition have started to press the ball where ever it is..........

and when we lose it you can see automatically what will and can happen...................you could drive a bus through the gams between the centre halves and yaya....if he is still there and the fullbacks are no where to be seen.........so many times this has been the case and teams are just waiting to pick us off.........and when they do it is easy due tot he amount of space they have to work in
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Kinell ! Clichy doesn't get that far up the pitch !
 
simon23 said:
No one can miss as I said previous the chances are pretty easy......Lukakus first today a semi pro would have put away just as easily. Yes its individual errors but they are being compounded by very poor defensive tactics seeming from he midfield set up and into the back line.

No one wants Pep to leave.......just want him to see what is blindingly obvious which I'm sure he can and therefore do something about it and stop making the same mistakes as Pellers did before him and he has made numerous times already this year,,,,,adapt to the team you are playing and also adapt to the players you have at your disposal instead of asking them to play in a way that they just are not capable of.

The defence would be much more secure with one of the midfielders detailed to play right in front of them in a proper holding role...

Our problem comes from the fact that the we are playing out from the back (no prob with that little bit) but what happens is that yaya (usually) drops between the two centre halves...who then split wide of him..............the two fullbacks invariably push up the pitch very high...and one of the other midfielders usually come short...so you are left with something like this


------------------------------------------Bravo------------------------------------

Otto----------------------------------yaya--------------------------------------Stones




30-40 yds up the pitch


Sagna-----------------------------------------silva----------------------------------------------------clichy


now when we pass the half way line we are still like this but now the opposition have started to press the ball where ever it is..........

and when we lose it you can see automatically what will and can happen...................you could drive a bus through the gams between the centre halves and yaya....if he is still there and the fullbacks are no where to be seen.........so many times this has been the case and teams are just waiting to pick us off.........and when they do it is easy due tot he amount of space they have to work in
Click to expand...
This is what I think every time Pep talks about us having numerous chances and the opposition scoring from their only chance. I saw a stat on the BBC website today stating that city have "conceded from the first shot they have faced in four of their last seven games", it is the quality rather than the quantity of chances. Our chances have quality in their build-up, but once we get into the box there is no room to get a shot in, hence the chance is lost or just too difficult to execute. The opposition waits for an opportunity (a mis-placed pass, a chance to tackle) to counter us and runs through large gaps that are badly patrolled and has an open shot at a net with only a poor shot-stopper keeper to contend with.

I would never consider myself qualified enough to tell a great manager like Pep what to do but your other point about adapting your team to the opposition and the players at your disposal seems very obvious. I noticed a quote in the MEN a few weeks ago from KDB stating that Pep spends a lot of time analysing an opposition and working out a strategy only for the other team to play a different long ball game against us.

What ever the solution is it starts at the back, we are not good enough to have a defence based on possession, only Barca have (had?) that. Until we have the players to play that way we need to more pragmatic, why not play the opposition at their own game and sit back and pick them off? It works against Barca so it will work against lesser team. Lets see if they have the quality to break down a crowded 6 yard area.
 
When you suffer a setback you rely on your leader to raise your spirits and show optimism based on a plan or vision. Sadly, for the first time, I'm feeling a little sceptical.
 
I am so tired of hearing the same post match bulls##it of we make lots of chances and we conceed from first attack, he starting to sound like a scratched record.
 
We didn't lose today purely because of bravo but his stats are awful save % today was 0 from shots on target! He has conceded something like 15 out of the last 24 on target. He has conceded from the first shot on target in the last 7 matches. Our backline isn't great but it's clear bravo should be doing better.
 
Mancity1980 said:
This is what I think every time Pep talks about us having numerous chances and the opposition scoring from their only chance. I saw a stat on the BBC website today stating that city have "conceded from the first shot they have faced in four of their last seven games", it is the quality rather than the quantity of chances. Our chances have quality in their build-up, but once we get into the box there is no room to get a shot in, hence the chance is lost or just too difficult to execute. The opposition waits for an opportunity (a mis-placed pass, a chance to tackle) to counter us and runs through large gaps that are badly patrolled and has an open shot at a net with only a poor shot-stopper keeper to contend with.

I would never consider myself qualified enough to tell a great manager like Pep what to do but your other point about adapting your team to the opposition and the players at your disposal seems very obvious. I noticed a quote in the MEN a few weeks ago from KDB stating that Pep spends a lot of time analysing an opposition and working out a strategy only for the other team to play a different long ball game against us.

