Because Yaya is playing in central midfield, it's the nature of the position that he's supposed to cover more ground and make more tackles.
Yes, several did, but it took them a while to come over.
It doesn't matter. Decisions go for and against every team. It’s just another excuse.
We need to look at the effort, the tactics, the performance’s individually and as a collective. This is what matters. The shit decisions that go against us wouldn’t even be an issue if we sorted ourselves out first.
If anyone recalls after the first time Bayern rocked up against a Pellegrini team at the Etihad, when he selected 4-4-2 and had Aguero alongside Negredo?
I think it was Muller who said afterwards that they knew the City forward line were lazy and did not work or press hard enough.
Dzeko started in that Bayern game and was replaced by Negredo.I think you'll find it was our Bosnian friend with Serge, for an hour or so ;)
DeBoer said the same when Aguero was played in a wide position v Ajax. They targeted him.
He wasn't last night. He was playing in a central role (certainly for the first half anyway) in an advanced position alongside Silva and KDB with Delph and Fernandinho playing the central midfield roles.
I thought Yaya played in the middle with Delph on the left. Same as against Arsenal which funnily enough produced the exact same result.
I think a lot of people are saying this now. It's not just Yaya, it's the whole front 4 (if it's Aguero, Silva & De Bruyne with Yaya). Navas & Sterling at least work hard, although Sterling is another one who isn't keen on winning the ball back when he's lost it. Silva is particularly lazy and will stand and watch an opposition player little more than a yard or two away from him without any attempt to put serious pressure on him.
I thought Yaya played in the middle with Delph on the left. Same as against Arsenal which funnily enough produced the exact same result.
Sorry mate, 3 or 4 making a token 10 yard stroll towards us is not several, its much less than half the team, and it's getting more regular. Maybe its related to our away form and the general away match malaise we're witnessing. I used to brush it aside, I don't particularly need the players blowing smoke up my arse on away trips, but its starting to get to me now. Usually Joe coming over punching his chest and giving his shirt away kinda hides the fact that very few others bother, so it was a bit more obvious last night without him. Our away support was outstanding last night, especially in the corner ripping the piss out the mute Neverton fans. Didn't hear a peep out of 'em until they won a corner and celebrated it like a goal. Hilarious. And what was the black cat all about? Great celebration when Navas scored, albiet for 2 minutes..
But, for me, there's a worrying disconnect starting to appear between the players and the fans. Yaya (THE fucking CAPTAIN) couldn't wait to get off the pitch, even Kun was off without even a cursory glance at our supporters. Now, we don't want a Klopp style line dance in front of us, but a bit of acknowledgement wouldn't be too much to ask surely. Win or lose, face the fans and thank them for their support, minimum requirement.
It really pissed me off last night, but I'll be at Norwich Saturday putting in my usual shift for the club, lets see if the players do..
Below is my post from the Pre match thread. I don’t claim to be some expert pundit but It illustrates that it doesn't take a genius to work out that Everton would only have a chance by out battling us in midfield and beating us with effort and muscle over skill. Playing Yaya was daft, his legs are shot but I think Pellers got the rest of it mostly right. Clichy was rusty but our left side looks better every time he plays as he takes up proper defensive positions and stops things coming down the wing. Good to see him back! I think everything else that went wrong you could put down to not having the energy, legs and desire in midfield to close them down. Yaya is a big part of that but you also have to factor in that Silva and KDB are not suited to winning battles and replacing Delph for Navas was a further watering down of our midfield (although a good sub). F’do at the end was odd but not as crazy as some are suggesting.
My pre match post:-
We have gone full strength to get to this point so I predict the same tonight i.e. no changes from the starting line up in the last two games.
I would personally look to freshen it up and I’d take Yaya out and put Delph in to give more energy in midfield. I don’t know how fit Clichy is but I’d be tempted to start him as I think Coleman could give us problems. From there I’d go for early subs with Nacho for Aguero and Navas for one of (KDB, DS, RS) subject to how it’s going, both planned for 65mins. I’d try and get Zab on toward the end and plan to start him and Yaya at the weekend.
It will be intersting to see if Pep's style of getting more numbers into the relevant areas, means that Serge, Silva, DeBrune etc (Yaya if he's still here) become more effective at recovering the ball. I think they will do, as Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Henry, etc etc are not supermen (nor was Yaya) yet were able to recover the ball against all kinds of teams. I doubt any would do anything like the same job in this current City team.
I saw Sterling in an early game, press the ball, turn & see a gap of 30 yatds behind him & wave his arm to the team to close up. I've seen Aguero do the same. If there is not a team plan to press, I don't think it works. I don't think there is such a plan, nor was there under Mancini, so they don't see the point of knackering themselves out, only for an easy escape ball to be played through anway.
I recon it will change drastically when we get a real top class manager. Then these players will be much more efficient.
If they don't do it, Pep will just start building a team for the season after, & fire the lot of them.
It will be intersting to see if Pep's style of getting more numbers into the relevant areas, means that Serge, Silva, DeBrune etc (Yaya if he's still here) become more effective at recovering the ball. I think they will do, as Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Henry, etc etc are not supermen (nor was Yaya) yet were able to recover the ball against all kinds of teams. I doubt any would do anything like the same job in this current City team.
I saw Sterling in an early game, press the ball, turn & see a gap of 30 yatds behind him & wave his arm to the team to close up. I've seen Aguero do the same. If there is not a team plan to press, I don't think it works. I don't think there is such a plan, nor was there under Mancini, so they don't see the point of knackering themselves out, only for an easy escape ball to be played through anway.
I recon it will change drastically when we get a real top class manager. Then these players will be much more efficient.
If they don't do it, Pep will just start building a team for the season after, & fire the lot of them.
Our main problem is a total lack of challenges, how many times do you see a midfielder or attacker bring the ball down or head on to a team member with a blue 5-10 yds away watching, last night it was all too frequent. It has to stop.
I think you are all correct.
They swapped positions a lot. This is Pel's 'thing' which he lives by.
This is key. You have to do it from 1 to 11 for it to work properly and you just need 1 in the midfield to be out of step and you leave them an out ball and it goes to pot. I remember watching Peps Barca and thinking how brilliant they were at doing it. If they lose the ball they instantly seal of the passes and press to win the ball, if they don’t get it back within about 10 seconds they then drop back into a more orthodox shape. We do nothing like that.