Everton v City post match

[Gorton_Tubster]

Why the FUCK do we let the opposition all get back into position when we pass the ball around. IE we win the ball, we pass it forwards, then hold it up and wait for the rest of our team to come up (into their pre-defined training ground positions I assume) and meanwhile the opposition have gotten back into position and just sit back and watch us plod it around the ground, knowing that iif they get the ball they can attack us and have probably got a 40% chance of scoring. We got to rush that ball fw ffs, then when around the penalty area just get it in, not this passing around the penalty area until we lose the ball.

We are so like Arsenal! And they had ten or 15 years of this!

 

[york away to this!]

Even the young This! chaps have started turning to me once the clock rolls over 20 minutes and we haven't scored... "we won't win this, will we"...

(admittedly probably merely my brainwashing...)

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

This is a very pertinent post. I've read that Pep believes that a player has just one second to make a decision or the opposition will gain an advantage/we will lose ours. Therefore the whole playing style is dependent on making that decision correctly and, to do that, the player needs to know where his team-mates are and what they're going to do. In the same way, the other players have to know what the player on the ball is likely to do and all of that has to happen in a second or less.

So the best players in a Pep system are not necessarily the technically better players like Silva & De Bruyne but the ones who can make those decisions within one second and fit the system.

I think by and large the two elements will be mutually inclusive, with Silva and Debruyne as cases in point. The latter in particular very seldom picks the 'wrong' option. Maybe Kolarov is an example of the other side of the coin, a player with very good technique, but whose decision making often leaves much to be desired.
My bigger concern would be about attempting to coach players to such a degree of intricacy that they would automatically know exactly where each other are at all times. I would question whether it would be either desirable or necessary given that the MO of the opposition is unlikely to change as long as Pep is at the club, and that the version of "tika taka" (which I know it isn't strictly, but I don't have another name for it) we currently employ looks ill-suited, in the absence of players of the calibre of Messi and Iniesta, to circumventing the bus parkers, in either the short or long term. What we need is a greater variety in terms of the personnel we employ and viable alternatives when football by numbers - for want of a better expression - fails.

 

[OB1]

So you think our squad is balanced?
If you do, we certainly will go round in circles.

Regards Sane, if we required a left winger, why not just sign one?
When there's already lots of imbalance in the squad, it seems odd to spend fourty odd million to change his position.

I actually see a long term plan of Sane, Sterling & Jesus.
I don't think that was the issue we needed to address first.
A future forward line before a current defence or midfield.

Sane is left-footed and at the start of his career so if Pep thinks he has more potential than any established left wing options, it would make perfect sense to sign him. However, we are yet to see how Pep uses him over an extended period; I think it will be on the left but it is of no concern to me if I am wrong.

 

[Bewar3them00n]

I admit going and doing something else 2nd half, after going 1-0 down, an missing a multitude of chances before they scored, I had the impending sense of doom, and was proved right, as alerts popped up each time Everton scored.
How did Bravo perform? I saw Everton had 4 shots on target and scored with everyone.

 

[HarrytheBlue]

Save Percentage 2015/2016
Goalkeeper Club Minutes Played Save %
Jack Butland Stoke City 1710 79.6%
Hugo Lloris Tottenham Hotspur 1620 77.0%
Wayne Hennessey Crystal Palace 1170 76.9%
Petr Čech Arsenal 1710 76.3%
Adrián West Ham United 1440 75.0%
David de Gea Manchester United 1350 74.1%
Gomes Watford 1687 73.2%
Joe Hart Manchester City 1530 71.7%
Boaz Myhill West Bromwich Albion 1710 71.1%
Rob Elliot Newcastle United 900 69.8%

The disaster waiting to happen, Heurelho Gomes, had a better save percentage than Joe....

However, Bravo's save percentage is 59.4, this season. Bottom 3 in the league.

Those stats don't tell the whole story. A good goalkeeper with more to do at a struggling team will have a better shots to saves ratio and there's the quality of shot to consider. Look, being honest, there's no way De Gea is the sixth best in the Prem. Now Joe's gone, De Gea's the top man (despite De Gea's Euros howlers). Joe kept the most clean sheets four years out of five (second the other year) and a significantly better international clean sheet record than Neuer. These are facts reflecting years of performance - not one-off good seasons. City were not always defensively strong under Manuel (great going forward) and England have been average defensively for years - Jagielka, Cahill etc. Neuer has played behind one of the greatest defence and midfield units of all time for many years and has spent an entire international career playing against considerably weaker teams. Joe is held in the highest regard by Messi (says he's a phenomenon) and Buffon.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Those stats don't tell the whole story. A good goalkeeper with more to do at a struggling team will have a better shots to saves ratio and there's the quality of shot to consider. Look, being honest, there's no way De Gea is the sixth best in the Prem. Now Joe's gone, De Gea's the top man (despite De Gea's Euros howlers). Joe kept the most clean sheets four years out of five (second the other year) and a significantly better international clean sheet record than Neuer. These are facts reflecting years of performance - not one-off good seasons. City were not always defensively strong under Manuel (great going forward) and England have been average defensively for years - Jagielka, Cahill etc. Neuer has played behind one of the greatest defence and midfield units of all time for many years and has spent an entire international career playing against considerably weaker teams. Joe is held in the highest regard by Messi (says he's a phenomenon) and Buffon.

I think Lloris, De Gea, Cech and Courtois are the best four keepers in the league and unfortunately play for our rivals.

I was happy to give Bravo the benefit of the doubt but I've seen enough now. He isn't good enough at the one thing a keeper needs to be good at before all else, stopping the opponent scoring.

His angles for two of Everton's goals were all wrong and the 4th was just awful.

I really hope he is dropped tomorrow but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[HarrytheBlue]

I think Lloris, De Gea, Cech and Courtois are the best four keepers in the league and unfortunately play for our rivals.

I was happy to give Bravo the benefit of the doubt but I've seen enough now. He isn't good enough at the one thing a keeper needs to be good at before all else, stopping the opponent scoring.

His angles for two of Everton's goals were all wrong and the 4th was just awful.

I really hope he is dropped tomorrow but I'm not holding my breath.

There is a lack of 'spring' to his movement. You never see him flying through the air to keep the ball out. I feel sorry for him. He's not used to teams getting in his face. Whoever's in goal for Barca doesn't have to face an opposition ripping the defence apart. Quite simply, playing for Barca doesn't involve getting much practice at goalkeeping.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

There is a lack of 'spring' to his movement. You never see him flying through the air to keep the ball out. I feel sorry for him. He's not used to teams getting in his face. Whoever's in goal for Barca doesn't have to face an opposition ripping the defence apart. Quite simply, playing for Barca doesn't involve getting much practice at goalkeeping.

Indeed. It's been a huge error and I just hope that Pep is man enough to admit that and do something about it. I'm not a huge fan of Caballero either but I think he is a better option currently.

 

[HarrytheBlue]

Old 'Spade Face' has had a dig in the past. :-)

You're 100 per cent right.