Everton (H) | PL | Post Match Thread

blueju said:
Playing the high line is killing us, as is the 3 when Rico makes his move. It’s been evident since we started conceding the ‘one shot, one goal’ on the break, all due to the high line and width available, the difference being in days gone by we would mostly outscore anyone. It’s no coincidence we became more solid with the 4 adaptable centre backs which we’ve not played since either because Pep has gone off it or due to the massive injury list? Teams have gone from sitting deep and hoping for a break or two to sitting deep and having a game plan of looking for any gap to get at us once we’ve made the usual camp in their half. This coupled with our inability to cope with the bigger , faster, stronger players everyone else seems to have acquired and our awfully slow attacking play feeds right into every other team’s hands . For me we’ve been well and truly sussed out and even with Rodri may have still suffered. The other obvious reason is our creative players hitting that brick wall of age/injury/tiredness all at the same time, how we’re crying out for a peak Kev or Merlin to orchestrate our attacks.
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ive been saying all season weve been sussed out , the injuries are an issue as well but we should be able to adapt to use whats left
 
Dribble said:
I'm not so much troubled by the idea of a high line, it's the gaps we're leaving which the opposition are exploiting game after game, with no reaction from Pep that seriously concerns me.

This is why I've been crying out for us to go back to our formative 4-3-3 roots, & defend first. We've enough high quality players to get through this, even with the injuries, but essentially playing 3 at the back with acres of wide defensive space for opposition Road Runner speed merchants to run into, is costing us game after game.

In terms of our attack, every team we face has two CB's glued to Haaland & a CDM in front of him to cut off the supply route. Teams fear Doku, BUT they know he's defensively weak & that not even his level of trickery can handle 3 deep-lying players marking him.

To make matters worse, even opposition fans recognise what our issues are & how their teams can capitalise on them. Their coaching teams evidently know the same, and so should our coaching team. This is why it beggars belief why we keep doing the same thing game in, game out, expecting a different result.

We need to scrap the inverted FB tactic, revert to a 4-3-3 with a flat back four, with overlapping FB's to compliment our inverted wingers. I've heard fans lament over Foden & Silva's drop in form, but WTF are they expected to do in a congested space, with 7 opposition players surrounding the 18 yard box in front of them, & 7 of our players trying to find space around the same 18 yard box to complicate matters?

We stack the central areas, & neglect our own defensive wide areas, & it's killing us. It's so predictable how we'll be countered, it's like fucking ground hog day! I love Pep & want no other manager, but this situation is now beyond a joke.

Aside from the opening 20 minutes against Everton, Guardiola's showing few signs he's willing to go back to basics to arrest our slide. I'd seriously love to know what's going on inside that famed Bald head? Everyone else is seeing what Pep & the coaching staff can't?
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We have young attacking players that all played aggressively on the break before we bought them, then expect them to play our slow recycle after recycle ponderous attack. We have the best striker in the world at running at teams from the half way line yet we rarely set him free and from what I’ve seen, before we bought Doku and Savinho they also excelled when not having to play against two banks of 5. We as a team only seem to have a go at goal when we’ve allowed the opposition to regroup, clearly tactics from the main man. It just doesn’t make sense. Pep is still the best in the world for me but you’d also expect the best to be open to change to get results and continue his winning ways rather than just rinse and repeating.
 
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blueju said:
We have young attacking players that all played aggressively on the break before we bought them, then expect them to play our slow recycle after recycle ponderous attack. We have the best striker in the world at running at teams from the half way line yet we rarely set him free and from what I’ve seen, before we bought Doku and Savinho they also excelled when not having to play against two banks of 5. We as a team only seem hate have a go at goal when we’ve allowed the opposition to regroup, clearly tactics from the main man. It just doesn’t make sense. Pep is still the best in the world for me but you’d also expect the best to be open to change to get results and continue his winning ways rather than just rinse and repeating.
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The difference between pre-City & post-City couldn't be more stark for players. As you correctly pointed out, few faced double reinforced walls before they arrived here, so it makes sense that Pep has reasoned beating 1 or 2 on the approach is achievable, but the 3 which Doku faced against Everton is highly unlikely, so it's best to prioritise keeping possession.

However, I do agree with you about the loss of our rapier like counter attacks in recent seasons. Against Everton, the ball broke from a corner, but rather than test himself in a 1 v 1 foot race against the LB, Savinho opted to turn back & play the ball into central midfield, which gave the Scousers the chance to regroup into their 5-4-1 defensive formation.

Difficulties in unpicking a 10-man defence is why Pep drafted "emergency" LB Cancelo into his first iteration of the inverted FB. Having the extra man worked a treat, & over the following 3-4 seasons, we perfected it so much, the rest of football began to follow suit.

But in following suit, it also allowed the opposition the opportunity to work out how to combat the tactic, & it seems they all have. When Kovacic falls back to form a back 3, the opposition hit long balls into the channels & send 2 players to attack through the middle, giving them an instant 4 v 3 advantage, with City also having to back pedal on the retreat.

Somehow with Rodri playing, it didn't help the opposition much, but without him it's become a disaster for City. Everyone can clearly see what our issue is, which begs the question, why isn't Baldy doing anything about it? If we continue as we are for much longer, we'll be cut adrift in the title race & will find ourselves fretting about CL qualification.

Pep's shown he can change his habits. He did so leading up to the CL Final against Inter, when he told the media "Don't worry guys, I won't over-think it". The only shock he produced for the final was dropping the fully fit & in form Walker for Akanji. Luckily, it made little difference & we prevailed.

My issue is it took 2 seasons of the media constantly putting it to him that he was guilty of constantly over-thinking things, before Pep relented & changed what we'd come to expect from him in big matches. The question now is, how long will it take him to realise change is needed with our failed inverted full back system, if ever?
 
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