City's speed and intensity

[Moody]

i think the problem lies with yaya this year his runs last year used to take 3-4 players out of the game with his physical runs through the midfield and silva and aguero creating gaps for him. but this year mancini has our greatest attacking player sitting in front of the back four! but then again that will be yaya's fault not mancini's would'nt it!

 

[Rascal]

I said this after the home game against Real, that game really struck home just how slow we are tbh.

So we should change our style of play to match that of a team who are 3rd in there league and 15 points behind the leaders?


I really dont get this obsession with pace. If pace is the be all and end all of football why isnt Usain Bolt playing upfront for somebody in the CL. I would much rather have a player who can pass to feet and as we have the best defensive record in the PL understand there defensive duties than some fucker who can around at 100 mph.

The quickest players i think i have seen at City are White and Huckerby, neither would get anywhere near my top 50 city players i have seen.

The best centre half i have seen Sir Bobby Moore wasnt quick, he was an amazing defender. Even our captain got done for pace for QPR's second in that game.

The simple fact of the matter is just because you are quick it doesnt make you great, speed of thought and understanding of the game counts far more.


As for intensity its something you cannot measure and i believe it is easier for foreign teams to up there tempo as there leagues do not play at the tempo we do in the PL everyweek. Also foriegn leagues go out of there way to help there CL qualifiers, we have o bow to sky scheduling. An extra 2 days rest can make a huge difference. I would quantify that point by looking at tennis players who have an extra day rest before a final.

I can understand people want to see exciting attacking football, i do too, but our squad is based around a way of playing that isnt that unfortunatly. But we have had 3 years of mostly winning football, i havent ever had that since the late 60s.

 

[uwe282828]

The problem is our midfield gets over run,in big games.Rags played 1 upfront on the break with RVP wide left tracking back,Shrek in midfield. We have two strikers that have no real desire to work hard for the team.Personally id play 1 striker in big games or even when were struggling.id play Kolarov as a fifth midfielder to help Clichey who has had a poor season so far and has started to be targeted as a weak link.I was impressed with the speed of Reals passing around the box and im sure Mansour was watching that thinking thats what my team should be doing.

 

[Seosa]

I said this after the home game against Real, that game really struck home just how slow we are tbh.

So we should change our style of play to match that of a team who are 3rd in there league and 15 points behind the leaders?

It wasn't just for Real though, Rasc. We've shown it in the league for the last 12 months as well. In the first half of 11/12, we had Micah and Gael down the wings, plus Dave & Yaya were thriving with confidence. Since then, pace has been lacking.

It shouldn't be about speed merchants, but you do need pace as an element in your squad. It provides a different way to break teams down and a different option of play.

 

[Rascal]

It shouldn't be about speed merchants, but you do need pace as an element in your squad. It provides a different way to break teams down and a different option of play.

As most if not all PL players are probably superfit i would expect they can all run the 100m in under 14 seconds (even the keepers), a few would do 13 and the odd player perhaps do 12 secs.

But then sprinters run in a straight line, they dont have to think where to run to cause least damage. Again as we have the best defensive record in the PL it must mean our slow players are intelligent in where they go. Likewise as we score plenty of goals our attackers know where to go too.

We have intelligent players in abundance, but as stated by most posters we lack fast direct wingers. Perhaps fast direct wingers arnt for us and the way we play. If our fast direct winger gets 20 yards ahead of play, is he fast or clever enough to know where his defensive duties lie? Managers like Milner, he aint particularly quick but he understands where he should be in a tactical sense.

 

[PoorTom]

The problem is our midfield gets over run,in big games.Rags played 1 upfront on the break with RVP wide left tracking back,Shrek in midfield. We have two strikers that have no real desire to work hard for the team.Personally id play 1 striker in big games or even when were struggling.id play Kolarov as a fifth midfielder to help Clichey who has had a poor season so far and has started to be targeted as a weak link.I was impressed with the speed of Reals passing around the box and im sure Mansour was watching that thinking thats what my team should be doing.

Our strikers and Silva/Nasri should press when we loose the ball. That's fundamental to the type of play we have adopted.

They are rather ineffective in pressing mainly because they are physically weaker than most opponents. Only Tevez can do this to a certain extent.

