This but Cherki for Marmoush
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Sunderland (H) - Sat 6th Dec, 15:00 | PL | Pre-Match Thread
- Thread starter MCFC1993
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Panda Blue
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Same team I would select, two DM in front of the back four leaving the front four to score the goals.Sunderland in a patchy run of form at the moment. One win in four, they got battered by Fulham (they should have lost by much more), got a bit lucky against Arsenal, and were pretty naff against Everton before that. But they played the perfect game against Chelsea, having almost none of the ball while creating high quality chances, and got that rousing win against Bournemouth last weekend. They have so much fight, energy, and a bit of quality to go with it, which is a nightmare combo for us at the moment.
I think we've got to go solid back four, two defensive DMs, and then four attacking players for this one. Try to let them have the ball, a la Bournemouth, Liverpool, and United, in the hopes that we just let them punch themselves out. I think if we try to "play" they will just sit tight, hit us fast on the transitions, and do us in. Leeds were the better team for 45 minutes last weekend and Sunderland will be looking at what they did. Isidor is more of a threat than Calvert-Lewin and I'd want Stones in for Bernardo for extra height.
Donnarumma
Khusanov, Stones, Dias, Gvardiol
Gonzalez, O'Reilly
Foden, Cherki, Doku
Haaland
Nunes has played too much football recently and looks like a mistake could happen at any moment for him. Bernardo too looks like he can't play as much football as he's being asked to, plus we need Stones' height and experience at the back right now. Reijnders is looking better, and took his goal well against Fulham, but I think we need Cherki just to help us keep the ball up the pitch for longer periods - and every time he comes on the pitch he creates something, which will be needed in a tight game.
Hopefully Sunderland give 100% of everything at Liverpool tonight and end up knackered for Saturday.
malg
Well-Known Member
Agree on the Sunderland comment there. Hopefully they'll not turn up at the weekend and we'll be on it and put in a second half performance like we used to. It'll be a tough game as the couple of times I've seen Sunderland this season they've been quite good.Tough game and nice to see Sunderland doing very well this year
Eaststander1
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Sunderland proving yet again last night what a tough nut they are to crack, and we're gonna have to be really ' at the races' on Saturday to overcome them ..... its got draw written all over it, but right now Arsenal aren't slipping, and we mustn't either.
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Ethan23
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That seems odd
Father Paul
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It might explain why we have collapsed in the 2nd half lately.That seems odd
Nico will do a job anywhere. Also RAN is off to AFCON. So technically he could well end back at left back when RAN goes. Central midfield with both Rodri and Kovacic out the options are bare. We need to rotate a bit. I don't think Nico can consistently play as much as he has. So hopefully 1 of the 2 be ready soon. I honestly think we got a lot that's in limbo in the defence a bit of rotation will be needed. So whoever comes into that defence has a chance of getting a run of games. Right back Nunes bit hit and miss can we see someone in that position for Sunderland still think Rico Lewis will get another chance soon.
It's a good point about Afcon. Maybe now is the time to give O'Reilly a rest because he isn't getting one for a while in a couple of weeks.
That seems odd
It's the move away from pure positional play and control under Pep. Still seems a bit extreme though.
citizen_maine
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Is it just coincidence that it appears to be 115km per game?
blueparrot
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To be fair the move away from positional play and control has been a bit more than was intentional. Pep said himself running so much isn’t a good thing because it means we don’t have the ball enough.It's the move away from pure positional play and control under Pep. Still seems a bit extreme though.
It's concerning but I do think if we could control games like we used to I doubt we would be running as much as that.
Plus, if the squad wasn't as decimated as it is via injury, especially in the midfield, I think we would be all praising those figures as a key reason to why we are 2nd in the league.
We are trying to play peak City/Barca football with a level of player that is a tier or two below that quality. This is one of the reasons we gass out too much in the second half in my opinion. Pep just doesn't trust the backups enough to rotate as he would have done in the past.
I haven't seen a City team lose and and end up fighting and running for second balls as much as we have this season since Pellegrini's last season.
Marvin.
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More like City don't sit in a low block for 90 minutes.It's concerning but I do think if we could control games like we used to I doubt we would be running as much as that.
Plus, if the squad wasn't as decimated as it is via injury, especially in the midfield, I think we would be all praising those figures as a key reason to why we are 2nd in the league.
We are trying to play peak City/Barca football with a level of player that is a tier or two below that quality. This is one of the reasons we gass out too much in the second half in my opinion. Pep just doesn't trust the backups enough to rotate as he would have done in the past.
I haven't seen a City team lose and and end up fighting and running for second balls as much as we have this season since Pellegrini's last season.
BlueMonkey79
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My thoughts exactly. How can a team have 60 per cent possession average but run further than the team that has least possession...??That seems odd
BlueMonkey79
Well-Known Member
Savinho is responsible for half of that mileage. Running around like a headless chicken.
We're a bit light in the middle of the pitch, Rodri especially, but decimated is pushing it a bit. The bit about the quality of players I tend to agree with.It's concerning but I do think if we could control games like we used to I doubt we would be running as much as that.
Plus, if the squad wasn't as decimated as it is via injury, especially in the midfield, I think we would be all praising those figures as a key reason to why we are 2nd in the league.
We are trying to play peak City/Barca football with a level of player that is a tier or two below that quality. This is one of the reasons we gass out too much in the second half in my opinion. Pep just doesn't trust the backups enough to rotate as he would have done in the past.
I haven't seen a City team lose and and end up fighting and running for second balls as much as we have this season since Pellegrini's last season.
The Lightbowne Cowboy
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I think headless chickens fall over less.Savinho is responsible for half of that mileage. Running around like a headless chicken.
Marvin.
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Liverpool 1-1 Sunderland makes us cautious because we still regard Liverpool as a top side. Other notable away results for Sunderland are Chelsea 1-2 Sunderland, Fulham 1-0 Sunderland and Man Utd 2-0 Sunderland. A mixed bag. Their league position owes to their home form where they are unbeaten. Away from home they have W2, D2, L3.