City v Stoke Post Match Thread

[pirate]

they had 11 behind the ball then how are we supposed to hit them on the counter-attack??

They did have the ball the odd time themselves ya know? And when they went forward they lost shape and there was plenty of times we reclaimed the ball and could have exploited the space before they got back into shape, but we didn't.

Please watch the game for more information :)

-- Mon Feb 24, 2014 7:53 am --

Hmm, food for thought - Javi Garcia and Fernandinho both holding behind an attacking midfield trio of Nasri, Yaya Toure and Silva - behind Aguero as striker vs Barcelona anyone?

Good food. But that's not 4-4-2...

Do we have to play 4-4-2?

4-2-3-1 has worked nicely in the past and in my opinion would be appropriate this time

while I sort of agree with you, you have to give Pellers the opportunity to do it his way and to be fair we are still in with a good chance of winning 3 trophies and we have a slight chance of a fourth.

 

[sh00]

My first game in the Etihad! .. was rather disappointing :/
Not enough urge and pace forward, yet credit to Stoke, who I thought, played perfectly to their plan.

What struck me most was the way nobody was looking to play to the fullbacks, because that is where the (little bit) of space was.
Also, Nasri seemed to be the only one ready to take on any defender.

Still, a win is a win :)

 

[WickyWain]

The guy sat behind me came up with a right gem on Saturday:

"Chelsea won in the last minute and this will end up 0-0 or Stoke will snatch a 1-0 win, today's where we lose the league."

20 seconds later... YAYA!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

The guy sat behind me came up with a right gem on Saturday:

"Chelsea won in the last minute and this will end up 0-0 or Stoke will snatch a 1-0 win, today's where we lose the league."

20 seconds later... YAYA!!!!!!!!!!!

Did he look a bit sheepish, by any chance?
Our problem against Stoke was that it was a return to the bad old days of trying to play it up through the middle every single time. Now we have the best passing team in the league, hands down, and the Ferny/Nasri/Silva/Yaya unit on song is a thing of beauty, a Rolls-Royce of a machine, but there come's a point when there are just so many bodies in the way that you can't thread it through (although that sublime interchange between Yaya and David Silva should have led to a goal if only for God's sake David was a little bit more greedy and sure of himself sometimes!) I've said it before and I'll say it again. Width. Width. Width. Not every single time, but as an alternative to playing it up through the middle. That is what fucks up defences' game plan, because they simply can't cover for both options. When Navas came on we saw the difference.

 

[nmc]

Well - City vs Stoke was a very frustrating game to watch, but it was totally expected. As I thought, Stoke came with a game plan and defended in numbers (usually 11 men behind the ball) and every time City had the ball they were faced with a wall of 4 or 5 Stoke Midfielders, and behind that line yet another 4 defenders.

We needed to be effective of the break and hit them at pace before they were able to get their men back behind the ball, but eachtime someone always slowed play up, took an extra touch or looked up too long for options - and in that hesitation it allowed Stoke every time to get everyone back again and into shape. Guess a lot of players had the midweek game in their legs still though.

For the above reasons, this made the game a poor one, awful to watch and certainly not an advert for football. One team trying to break down another doing everything to keep it at 0-0.

I was suprised that Jovetic didn't start up front. Seeing as he should have been fresh, and the fact that Dzeko and Negredo don't seem to be a good match. Very frustrated that Jovetic came off after only a few minutes injured. Hoepfully it was more precautionary. The guy obviously has a lot of talent, I have been very impressed with what I've seen off him the last few weeks. But it doesn't matter how good you are, ya can't go missing injured all the time. Some people are just like that aren't they - so he NEEDS to get over this recurring injury thing and fast.

The breakthrough, finally coming through Yaya Toure, with the tactical shift of moving him further forward up the pitch and having Javi Garcia playing the defensive midfield role.

Hmm, food for thought - Javi Garcia and Fernandinho both holding behind an attacking midfield trio of Nasri, Yaya Toure and Silva - behind Aguero as striker vs Barcelona anyone?

If they had 11 behind the ball then how are we supposed to hit them on the counter-attack??

You are right we had a few chances to break quickly but whenever we did it didn't fall to Nasri or Silva - instead we were treated to an exhibition of Dzeko using 9 touches to bring the ball under control - followed either by a square ball to Kolorov or a loss of possession. We really did demonstrate both a lack of pace and an absence of tempo on Saturday.

 

[cleavers]

Our problem against Stoke was that it was a return to the bad old days of trying to play it up through the middle every single time. Now we have the best passing team in the league, hands down, and the Ferny/Nasri/Silva/Yaya unit on song is a thing of beauty, a Rolls-Royce of a machine, but there come's a point when there are just so many bodies in the way that you can't thread it through (although that sublime interchange between Yaya and David Silva should have led to a goal if only for God's sake David was a little bit more greedy and sure of himself sometimes!) I've said it before and I'll say it again. Width. Width. Width. Not every single time, but as an alternative to playing it up through the middle. That is what fucks up defences' game plan, because they simply can't cover for both options. When Navas came on we saw the difference.

That was very much our problem, in the second half in particular, Kolorov was stood out wide, pretty well unmarked, for the whole 25 minutes before we scored, and he was passed to once, the result was his great cross, and the goal, but we had been ploughing through the middle time and time again, ignoring the wide option.

 

[Deleted member 58678]

The guy sat behind me came up with a right gem on Saturday:

"Chelsea won in the last minute and this will end up 0-0 or Stoke will snatch a 1-0 win, today's where we lose the league."

20 seconds later... YAYA!!!!!!!!!!!

Did he look a bit sheepish, by any chance?
Our problem against Stoke was that it was a return to the bad old days of trying to play it up through the middle every single time. Now we have the best passing team in the league, hands down, and the Ferny/Nasri/Silva/Yaya unit on song is a thing of beauty, a Rolls-Royce of a machine, but there come's a point when there are just so many bodies in the way that you can't thread it through (although that sublime interchange between Yaya and David Silva should have led to a goal if only for God's sake David was a little bit more greedy and sure of himself sometimes!) I've said it before and I'll say it again. Width. Width. Width. Not every single time, but as an alternative to playing it up through the middle. That is what fucks up defences' game plan, because they simply can't cover for both options. When Navas came on we saw the difference.

Hands down? Swansea and Southampton have better passing stats than us.

 

[IanBishopsHaircut]

I've not read back but has anyone seen the MEN with regards to 4 stoke fans being ejected for racial chanting?

 

[kaz7]

I've not read back but has anyone seen the MEN with regards to 4 stoke fans being ejected for racial chanting?

saw it in the mirror paper,i think i read on here somewhere something was aimed at yaya when he was down injured.disgusting behaviour

 

[jimharri]

I've not read back but has anyone seen the MEN with regards to 4 stoke fans being ejected for racial chanting?

saw it in the mirror paper,i think i read on here somewhere something was aimed at yaya when he was down injured.disgusting behaviour

It's an inherent danger when brother and sister end up having a child together. That child can grow up to be somewhat mentally challenged. Witness those 4 Stoke fans.