City v Arsenal post match thread

[bellsouth]

Its so funny reading this thread. I reckon as close to 100% of City fans were thrilled to land Pep finally. And yet after 3 friendlies, a lot of folk are actually trying to say you can't do it that way Pep, you have to do it this way. What was the point in getting him then?? Just let him get on with it and be prepared for some bumps on the way, stop panicking.

 

[Blue Llama]

What I saw yesterday was the same old City from last year. But the most most annoying thing was out total inability to hoof the ball up field when the defence are under pressure. Last few games we have played it out of defence easliy and confidently, yesterday that confidence dissapeared and we got to learn that isnt the time to do tippy tappy at the back.

I think the tippy tappy only works well when the keeper is fully integrated into the process and has the skills to do it well. That means the keeper has to have good anticipation and the speed off the mark to go with it. Quick decision making and good distribution skills. Unfortunately Joe does not posses these and I think that is what Pep sees. Joe is a bit of a ditherer and is slow over the first 4 yards. And we have all seen how many of his clearances go straight out. That's why in my opinion the tippy tappy was better executed in the first half.

 

[Ric]

It was frustrating that everything good about the Munich and Dortmund performances went out of the window, and we seemed to take a step backwards.

Still, it was only a friendly and hopefully we won't see the Kolarov/Fernando defensive pairing in an actual competitive game. It was always going to take time for Guardiola to implement his style of play, and whilst there will be a few teething problems along the way, it's certainly going to be worth it in the long run.

 

[shevtheblue]

It could be as simple as Kolarov has a particular characteristic in his play which is similar to someone else, who will play that position, but is injured or not yet signed. Or just the fact he's left footed.

Or perhaps he sees Kolarov's long ball abilities as a potential weapon in a back 3, so is testing him out under pressure, to see if he can be trusted or taught to play there.

It looks to me like he wants someone who's a ball player at the back, and for all his faults Kolarov has the best left foot in the squad and *should* be able to play a penetrating pass with better accuracy than most while at least being competent enough to cover in defence. Although i'm not sure i completely agree, I have faith that either Pep has seen something or is trying out something, either way its a friendly and he's using it to experiment, get fitness up and try and prep his basic tactics into the team in a game situation.

 

[Craig]

I think the tippy tappy only works well when the keeper is fully integrated into the process and has the skills to do it well. That means the keeper has to have good anticipation and the speed off the mark to go with it. Quick decision making and good distribution skills. Unfortunately Joe does not posses these and I think that is what Pep sees. Joe is a bit of a ditherer and is slow over the first 4 yards. And we have all seen how many of his clearances go straight out. That's why in my opinion the tippy tappy was better executed in the first half.

It wasn't though mate because Arsenal should have scored at least twice in the first half when Willy and Kolorov fucked up. Also the 1St half against Dortmund was the same and teams won't keep missing such great chances. Willy is no good at it either.

 

[Gingers Dad]

The thing is, Pep knows that Kolarov isn't a cb, but he's up to something. There are a whole bunch of players who could have played there instead of Kolarov, even with the current injuries etc, who would be better at cb.

There is a reason Guardiola has been using Kolarov. Whether it's because he's teaching him something & sees more to him than we do, or he's teaching the others something or if it's just to keep the team under pressure to teach them to cover, it's not because Pep is either a fucking idiot, or has no other choice, as seems to be the suggestion by at least half the flappers on here.

He didn't have to use Kolarov & Fernando at cb, he is experimenting with something. I can't fucking stand Kolarov, but I know Pep Guardiola knows his fucking stuff, so if he wants to try something with Kolarov, he can jolly well do so.

Or he's telling the top brass to get the transfer dealings over the line asap.

 

[FanchesterCity]

I think the tippy tappy only works well when the keeper is fully integrated into the process and has the skills to do it well. That means the keeper has to have good anticipation and the speed off the mark to go with it. Quick decision making and good distribution skills. Unfortunately Joe does not posses these and I think that is what Pep sees. Joe is a bit of a ditherer and is slow over the first 4 yards. And we have all seen how many of his clearances go straight out. That's why in my opinion the tippy tappy was better executed in the first half.

Victor Valdes wasn't tippy tappy. Barca coped.

 

[Ric]

It looks to me like he wants someone who's a ball player at the back, and for all his faults Kolarov has the best left foot in the squad and *should* be able to play a penetrating pass with better accuracy than most while at least being competent enough to cover in defence. Although i'm not sure i completely agree, I have faith that either Pep has seen something or is trying out something, either way its a friendly and he's using it to experiment, get fitness up and try and prep his basic tactics into the team in a game situation.

Kolarov's distribution from the back has been awful though. So many of his passes are either misplaced, or hit so hard that the player receiving the ball can do little with it.

Still, as you say I'm sure there's a good reason why Guardiola has persisted with this experiment. I'm just not sure what it is yet!

 

[shevtheblue]

It wasn't though mate because Arsenal should have scored at least twice in the first half when Willy and Kolorov fucked up. Also the 1St half against Dortmund was the same and teams won't keep missing such great chances. Willy is no good at it either.

This is Pep's style and he's already said he won't negotiate on the fundamentals of his style. Being able to keep the ball between defence and keeper is obviously the biggest risk on the pitch, but if you have the players with the ability and the trust in themselves to execute then it opens up a lot of options going forward while making the opposition over commit in attack and midfield. He'll stick with it, try and drill it into the existing players or replace them with new ones.

 

[shevtheblue]

Kolarov's distribution from the back has been awful though. So many of his passes are either misplaced, or hit so hard that the player receiving the ball can do little with it.

Still, as you say I'm sure there's a good reason why Guardiola has persisted with this experiment. I'm just not sure what it is yet!

Yep and i'm no big fan of Kolarov, but he plays for City and while he does i'll try my best to find any positives in his play :D He does have good technique when striking the ball so when the opposition over-commit, he SHOULD have the ability to dissect them. There are times you could see it last night IMO, he did get the ball quicker into the attacking third but when he messes it up he messes it up badly.