Wolves (H) Post-Match Thread

[Phil1]

You might have hit on something there.

You should get on the blower to Pep ;-)

Haha! I didn’t expect to see you in my net when I logged on today, or @Psychedelic Casual. Impressive haul.

 

[The Black Shed]

Thinking of a positive here, but maybe now the team can all relax and just play fluid, attacking football without having to play catch up and worrying about breaking down the park-the-bus teams. You never know we might find a solution or two to this during a match. Even if we beat Liverpool twice we are still reliant on them dropping points so we should forget about table positions and just enjoy playing great football because after all we can do that rather well. LB and CB need addressing in January - it might be too late in the summer for new guys to settle in, so.i say buy as soon as. Looking forward to Palace away!

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

To be fair we gifted them 4 chances in first half they didn't put away, so we carried on gifting them more.

I said elsewhere that after they'd buggered up the third one that they'd score the next 'un. It was the next two they converted. I'm at the point where I think we can score with every attack - but we can also concede with every opposition attack. Got away with three goal rushes yesterday but not the last two!

 

[mosssideblue]

I wouldn’t read to much into it Kaz,
I’ll post a proper comment when this has died down in the morning but I genuinely think we’re suffering from 2 years worth of champions fatigue, two campaigns worth of monumental effort from all involved. People don’t give this team enough credit or sympathy

That is so on point.

 

[come-on-barney]

I got attacked from all sides for saying this after Norwich game. Pep doesn't look like himself on the pitchline this season. Sitting there with Arteta most of the time, there is no his usual antics and intensity and both were always some of his biggest weapons as players were always responding to it. he was showing more passion talking to opposition players in his first 3 seasons than he shows it during games this year. No fire from him this year.

I'm firm believer that managers transmit their energy to the pitch, specially when their tactics is high intensity game. When you look at most of the fighters teams in recent history, they always had some kind of lunatic as a manager as it is the only way to push them to their limits for longer periods. Klopp, Guardiola, Ferguson, Simeone, Mourinho, Conte... if you want your team to throw themselves on anything they have to see that passion from their manager too. We had it for three years and Pep was like that, but this season feels bit different. He looks like he is tiring and I'm afraid the team might look like that more often.

That is not what I saw on the bench today. He was totally immersed in the game. I sit opposite and he was in deep discussion with Arteta with both his arms outstretched pointing out what look like gaps or distances. This conversation went on a while. Besides the the key long term injuries he cannot ever rely on Mendy. Stones is always injured and now Kevin also picking up injuries. I think the expectations at the club are such that he cannot play the youngsters. Thus leaving him playing a side he probably has doubts about. The Cancelo experiment at left back was rectified at half-time, quickest I have seen him react. So, think this leaves him in a difficult place right now. There is also no leader out there right now or suspect possibly in the dressing room. The issue now becomes if, and I say if we don’t have a great session, which can happen to any top team, what happens with one year let on his contract. Does he rebuild for that one season? Pep is too proud a man to be letting his intensity drop, and I believe would walk away rather than give us his all.

 

[adaminho]

Personally think we should give Garcia a go!! I have never seen a lad with a more mature head on him at his age. I have watched him for the EDS and the lad plays like his mentor Puyol. Come on PEP get him in the 1st 11!!

 

[Keeper!]

Thinking of a positive here, but maybe now the team can all relax and just play fluid, attacking football without having to play catch up and worrying about breaking down the park-the-bus teams. You never know we might find a solution or two to this during a match. Even if we beat Liverpool twice we are still reliant on them dropping points so we should forget about table positions and just enjoy playing great football because after all we can do that rather well. LB and CB need addressing in January - it might be too late in the summer for new guys to settle in, so.i say buy as soon as. Looking forward to Palace away!

Very true, but one thing with Pep is he simply won't change his footballing principles.
His style of football is magnificent but at this moment in time with the injuries we have it's almost impossible to play that style, we are so vulnerable at the back.
Hence why we need to adapt until we can strengthen or get the players fit again, but Pep simply won't do that, maybe that's one of his weaknesses, even geniuses have them.

 

[bobmcfc]

I’ve never liked Gundogan, was hoping he wouldn’t sign a new deal and we’d sell him last summer. Just doesn’t fit in our team

 

[Marvin]

We can not keep starting David Silva, Aguero and Gundogan whilst we have the current defensive problems.

More energy is needed in midfield and upfront - Bernardo, Foden, and Jesus should have started yesterday.

Also, Otamendi is an accident waiting to happen surely Garcia must be better.

I watched Pep's post-match press conference. I am afraid he is in denial. He actually thinks Fernandinho and Otamendi played well but that they were ruthlessly exposed because our possession game was poor. I would accept that if he had gone on to explain why our possession game was poor. It was because his midfield set-up didn't give us a chance.

One thing emerged which I didn't realise was that Walker had been suffering with illness and so City had to take off our quickest defender who could have looked after Traore on the counter but for me, Pep got a lot wrong yesterday:

1) Cancelo is not a left-back. Zinchenko and Angelino are both better than him on the left. I actually thought he was our best player in the 1st half but he did so by coming inside. Walker was none-existent in the 1st half. Now we know why.

2) Aguero hardly got a touch in the 1st half. They had 5 at the back. Aguero just could not get free. For me, I'd have changed it a half-time and brought on Jesus for David Silva to support Aguero and given their defence a different problem

3) He started with Gundogan, Rodri and David Silva who are fine players in their own right but together I don't like them because they are too static. We needed a player like Foden driving from midfield to join Aguero and play the usual one-twos and quick passing that is our hallmark. I could not see our midfield of Gundogan, Rodri and David Silva breaking Wolves down. They just didn't have a bad day. They'd be 2nd best every single time. Last season Bernardo replaced de Bruyne. I think most City fans expected Bernardo to start centrally, and for Mahrez to be on the right. Mahrez was on the right but where was Bernardo?

I kind of understand playing Ota instead of Harwood-Bellis. We could easily have played Harwood-Bellis yesterday instead, but I think we would still have lost. Why couldn't Pep just say afterwards "yes the fault is mine"? It was a systemic problem and not a problem with the players? It would have been the right thing to do.

The next game is Palace away. They will play in exactly the same way. 5 man defence and look to counter-attack. We've played against this system many times, and normally if a team sits deep against our midfield we just find a way and finish them. But to do that you have to put round pegs in round holes Pep.

 

[Blue Pete]

Number of observations from yesterday and from reading on here.
Cancello didn't have a bad game, but as a left back he kept coming back onto his right foot, as right back he did ok.
Otto is and never has been anything but shite in 1 on 1s.
Gundog for us, is at best a back up 6, or at a pinch an 8 if paired with KDB.
Mahrez is not the right fit for City, refuses to pass to overlapping fullback, refuses to take on fullback, not that good at coming inside.
Our defense struggles when the midfield do not give them options to pass to.
Without Sane, KDB, or Bernard we have only got Sterling who can speed up the play.
Sterling has good and bad games.
Silva never had pace and as such hasn't lost it, however he needs runners to pass to and space to work his magic, yesterday he had neither.
We are a team lacking in height, whip crosses in low and we might have a chance anything in the air, forget it.
I like Rodri
Aguero needs service.

And everyone on here is an expert, despite no real experience of managing a premier league team