What ever the solution is it starts at the back, we are not good enough to have a defence based on possession, only Barca have (had?) that. Until we have the players to play that way we need to more pragmatic, why not play the opposition at their own game and sit back and pick them off? It works against Barca so it will work against lesser team. Lets see if they have the quality to break down a crowded 6 yard area.
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This is a very good post.

Yes we had chances today but none, maybe apart from Sterling's but the keeper was out quickly and fouled him, were as clear cut as any of there's.

On a normal day you expect at the very least two of their four chances to be converted. Today we were slightly unlucky all went in. Especially Tom Davies' but they still did enough to beat us.
 
The simple truth is when our opposition gets a chance not one of our players closes them down, yet when we get in the box teams defend as if their lives depended on it. We have no desire to do the hard stuff, the stuff that often goes un-noticed. As others have said Bravo - although he's not doing himself any favours by his weak shop stopping - is left out to dry time and again. The space we gave premier league footballers today was criminal and it worries me greatly that Pep is not addressing this. I also have a feeling that there are too many at the club behind the scenes who are far too comfortable, on way too much money - there seems to be no consequence of cocking your job up. "We got Pep, now let's just sit back and watch us go" I know first hand that many of the marketing and PR team are on unbelievable salaries having been poached from other clubs and there is an air of complacency sitting like a sea fret over the Etihad. I had hoped Pep would work his magic but the illnesses persists. Complacency is contagious and even though the admin side of the club is, on the face of it, far less important, there is an undercurrent that filters down to through the entire operation - worrying times.
 
Rule of thumb: 3 shots on target = 1 goal (allowing for lady luck etc)
Man U v Liverpool
Man U: 3 shots on tgt v Liv: 4 shots on target
1:1 = fair result
Everton v City
Everton: 4 shots on tgt v City: 5 shots on target
1:1 / 2:2 / 2:1 / 1: 2 = "normal" results
4:0 = freakish
City didn't score a goal so moaning about Bravo's inability to save anything is a bit misleading (does JH save all 4 of those shots?)
but longer term perspective indicates we have + by some margin + worst keeper in Prem League in terms of shot stopping.
Guardiola is notoriously stubborn about philosophy of how game should be played but does this extend to a specific position within team?
My gut instinct is that Bravo's superior ability to play out with ball at his feet has contributed to about 2-3 City goals this season.
His weakness in saving shots has led to us shipping 8-9 goals that any decent keeper would have saved.
Pep's interview intimates frustration with our inability to take chances but I know which end of the pitch our problems are easier to solve.
 
Alex-MCFC said:
Not the best time to come on here, Maldeika.
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Why? I am here every day.

I actually expected the problems. It was too easy at the beginning. It takes time to implement a system and, yes, maybe it needs luck and the right players, too. I thought you would struggle at the beginning - but maybe the problem is that it ran so fine at the beginning and the problems came later. The theatre of the press is just the normal run of things. I just cannot stand the-EPL-is-so-special bullocks that it is this difficult league that is the problem. It is not. The problem is not the idea but the execution.

For me Pep's system is the best system - I think the discussions about it, like about the high line - do not make sense as apart from maybe the odd match it is just necessary for his kind of play. The most people just have too less patience. At Bayern and Barcelona he worked with players that got implemented a similar system for seasons or even since their football beginnings. You do not. It might not even be a functioning team - atleast that was what I felt the seasons before. You might be able to mask that with a new coach as long as it is new and there is no problems - but it somewhen will show.

You cannot change Pep. He is fine making adapations - he did enough at Bayern - to adapt to situations. But he will not change his playing philosophies and what he believes in. But it takes time to build big things - to have success for a short time is an easy achievement.

That I cannot remember seeing him in a similar condition in the Bayern years I really meant. He is a bad actor. He lives football 24/7 and the whole theatre and problems right now are getting to him - and it shows. Actually he somehow looks similar to Müller in his recent goal drought - not really knowing what is wrong but like somebody who always had a bit of luck but recently it has turned into misfortune. He is a great tactical coach and teacher - I do not know how good he is with motivation. I do not think that at Bayern he needed to be the big motivator because of the characters in that team.

I am pretty neutral about City - atleast as long they do not directly compete with Bayern. But right now I just want Pep's system to function. And I do not really want Chelsea, Mou or Klopp to have success. Or Arsenal.
 
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