Everton (H) | Post Match Thread

[flb]

This season is proving to be a weird one. We have a player who is on track to break the Premier League scoring record and are top scorers in the league - 44 compared to 40 for Arsenal and 33 for dippers/spurs - but at times look pretty ineffective in the final third.

How we have managed to score so many with such little input in terms of numbers from Mahrez and Grealish is bizarre. Any decent player playing in the wide front three positions should really be scoring and assisting at a rate of one in three or better.

Much of the problem seems to be breaking down defensive teams at home rather than away. Maybe Pep needs to trade some game control for attacking threat and play the likes of Foden and Alvarez more in the second half of the season with Walker brought back to counter counters using his speed.

It’s great that Haaland may smash all the records , doesn’t turn me on I’m afraid , it’s the type of accolade that spurs fans wank about when it comes to Harry Jane , yes Jane ! I love him (Haaland) but we are predictable

 

[nellyonthewing]

City are not boring but our opponents are.

If you think Pep wants his team to pass without purpose you've not been paying attention. Losing the ball frequently by taking too many risks will cost us more than being patient and picking our moments.

Sorry but we are a bit boring especially of late. We won in a toe to toe exciting game against the dippers recently but the League is like watching 3D chess.

 

[Burtonblue]

Arsenal are on a run of reality good form and no doubt Arteta has benefited hugely by learning all there is to learn from Pep.
However:
Runs do come to an end at some stage
They have little experience compared to us when it comes to winning leagues
Their squad is pretty thin by comparison
They have yet to play us twice

Those who say the league is done should give their heads a wobble. January is the defining month.
Have some faith!

 

[OB1]

It’s not an easy one but we do have to learn to win games 1-0, I agree with that. Their goal was an absolute gift. I am still struggling to understand what Stones was doing. Someone else alluded to us being too passive as defenders and not aggressive enough and I agree with that, particularly when Dias isn’t playing.

I'm not sure what happened. The only video I've watched is the short highlights on the City website, I couldn't be doing with MotD etc yesterday. I suspect they got caught out by Gray stopping, which I'm not sure was clever or just a case of him not being sure what to do, but after his slip he found he had time and space to shoot.

Maybe Stones though the ball would go wide and was looking to position himself to deal with that.

Bottom line is someone should have closed Gray down. Annoying thing is that, even so, 9 out of 10 times, he would not have hit a shot that good.

I've not seen the error that gave them the ball in the first place on video but IIRC it was Rodri, who doesn't often lose the ball in bad positions.

All in all, despite not being at our best, City were very unfortunate to drop points yesterday. I've tried to wipe Brentford from memory but that's still for me the only game where an opponent took points off us that were all merited and that is despite us not finding our best form this season.

City do need to raise their game somewhat but we also need the breaks to even out: we do not have a single point on the board that has not been merited. Newcastle gave us a tough game at their place but were hanging on with their fans begging for the whistle at the end.

Every game is a big game for us, because it always seems like we cannot afford to drop points and are going to need near record breaking totals to win the damn league, but the next few games really are BIG and will tell us a lot about where our team really is at this season. Arsenal have only dropped points in two games so far this season and if they can keep that up, we'll just have to make sure Arteta can be persuaded to come back to City when Pep leaves.

 

[Rammy Blue]

if arsenal are still 7 pts clear in feb then its time to get worried
they have newcastle, spurs and utd on the spin now

That’d be ok if we didn’t have Chelsea, scum and Spurs on the spin now too.

 

[Blumers Bloomers]

Don't know why I bothered but I rewatched the game, and it reinforced the fact that we've actually become pretty boring to watch this season.

Our entire philosophy this season seems to be about keeping the ball but not actually doing anything with it. It's tedious how often Mahrez and Grealish get the ball and pass it sideways.

The fact Pep didn't make changes till so late is either indication that he thinks it's working or he doesn't rate the quality on the bench. Both are a huge concern.

You’ve touched on one of my biggest frustrations here …the sideways passing from Mahrez and Grealish

What’s worse is Grealish continued to do this when their RB (Patterson?) got booked …..surely you’d then want to run at him and invite the challenge knowing they’d be scared shitless to get it wrong and risk a sending off?

Pisses me off that we never seem to take advantage of these situations. Can only guess Grealish under strict instructions to retain the ball. Criminal really

 

[Groke]

City are not boring but our opponents are.

If you think Pep wants his team to pass without purpose you've not been paying attention. Losing the ball frequently by taking too many risks will cost us more than being patient and picking our moments.

Yep, nearly every game, especially at home, we're up against these tactics - even at 1-0 down teams stick 10 behind the ball and time waste. It's not city making games boring.


I do wonder whether it's the best idea to play inverted wingers (and an inverted full back) against these tactics - all the play is coming inside which is predictable and easier to defend against in the middle.

 

[Norman kneejerk]

I can't be definitive because how much I watch of other sides varies considerably but in all my long years of watching City / football, the parade of bus parkers that City face feels unprecedented. I know in recent times I've bemoaned how teams play against the Scousers compared to us. Of course, Liverpool don't play exactly the same way as us but I felt teams could have made it harder for them.

I don't think pace is really the answer when teams sit deep in large numbers. Running into a brick wall at speed just hurts more ;-) A player with world class trickery and serious pace might open up some more chances but we've seen Sane struggle against teams defending low in numbers.

Playing the ball over the top only really works if your opponent defends high. That said, I do think we need to look for opportunities to knock things over the top for Haaland to chase; teams don't want to let us do that though....

Forwards with pace come into their own when you can counter attack and we really aren't bad at that as we stand: only the Rags have scored more goals on the counter than we have so far this season. We aren't going to sit back though and try to draw teams out.

Dealing with opponents counter-attacking his teams has been a perenial conundrum for Pep and he keeps trying to tune things to reduce it happening but within his way of playing. Yesterday, we had the players there to control the counter Everton scored from but they contrived (and may have been fooled by imcompetence or brilliance on Gray's part) to give him too much space to pick out the top corner.

We've added the big, fast goal machine and he scored (again) yesterday and gave us the lead; notwithstanding we were less than the width of the post from a 2-0 lead, we have to make sure we can win games by 1-0. and that means not errors in the wrong places.

I would like some pace in the team but it has to come with top class technical ability and high football intelligence.

Fair point. Conbination of guile and pace. One of my lasting memories of David Silva is him popping up on the corner of the box and slide ruling it through for an express train like Sane to square it. Just don't see that type of move now. Play it back instead..

 

[OB1]

Sorry but we are a bit boring especially of late. We won in a toe to toe exciting game against the dippers recently but the League is like watching 3D chess.

You've just proved my point. Thank you. Liverpool had a go, and lost, so it made for a cracking games: two top teams going at it.

It's very difficult to play exciting football against ten man defences.

 

[OB1]

Yep, nearly every game, especially at home, we're up against these tactics - even at 1-0 down teams stick 10 behind the ball and time waste. It's not city making games boring.


I do wonder whether it's the best idea to play inverted wingers (and an inverted full back) against these tactics - all the play is coming inside which is predictable and easier to defend against in the middle.

Yup, Everton yesterday kept spoiling and digging in at 1-0, hoping for a moment to steal a goal, and, unfortunately, we let them.