#8 | Ilkay Gündoğan - 2020/21 Performances

[citytill1die84]

Keeps going the way he's going and he's gunna be close to PFAPOTY surely?

 

[the plasterer]

my lad reckons gundog actually does his hair in the build up to his first goal, just before foden shoots, talk about being confident :-)

 

[asahartford1]

Congrats to gundog.
Can't play with Rodri though )

 

[Withnail]

Ilkay has benefitted significantly from Cancelo playing in his roaming RB role. Carragher did some good analysis on Gundo on MNF, highlighting that he is getting further forward and making those dangerous runs into the box resulting in a higher shot conversion / and higher number of goals scored.

 

[Bozo]

EVERY WOMAN EVERY MAN, ILKAY GUNDOGAN (STAND UP)

HE'S A GERMAN/TURKISH MAN, ILKAY GUNDOGAN (STAND UP)

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

Premier league player of the month for January , he must be doing something right , he is having the same influence as Yaya in our 2014 season , scoring goals and becoming the hub of the team , different stature to Yaya but the similar input , a match winner who turns up for the big games and there is every chance he will match Yaya's 20 goals at his current rate.

 

[Bluster]

Just watched the highlights again and was really impressed by his run for the second goal. He was 10m behind Foden when we won the ball back and ended up in the six yard box. He is scoring goals because he has a mandate to move into the box, which he didn't really have previously.

Interesting to see Jesus was stood pretty still whilst Foden was dribbling into the box.

 

[mccity]

Interesting to see Jesus was stood pretty still whilst Foden was dribbling into the box.

So he was doing something I see De Bruyne do a lot. He created space by virtue of everyone else moving instead of him. He was on the far side of the attack at that moment with Sterling central. But if you notice he delays his movement until after Alexander-Arnold makes a last ditch run back to defend.

As a result Jesus was in a shit load of space. If Foden had aimed for Jesus or simply overhit the ball to someone else, Jesus would have had a lot of time and freedom to do something with the ball.

Given it was Gundogan that attacked the middle and Sterling that went to the penalty spot (although he also moved very little in the same way Jesus did), I'd wager the movement of the players here was rehearsed in some way. It had to be Gundogan making the run as it makes him and Sterling more difficult to mark as they technically swap positions as well as freeing the space up for Sterling. Had Jesus been central and Sterling out wide, I imagine Jesus would have moved to the penalty spot and Sterling lingered on the far post.

 

[Dax777]

Again Pep needs to admit he wasn't playing to Gundogs strengths in a midfield two with Rhodri. In this advanced role he's a different animal altogether. Hats off to him.

Or just maybe you need to admit you were wrong about Gundogan... I mean it's not as if Pep has been saying for the better part of 2 years that Gundogan "has a good sense, a feeling, around the box." Translation, he has a nose for goal.

But I'm sure you know better. You do you playrt... Let's believe it's Pep who is the clueless one here :)

 

[Dax777]

Just watched the highlights again and was really impressed by his run for the second goal. He was 10m behind Foden when we won the ball back and ended up in the six yard box. He is scoring goals because he has a mandate to move into the box, which he didn't really have previously.

Interesting to see Jesus was stood pretty still whilst Foden was dribbling into the box.

1. It wasn't Jesus. It was Sterling. Jesus was on the left wing.

2. Sterling did the right thing. He was offsides when Phil received the ball so he had to stand still untill he wasn't offsides anymore.

3. Once the wqve went past him, and he was back onside he knew Gundogan was breaking into the 6 box so he stayed on top of the penalty spot area readjusting constantly to give Phil a cutback lane.

4. Everything he did in that sequence was fantastic. I suggest you watch the whole sequence again.

Jesus was on the left and held position on the back end top in case a loose ball spilled wide. But that was okay too. All 4 players moved intelligently.