Crippled By Control

[bluealf]

and yet if they do their own thing and express themselves and it leads to imbalance and errors it will be Pep's fault again.

It will lead to them being dropped and then leaving the club

Goodbye Leroy.

 

[jay_mcfc]

Ok name me the last player to take games like yesterday by the scruff and get us over the line? You are letting them off far too easily. The players get their instructions from Pep but once they go on the pitch it is on them to win individual battles and carry out said instructions. They can’t even string 2 passes together.

EXACTLY. When was the last time anyone took the initiative? What happened to Phil last night when he moved out of position and tried to influence the game? When was the last time we threw the sink at someone in the second half?

I’ve got really bad news for some people. This is not bad form that will be solved by playing a bit quicker or getting Aguero back. This is who we are. It’s what Pep has moulded us into and how he thinks we’ll be successful going forward. The fact he didn’t make any significant changes in these last two games tells you everything you need to know about how happy he is with the way the games are going. He’s happy because we’re in control of the game because that’s all he cares about. If any player goes against that they will find themselves out of the team.

 

[jay_mcfc]

Balls to that...criticism is very important. Its small time mentality to stand by a team who is not even showing the most basic desire on the pitch and are earning very high wages in doing so. I hate this idea that "to be a fan you have to always back players/staff"...its just nonesense. I get it when someone is just having a downturn in form, like kev, but where do you draw the line when people are showing no basic movement off the ball, no grit, no basic effort??? I keep seeing this from multiple players.

No problem at all with people disagreeing I just can’t be arsed with the trolls saying ‘look at our modern day fans, a bad result and we’re like United fans’ etc.

 

[jay_mcfc]

Kev slots the pen and mahrez does the same....totally different picture

You see this is exactly how I’ve been thinking. There are a million mitigating circumstances to this season. But eventually you have a penny dropped moment and all the little warning signs of an 18 month decline start to become clearer. Last night was that moment for me.

And you might have inadvertently hit on another point. So many players have missed so many penalties. Strange, no? Maybe a team playing with fear....

 

[Berts Neck]

Hi,
I am a lurker on the site. Love reading the posts,but have become frustrated watching my beloved team. Maybe we have been spoiled by our recent success and need to accept the natural cycles that happen.
However,the points being made here are valid. There is a rigidity to our play that has almost become boring to watch.It is not hard to fathom that eventually teams figure out how to deal with that rigidity, which is what is happening. We have lost some of our most influential players recently, and some are now getting old.I dont believe the players we have now are necessarily poor, but they seem unable to express themselves due to the tactics we appear to play to.
Other than KDB, we have no game changers now that Silva ,Yaya,Sane have gone. The defence has been sured up nicely,but midfield and attack lack something special. Is it players or tactics,I dont know? How can Bernardo be world class one year and then average the next? How can everyone wish Stones out and he is suddenly brilliant. Is it fatigue,personal issues or dare I say the manager. I seem to remember reading that managers have a natural cycle of 3-4 years at a club. I love what Pep has done. The truth is that not only has Pep been great for us, but just about every team now follows his methods which then means another approach necessary. Maybe we are in a transition to another tactical approach from Pep .
Until recently, I never thought for one minute the team needed a new manager and I am happy to wait for Pep to be given this season to sort issues out. Equally another two years of this boring mediocrity will be hard to watch. If we get Messi and Haaland we have the game changers we need. I suspect the Messi issue is why Pep remains at the club. Messi is sadly a short term fix who will deny an opening for either a youth player or some other creative player to evolve in the team.Not ideal other than financially.
We seem to buy players for about 50 million but refuse to pay for the players who are game changers like we used to.Tevez,Dzeko, even Balotelli were great forwards. Jesus, I am afraid is not up to their level.
Anyway, when you have lived through the dire years, then the last ten have been phenomenal and whatever happens to City, in my life the joy I have experienced has been immense. New players, new manager, new tactics all may help. I am sure that things will change and we will be back on top. If not, I thank City for the best 10 years of my football life.

 

[nijinsky]

One point we could add to the debate is how much the opposition is forcing us into static dead ends.
Last night you could clearly see WBA hold off from competing in several zones, even in their own half, including the two channels leading to the edge of their areas. As the match wore on they just systematically collapsed back into their area as we slowly walked the ball up the pitch. Like we’ve seen so many times.
How many times do our wingers end up totally static on the corner of the their defence? Usually with 4 players blocking any dribble or 1-2. So the ball gets recycled and we all start yelling.
Let’s be clear, I’m not saying teams aren’t playing how we want them to play. There obviously been a lot of time spent refining tactics specifically for us. Good for them.