 

[crb]

The players attributes isn't the problem, Bobbys vision can only work if played a very specific way. It's a formula 1 car every component has to be working and everything needs to be finely tuned in order to start the engine, we've all seen what we can do finely tuned with the right components but Bobby got scared of blowing the engine now we have the components but the tuning is a mess.

 

[NipHolmes]

I said this after the home game against Real, that game really struck home just how slow we are tbh.

So we should change our style of play to match that of a team who are 3rd in there league and 15 points behind the leaders?


I really dont get this obsession with pace. If pace is the be all and end all of football why isnt Usain Bolt playing upfront for somebody in the CL. I would much rather have a player who can pass to feet and as we have the best defensive record in the PL understand there defensive duties than some fucker who can around at 100 mph.

The quickest players i think i have seen at City are White and Huckerby, neither would get anywhere near my top 50 city players i have seen.

The best centre half i have seen Sir Bobby Moore wasnt quick, he was an amazing defender. Even our captain got done for pace for QPR's second in that game.

The simple fact of the matter is just because you are quick it doesnt make you great, speed of thought and understanding of the game counts far more.


As for intensity its something you cannot measure and i believe it is easier for foreign teams to up there tempo as there leagues do not play at the tempo we do in the PL everyweek. Also foriegn leagues go out of there way to help there CL qualifiers, we have o bow to sky scheduling. An extra 2 days rest can make a huge difference. I would quantify that point by looking at tennis players who have an extra day rest before a final.

I can understand people want to see exciting attacking football, i do too, but our squad is based around a way of playing that isnt that unfortunatly. But we have had 3 years of mostly winning football, i havent ever had that since the late 60s.

Barca are what we aspire to, they have Pedro and Sanchez.

Bayern like to play, they have Ribery and Robben.

Nuff said.

 

[kinkysleftfoot]

One thing I liked about Madrid is how high they press at the top of the pitch. If they win the ball they are on the attack straight away because they won it in the final third

This is what killed us in Europe and prem teams have now started doing this to us and its paying of for them

 

[Utter bobbins]

It shouldn't be about speed merchants, but you do need pace as an element in your squad. It provides a different way to break teams down and a different option of play.

As most if not all PL players are probably superfit i would expect they can all run the 100m in under 14 seconds (even the keepers), a few would do 13 and the odd player perhaps do 12 secs.

But then sprinters run in a straight line, they dont have to think where to run to cause least damage. Again as we have the best defensive record in the PL it must mean our slow players are intelligent in where they go. Likewise as we score plenty of goals our attackers know where to go too.

We have intelligent players in abundance, but as stated by most posters we lack fast direct wingers. Perhaps fast direct wingers arnt for us and the way we play. If our fast direct winger gets 20 yards ahead of play, is he fast or clever enough to know where his defensive duties lie? Managers like Milner, he aint particularly quick but he understands where he should be in a tactical sense.

Do you not realise width and pace is what is decreed by the football managers on bluemoan that width and pace MUST come from wingers it's the only way to play the game:-)

 

[Rascal]

Barca are what we aspire to, they have Pedro and Sanchez.

Bayern like to play, they have Ribery and Robben.

Nuff said.

Who has said this sort of football is what we aspire too?

Are we wanting the football that saw both Barca and Bayern not win their leagues last season?

 

[Mr. Aguia]

I said this after the home game against Real, that game really struck home just how slow we are tbh.

So we should change our style of play to match that of a team who are 3rd in there league and 15 points behind the leaders?


I really dont get this obsession with pace. If pace is the be all and end all of football why isnt Usain Bolt playing upfront for somebody in the CL. I would much rather have a player who can pass to feet and as we have the best defensive record in the PL understand there defensive duties than some fucker who can around at 100 mph.

Because his touch is shit. Plus he's a staight line runner and footballer's don't run in straight lines. American football teams have tried that concept and it doesn't work. There is football speed and track speed. Not the same.

The reason the lack of pace has become such a problem this year is more teams are dropping everone behind the ball and packing the penalty area. So the intricate passing is much harder when there are 8 defenders in the box plus our 3 or 4 attackers. Just not enough space to work. If we had a Bale, Ronaldo, Robben, Ribery etc.. type player who can go past defenders on his own down the wing it would draw defenders away from the middle of the field so our strikers can score.

