10 | Jack Grealish - 2021/22 Performances

[Agueroooo9320]

good analysis on why the grealish & cancelo combo is, so far, lacking in end product.

TL: DR - two right footers who don't use their left foot against low blocks means they almost always have to cut inside, which halts the attack and makes the entire play awkward to manuever and easy to defend. most of our play comes down the left side, but most of our goals comes through the right.

Zinchenko could be a key figure to unlock grealish, although he's not the overlapping type that could help. Even though kyle doesn't go forward much, he does overlap and over a nifty crossing option for gabby, which gives him more space to do his thing.

in addition to this pep has clearly said to Jack to hug the touchline and stay as wide as possible so that Cancelo can come inside which is stupid because it completely takes away Jacks game which is based around tight spaces. he never was the quick type to get to the byline. and letting cancelo come inside always only results in his stupid ass shots into row Z. if anyone is to blame for Jack's not so great performance, it has to squarely lie on Pep.

 

[mccity]

From a purely tactical perspective it's not uncommon for new wingers in a Pep team to start off being glued out wide, before down the line showcasing a bit more freedom with their movement. Basics first, everything else later.

The fact Grealish is consistently playing says either:
1) He's doing well.
2) Pep sees a big upside in him and wants to fast track his development beyond the current stage.
3) All the above.

We've seen a few cameos where he's been allowed to drift a bit more for whatever reason and he's consistently showcased a lot of flair a creativity in those moments. That's probably what we can expect in the future. Right now we just have to be patient.

 

[simon23]

good analysis on why the grealish & cancelo combo is, so far, lacking in end product.

TL: DR - two right footers who don't use their left foot against low blocks means they almost always have to cut inside, which halts the attack and makes the entire play awkward to manuever and easy to defend. most of our play comes down the left side, but most of our goals comes through the right.

Zinchenko could be a key figure to unlock grealish, although he's not the overlapping type that could help. Even though kyle doesn't go forward much, he does overlap and over a nifty crossing option for gabby, which gives him more space to do his thing.

unlock grealish...jeez this is now sounding like the Pogba thread/comments ....... ;-)

 

[applejuice]

All our wingers do what he tells them. Stay wide, keep ball and wait for a chance. Do not lose ball.
Bit frustrating for us watching but works.

Actually I think these wide winger things are the reason why City sometimes goes goalless.

I know in so called morden football, full backs can be as sharp as wingers but common sense is that central forward is better at attacking than winger than mid-fielder than full back than center backs.

If a kid shows great potential of attacking, he will try to be a winger first - rather than be coached into a full back.

Usually other team will ask full back to overlap or hug the line to keep the width - create space for the wingers.

However Pep is currently obsessed with the "wide winger" system and ask the wingers to hugging the line to create space for the full back. And the full backs are operating as midfielders. Against Palace it did not work in the 1st half. In the 2nd half due to down to 10 man, our front 3 were no longer pinned in their assigned role and roam freely, guess what, more chances and city was looking quite likely to score. (Yes I admit Palace was loosen up a bit but the improvement was HUGE).

Besides one more point
IMO Our biggest chance (except the disallowed goal) was not Rodri's kick in the 2nd half BUT a later set piece by Grealish foul. Great location. Foden shot was bounced back by the wall to the Cancelo's feet. At that moment, Palace defender on the left side dropped down to the grass accidentally and left a huge gap. Grealish Foden and another 2 city players were all unmarked standing in the perfect location. Cancelo could use his right foot to deliver a simple pass to them but he chose to shoot.... You could see the huge disappointment shown by Foden after that....

 

[Nihilist]

Actually I think these wide winger things are the reason why City sometimes goes goalless.

I know in so called morden football, full backs can be as sharp as wingers but common sense is that central forward is better at attacking than winger than mid-fielder than full back than center backs.

Look at Chelsea neither Lukaku or Werner are scoring a lot of goals , it's the likes of Chilwell , James , Mount so on that give them goals. They scored with like 17 different players so far this season. They can afford to have Lukaku and Werner injured at the same time.

 

[Larry Stranger]

Actually I think these wide winger things are the reason why City sometimes goes goalless.

I know in so called morden football, full backs can be as sharp as wingers but common sense is that central forward is better at attacking than winger than mid-fielder than full back than center backs.

If a kid shows great potential of attacking, he will try to be a winger first - rather than be coached into a full back.

Usually other team will ask full back to overlap or hug the line to keep the width - create space for the wingers.

However Pep is currently obsessed with the "wide winger" system and ask the wingers to hugging the line to create space for the full back. And the full backs are operating as midfielders. Against Palace it did not work in the 1st half. In the 2nd half due to down to 10 man, our front 3 were no longer pinned in their assigned role and roam freely, guess what, more chances and city was looking quite likely to score. (Yes I admit Palace was loosen up a bit but the improvement was HUGE).

Besides one more point
IMO Our biggest chance (except the disallowed goal) was not Rodri's kick in the 2nd half BUT a later set piece by Grealish foul. Great location. Foden shot was bounced back by the wall to the Cancelo's feet. At that moment, Palace defender on the left side dropped down to the grass accidentally and left a huge gap. Grealish Foden and another 2 city players were all unmarked standing in the perfect location. Cancelo could use his right foot to deliver a simple pass to them but he chose to shoot.... You could see the huge disappointment shown by Foden after that....

Damned if you do, Damned if you don't. We weren't exactly pulling up trees when Mendy played wide left hugging the touchline. Of course Mendy wasn't good, but it still left us with tactical problems in defending the counter attack because when the ball was lost his was so high which left Rodri lots of space to cover. In fact last season prior to the West Brom game Pep talks about, that's was how we were playing. As to why he switched to wingers wide. It just didn't work against Palace because a lot of our players had a stinker. All of Cancelo's balls didn't come off, KDB was off, Laporte etc. There seemed to be a panic to rush to get a goal back resulting in not playing well.

 

[Keeper!]

From a purely tactical perspective it's not uncommon for new wingers in a Pep team to start off being glued out wide, before down the line showcasing a bit more freedom with their movement. Basics first, everything else later.

The fact Grealish is consistently playing says either:
1) He's doing well.
2) Pep sees a big upside in him and wants to fast track his development beyond the current stage.
3) All the above.

We've seen a few cameos where he's been allowed to drift a bit more for whatever reason and he's consistently showcased a lot of flair a creativity in those moments. That's probably what we can expect in the future. Right now we just have to be patient.

Not having a go at Grealish here but what options does the manager have?

Sterling, form gone, Mahrez struggling , KDB knackered, Torres injured, Zinch injured.

A fit Grealish is almost guaranteed to start because of these issues.

 

[Red Jericho]

I always felt that in a false 9 system, the wingers would be given more freedom to cut in rather than sticking out wide. Having the wingers hugging the touchline seems pointless as it reduces the goal threat. Look at Liverpool, Salah and Mane cut in frequently and Firmino drops deep and then the fullbacks provide width. Pep is going to have to change his tactics mid-season

 

[LangleyBlue1970]

He’ll score on Saturday. He’ll revel in playing there, winding them up.

 

[BlueMoonz1977]

Lets remember that it takes the first season when you arrive to adjust to Pep's style and what he wants from a new signing

If for example he had gone to say, the rags or dippers, he probably may have had a more exciting start - because there tactics are either

a) non-existent (rags) so he would have freedom to roam where he liked or
B) kick and rush football (dippers)

Grealish is learning to adjust his talent so it works in tandem with Pep's methods - it will take this season for that to bed in properly