I have faith in the players. They aren’t shit. But I do think there’s a systemic failure atm. Watching us crawl slowly forward with the ball and team going at the same pace is frustrating and leaves the opposition plenty of time to get organised.
Seriously, when was the last time we saw a team blowing out of their arses in the last quarter after we’ve moved them around all game? I think WBA could still be playing. All they had to do was shuffle left and right.
We need to be attacking from deeper with KDB and try to maintain some dynamics with the ball by switching play far more clinically, ie ditch these insipid LVG Us. Make the ball do the work as it used to be called.

 

[oasisband909]

Pep has become a lot more cautious, remember the 1-2 loss at home to liverpool in 2018, chasing the tie?

He played Walker, Ota and laporte in a back 3 with Sane and Bernardo as wing backs.

The normal midfield 3 and then sterling and jesus up front.

No water carriers in sight

 

[Stiff Little Wingers]

You see this is exactly how I’ve been thinking. There are a million mitigating circumstances to this season. But eventually you have a penny dropped moment and all the little warning signs of an 18 month decline start to become clearer. Last night was that moment for me.

And you might have inadvertently hit on another point. So many players have missed so many penalties. Strange, no? Maybe a team playing with fear....

I felt the same Jay. You summed it up well. We’ve played nowhere near our best for ages and some (including me) have said this is not transition but decline. However, there were always excuses before or mitigating circumstances e. g well at least we got a point at the Swamp and we’ve got WBA to come. Or at West Ham -we’ll we conceded to a worldie and managed to come back. Reality is once Phil equalised the game was there for the taking. Or Leeds- we were well on top then got tired and they’re a very good team. Well look at them, they can’t get any points or score etc.
Yesterday and watching those first 60 shite minutes really did it to me. The game should have been won but in 60 mins at home we created one good chance and moved as fast as a dead snail.
Hold on though perhaps Pep does have a master plan? Get control of the game,restrict opponents so they either score a worldie or a fluke like last night. Then we only need to convert a couple of chances and bingo. I can understand that plan but not only are defencesbettrr organised but we have lost pace, wizardry and form but the key point is that WE DO NOT SCORE enough gilt edges chances and it is costing bloody big time. Here’s a few
KDB missed pen v Liverpool when we were set up to hold onto it
Same game Jesus not only misses a sitter but misses it badly
West Ham away - KDB cuts through the defence with a ball so good it’s almost impossible for Sterling not to score- yet he miscontrols and the chance is nowhere near as good
Rags- beautiful move in a game of few chances sets up former player of the year in his left foot 15 yards out and he bottles it.
Yesterday - how did Sterling and Gundo Miss? Take these midfielders, Wijnaldum, Dele Alli, Pogba, YaYa, Lampard, - how many would miss that header
Lyon - Raheem game changer from 2 yards
Has KDB drawn a save yet bar the one last night? His shooting is atrocious at present
I could go on and on but with the current system we have no plan B so because we can’t score clear chances we struggle.

Once Foden drifted inside and we started playing quick one and two touch we started to look more dangerous (of course Foden was then subbed)

I tell you from what I’ve read and seen, if Cruyff was alive he would punch Pep and the invisible assistant in the face at how slow and sloppy the passing is.
Did Dias and Ake make any positive or quick run or pass forward given the Albion players had retreated? Answer is no.
Rant over, I’ll get in with my bath

 

[Horlocksleftpeg]

Very good post.

This is a team that restarted last season putting 4/5/6/7 past teams and looking full of beans. We can’t have regressed that much so soon?

the players clearly look worried to lose possession when we’re crying out for someone t take the game by the scruff of the neck, make runs, take players on, play quick one twos, etc

it’s great to see us keeping clean sheets but not if it makes us toothless at the other end. Give me 4-1’s and the odd loss over countless draws and low scoring games where we keep dropping points.

we were poor last season by our own standards but far better than we’ve been this season

 

[Tab]

I don’t post very often and tend to be someone who supports the team and the manager but the one thing I just don’t get and not just last night is how arguably the best manager in the world doesn’t change things when it’s not working.
I get some of the players might be out of form but we had attacking players on the bench why not go three at the back and bring on an attack minded player or go to one pivot But do something different.
Also read about gradual decline but after the initial lockdown in the main we bartered everyone and scored goals so it really is a pretty significant 10 game decline.