Since we have no width we rely on Zab and CLichy to fill that void. So if they
are bombing forward then we only have the 2 Cb's and the 2 holding players or perhaps only one of them. So we only have 3 players back to cover counter attacks. Since our team is so slow all over the pitch, not just Barry and Garcia, they can't get back to help out or in Yaya's case he just tip toes back. So they end up with a lot of 1 v 1's, soemtimes 2 v 1's and a ton of space to attack.

Last season it didn't show up but for that few week wobble because we were scoring early in every game. When they score early it takes the pressure off, forces the opponants to come out of their shell and play and we don't need our fullbacks to bomb forward. So we have 6 back to cover instead of 3-4.

To have a slow team you have to be really clinical and score early. Otherwise they start forcing it and getting too far forward and sooner or later you get exposed.

 

[Rascal]

Do you not realise width and pace is what is decreed by the football managers on bluemoan that width and pace MUST come from wingers it's the only way to play the game:-)

As im an old twat who hasnt played the game i am obviously out of my depth when talking serious football

Thanks for the heads up mate ;-)

 

[brian the blue]

We don't need pace and width to be successful, we just need speed and intensity in our passing and movement. If you move the ball quicker then it's hard to defend against, and the majority of the time we move the ball at a snails pace, especially this season.

 

[Utter bobbins]

Do you not realise width and pace is what is decreed by the football managers on bluemoan that width and pace MUST come from wingers it's the only way to play the game:-)

As im an old twat who hasnt played the game i am obviously out of my depth when talking serious football

Thanks for the heads up mate ;-)

I'm an old twat too but WTF do we know

 

[john blue]

Have you only just sussed that out. !

 

[Rascal]

Because his touch is shit. Plus he's a staight line runner and footballer's don't run in straight lines. American football teams have tried that concept and it doesn't work. There is football speed and track speed. Not the same.

The reason the lack of pace has become such a problem this year is more teams are dropping everone behind the ball and packing the penalty area. So the intricate passing is much harder when there are 8 defenders in the box plus our 3 or 4 attackers. Just not enough space to work. If we had a Bale, Ronaldo, Robben, Ribery etc.. type player who can go past defenders on his own down the wing it would draw defenders away from the middle of the field so our strikers can score.

Since we have no width we rely on Zab and CLichy to fill that void. So if they
are bombing forward then we only have the 2 Cb's and the 2 holding players or perhaps only one of them. So we only have 3 players back to cover counter attacks. Since our team is so slow all over the pitch, not just Barry and Garcia, they can't get back to help out or in Yaya's case he just tip toes back. So they end up with a lot of 1 v 1's, soemtimes 2 v 1's and a ton of space to attack.

Last season it didn't show up but for that few week wobble because we were scoring early in every game. When they score early it takes the pressure off, forces the opponants to come out of their shell and play and we don't need our fullbacks to bomb forward. So we have 6 back to cover instead of 3-4.

To have a slow team you have to be really clinical and score early. Otherwise they start forcing it and getting too far forward and sooner or later you get exposed.

How come Ronaldo, Benzema and De Maria with there explosive pace and Reals intensity not beat the rags last night?

I would say it was because the rags were organised very well, organisation negates pace and we nearly did it at the bernabeu too, but we had a late lapse in concentration.

Im sorry but you can all argue all you want but pace is vastly overated. I want clever footballers not someone like Forrest Gump

 

[teddykgb]

there's a difference between pacy footballers and pace of play. We quite clearly need some of the latter, maybe not requiring some of the former.

One result in Madrid isn't much evidence of anything.

 

[Gaylord du Bois]

We don't need pace and width to be successful, we just need speed and intensity in our passing and movement. If you move the ball quicker then it's hard to defend against, and the majority of the time we move the ball at a snails pace, especially this season.

Brian that is the type of post that could put Ric out of business.
#succinct.

 

[Santiago Street]

Intensity takes many forms, you don't have to tear about like a nutter to be intense. It might be a valid criticism to say that our passing in the final third could be a bit snappier but too many people are buying the media's bullshit hook line and sinker and believing that the only way to win anything is by copying the rags.

I know ifs and buts don't count but nevertheless had the rags not been gifted away victories at Chelsea and Liverpool by shit refereeing then they wouldn't be out of sight andperhaps all the miserable cunts on here might not be so keen to dispense with a formula that's brought us virtually unprecedented success over the last 2 seasons