Crippled By Control

[dom]

Great post. The fear and caution in our play is palpable. As is the lack of courage and willingness to take a risk. We look over-engineered to the point that we show very little creative spontaneity. I don't blame the manager for that, .

 

[dom]

Defo the manager....sorry but the whole Foden sub thing the other night Said it all

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

We do not have a plan B , every team that parks the bus knows exactly what to do , even a £500m Rag team wouldnt take us on , only the Dippers have the temerity to attack us but on their last visit they were quite happy to shut up shop and take the draw.
The players we have in form are as follows Ederson , Walker , Cancelo , Dias , Stones , Laporte , KDB , Mahrez , Foden, Gundogan , Torres , some may disagree with this selection but we should mould the tactics around the form players and not play the same formation/tactics.

Ederson
Stones Dias Laporte
Walker Gundogan Cancelo
Mahrez Foden KDB Torres

we havent got a fit or inform stiker , so we play a false nine , Gundogan as the deep holding midfielder , Walker and Cancelo given permission to attack and play like wingers , KDB & Foden to create and Torres & Mahrez to alternate as the false nine

continually selecting under performing players like Sterling , Rodri , Mendy , Jesus to suit Pep's predictable tactics are costing us points , ive excluded Aguero because he is never fit and Dinho cannot be expected to play three games a week at nearly 36 years old.

Just my thoughts on what i think would improve our current form , because or current , dreary style of play isnt working.

 

[JOGAMIGMOG]

The lack of any desire to win the Derby was annoying - they were almost asking to get get beat! There's two minutes to go, we're not winning and we're still making twenty passes to advance five yards further forward, it's annoying. The absence of Foden in the team is annoying. The club not signing a striker for 4 years is annoying. Apart from that it's not too bad.

 

[Craig]

Defo the manager....sorry but the whole Foden sub thing the other night Said it all

Spot on

 

[Craig]

We do not have a plan B , every team that parks the bus knows exactly what to do , even a £500m Rag team wouldnt take us on , only the Dippers have the temerity to attack us but on their last visit they were quite happy to shut up shop and take the draw.
The players we have in form are as follows Ederson , Walker , Cancelo , Dias , Stones , Laporte , KDB , Mahrez , Foden, Gundogan , Torres , some may disagree with this selection but we should mould the tactics around the form players and not play the same formation/tactics.

Ederson
Stones Dias Laporte
Walker Gundogan Cancelo
Mahrez Foden KDB Torres

we havent got a fit or inform stiker , so we play a false nine , Gundogan as the deep holding midfielder , Walker and Cancelo given permission to attack and play like wingers , KDB & Foden to create and Torres & Mahrez to alternate as the false nine

continually selecting under performing players like Sterling , Rodri , Mendy , Jesus to suit Pep's predictable tactics are costing us points , ive excluded Aguero because he is never fit and Dinho cannot be expected to play three games a week at nearly 36 years old.

Just my thoughts on what i think would improve our current form , because or current , dreary style of play isnt working.

You’re correct apart from Leeds took us on and matched us. That’s how far we’ve fallen off over the last 2 years ago. Hope I’m proven wrong but if Leeds try that against the rags tomorrow I think the rags will run 4 or 5 in.

 

[Coatigan]

Wow!

When I wrote this I wasn’t completely convinced that it was definitely the case. I was thinking about various things that had happened over 12-18 months and things started to come together.

I’ve just listened to the Bluemoon podcast and there’s a 2 minute clip in there from Guardiola’s post WBA press conference. He was asked about the attack and why we weren’t scoring more goals. His response was staggering. He just started talking about the control the defense has. Then he talked about how we controlled the game. Then he talked about controlling the possession and their counter attack. And then finally, just when you think he couldn’t talk about control any more he actually said we couldn’t control the left side with Foden and Mendy!

Lads, it’s right there in front of us. It has been for a long time as his actions and words have been telling us. All the things that fans are not happy about are HIS game plan. They are 18 months in the making, they’re not happening by accident, but by design. He is only interested in control. We are not gonna drop the double pivot, our full backs aren’t gonna start rampaging up the wing, Foden is not gonna play in 8, KDB is not gonna play deeper, we’re not gonna play quicker or with a high, intense press. We are methodical, robotic, position and possession based team. Rodri plays because he’s doing EXACTLY what Pep wants him to.

Pep hasn’t just let bad form fester for 18 months without realizing. He’s created what we are. The sooner fans accept this everything else becomes clearer and all the talk of dropping Rodri, moving players, playing quicker etc is completely fruitless.

I disagree, myself.

But, your posts do remind me of watching pep's Barcelona lose to Chelsea in the CL a few years ago. Can't remember who it was that was punditating, might have been Souness, that was arguing that Barcelona's world class players looked so systematically well drilled that they almost looked brainwashed, going through the motions but unable to think what to try to win the game. So i read your posts, and that echoes in my head.


Now, the reason i disagree now, as i did then, is simply, one goal makes all the difference. Messi missed a penalty that game, and the woodwork was hit a few times. If that game was won i think Barcelona would have won the competition. And Pep would have been lauded as a true to the system perfectionist genius.

Similarly, kev scores his pen, sterling scores one of his chances to make any of our draws a win, and we are right up there at the top. And rather than criticising boring football and lack of courage, i imagine many would be praising pragmatism and caution to control the league in this odd season of covid and var outside influences.

I've said on other threads, i do wish he would try alternatives late when we need a win, even desperate ones. But that he is knowingly looking to sacrifice winning just to maintain a system of control, i can't buy into. He is pursuing it because he thinks that is the way to win games and maintain success. With a few margins and goals, he is right. With a bunch of missed chances, all up for debate.

 

[Eric Hitchmough]

We do not have a plan B , every team that parks the bus knows exactly what to do , even a £500m Rag team wouldnt take us on , only the Dippers have the temerity to attack us but on their last visit they were quite happy to shut up shop and take the draw.
The players we have in form are as follows Ederson , Walker , Cancelo , Dias , Stones , Laporte , KDB , Mahrez , Foden, Gundogan , Torres , some may disagree with this selection but we should mould the tactics around the form players and not play the same formation/tactics.

Ederson
Stones Dias Laporte
Walker Gundogan Cancelo
Mahrez Foden KDB Torres

we havent got a fit or inform stiker , so we play a false nine , Gundogan as the deep holding midfielder , Walker and Cancelo given permission to attack and play like wingers , KDB & Foden to create and Torres & Mahrez to alternate as the false nine

continually selecting under performing players like Sterling , Rodri , Mendy , Jesus to suit Pep's predictable tactics are costing us points , ive excluded Aguero because he is never fit and Dinho cannot be expected to play three games a week at nearly 36 years old.

Just my thoughts on what i think would improve our current form , because or current , dreary style of play isnt working.

Have to respectfully disagree when you describe KDB as in form. Agree with most of your post though, particularly the blind loyalty to Sterling and Rodri.

 

[Del_Bosque]

He seems to really value things that to me and you don’t matter and not really be concerned about the things we thin are staring us in the face

he says Rodri is the best in the world at recieving the ball facing the defence, to me so what he’s glacially slow and a nothing passer

obsesses about having a left footer at cb and in midfield “for the passes” then makes us look completely unbalanced by picking 2 right footers at lb and lw

says Jesus is the best in the world at closing defenders down, but I see someone who’s not even 5/10 in the box with movement and finishing

Drops Foden for weeks for giving the ball away, plays Mahrez week after week when all the attacks break down with him making the wrong choice

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

Top post, OP.

That is criticism as it should be. Not mere abuse, but a post to give us all something to think about.