City v Arsenal post match thread

[Phil1]

I honestly can't imagine this is the reason he can't fit into a Guardiola team. You'd think Pep's teams have keepers doing some fancy footwork - they don't. Neuer made a bit of a habit of coming out of his box to sweep up sometimes, that's about it. Joe's perfectly capable of passing a ball out from the back - by foot or by hand. If the rumours of Guardiola not fancying him are accurate, it's probably for other reasons imo.

Could be his distribution / attitude / decision making or number of other reasons, but would Pep really ditch a keeper purely because of a lack of finesse with the ball at his feet?

I think you underestimate the importance of the role he's expected to take. The keepers who are comfortable with the ball make it look easy giving the impression it is. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The whole system breaks down if his keeper isn't keeping the game flowing.

 

[bert38]

I agree.

I'm absolutely delighted by what Pep is teaching the players to do, & I'm absolutely 100% convinced it's only a matter of time before we have a team which does it. No idea which players that will involve, nothing would really surprise me concerning players. But I don't see all it happening overnight & I don't think we'll get through the whole season without it going completely tits up from time to time. When Pep first started at Barca B, it took time for him to get his ideas accross.

But I expect us to be pretty good by the later stages of the season & thereabouts in the league.

It's very evident which players have had a uninterrupted pre-season and those that are behind tactically and in fitness. I agree, we may be surprised who comes to the fore-but the signs for me are very encouraging.

 

[Dazzle84]

It's just soooo slow whenever we win a throw - and we seem very regimented on who takes them which slows it down further. Just chuck the ball in and get on with it FFS!!

One comment about our passing - I thought Dinho looked miles off it tonight and that worries me more than the divs at centre half - we need him crisply moving the ball on if we're going to do anything while we wait for Gundongan to get up to speed

 

[simon23]

there are definitely some very encouraging signs but there are also some alarming issues which still haven't been resolved.

 

[The-Dogs-Pollocks]

Pep's whole style of play requires a keeper who can double as a sweeper in order to compress the midfield. Are you suggesting Pep throws away everything he believes in order to accommodate the deficiencies of one player?

I dont think pep's philosophy requires a keeper to play as a sweeper. Neur is just exceptionally gifted and very good at playing that role. He was there before pep tho.
There aren't any other keepers that play the way he does.

Granted its an area of weakness in Joes and Cabelleros game, however I am sure Pep will recognise this an adapt his tactics to suit.

Coaching the midfielders and full backs to provide better short options so our keeper isnt forced in to hoofing it for example. I am sure as the players get used to the new demands put on them. We will see an improvement and joe might even learn how to kick straight!

 

[hobbsisablue]

Why haven't I seen Sterling do what Walcott did for his goal today? Ok I thought the cross that Sterling put in for Sergio's goal was quality but apart from that he did rock all. The movement for Walcott's goal was exactly what Sterling should be doing.

 

[ped]

didnt take long for the dog and duck stars to show the new guy where he is going to have to improve

 

[FanchesterCity]

That's ok then for £100M spent so far.

To be fair, we're not seeing the lion's share of that 100m in action yet

 

[BigOscar]

Honesty, based on the pre season, I wouldn't be at all upset to see Angus Gunn start in net against Sunderland. I'm not worried about Hart's mistakes, even if that left hand side is getting a bit ridiculous, but my worst fears about his inability to adapt to a passing game look pretty well founded and Willy doesn't look a whole lot better. Against most sides, our keeper will have the ball far more than he will have to do any traditional goalkeeping and I honestly think Gunn is the most suitable for doing that. He's been doing it week in, week out for the EDS for a couple of years and won't bat an eye at popping a short pass through the lines to a defender in a bit of space, whereas Joe doesn't seem to have the composure to do anything but lump it as far as he can. Maybe once he gets a bit more confidence he won't be so terrified of making a mistake, but I think it's probably far too late in his career to teach him to have composure on the ball.

 

[Paul_Powers_Tash]

I honestly can't imagine this is the reason he can't fit into a Guardiola team. You'd think Pep's teams have keepers doing some fancy footwork - they don't. Neuer made a bit of a habit of coming out of his box to sweep up sometimes, that's about it. Joe's perfectly capable of passing a ball out from the back - by foot or by hand. If the rumours of Guardiola not fancying him are accurate, it's probably for other reasons imo.

Could be his distribution / attitude / decision making or number of other reasons, but would Pep really ditch a keeper purely because of a lack of finesse with the ball at his feet?

No disrespect but your response is incorrect on so many levels. All of Pep's teams are possession based teams that play a high line in order to condense the midfield. This allows highly technical players to play the intricate possession based football that Pep's teams are renowned for, it is also fundamental to the pressing game without the ball. In order to be able to play such a high-line the keeper needs to be comfortable with the ball at his feet. Unfortunately Joe's distribution when he has the ball in his hands is terrible, let alone when it's at his feet.It just isn't true to say the Joe is perfectly capable of passing the ball out from the back - by foot or by hand.I have watched him throughout his whole City career and he has never been able to do that.

A sweeper keeper is a prerequisite if we want to see Guardiola football.