Florian Wirtz

ChicagoBlue said:
Sadly, I think you’ve hit on a very salient point that is overlooked by many.

The way City play is stifling for most world class players. I give you Haaland as a prime example and also the way Grealish and Foden, two great English hopes, have seemingly died on the vine at City.

Players want to play exciting football for exciting teams. They want to express themselves, not be strapped into a “round peg, round hole” framework where their natural talents are stifled.

Pep has absolutely revolutionized football with some of his tactics, especially the sweeper keeper and the inverted fullbacks, which always seeks to overload the opposition and create an open man.

HOWEVER, it has become stale, pedestrian, boring, and, quite frankly, easy to overcome by even the most industrial of teams. Pep has turned potential world class players into laborers, whose primary function is to “recycle, recycle, recycle” until we bore the opposition into submission.
Teams simply play a 6-4/4-5-1/5-4-1 against us and dare us to break them down by finding the space in a collapsed formation camped on the edge of its own penalty area.

Even against that kind of rearguard action, we have become boring, merely shuttling the ball from side to side, rather than sending it intently danger areas looking for a touch, a second ball, or a deflection…something to create anxiety at the back!

Instead, we simply allow defenders to shuffle 5 yards right or 5 yards left to blunt what passes for an attack.
Compounding this, we have two strikers who love nothing more than chasing the ball in behind, which never comes, and they get frustrated.

We have world class midfielders who are taught to stifle the instincts and abilities that created their reputations and, instead, make safe 5 yards passes.

All 3 goals were brilliant, but at 3:45 one of the best team goals of the last decade is on display.

Where did THIS City go???



Absolute class and some of the best football anyone has ever seen coming from the Boys in Blue under Pep!
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Some good points there. I always thought the only reason Mourinho lasted 3 seasons at most at places was because players at big clubs don't want to just be playing in a deep block the whole time. The players get fed up of it.

At first under Pep we felt like the opposite to that - loads of goals, dominating matches, and winning of course.

Now though?

I dont believe Pep has particularly changed, but watch back to how teams defended against us. Nobody played a back ten like we end up facing regularly - even teams like Arsenal do it against us. Only Liverpool (plus maybe Chelsea) don't. We haven't become tedious because of what Pep does, but how other teams defend us has made us tedious. And seeing as it has proven to have some success, I'm not sure how Pep can fix it. I've thought all this previously, but not about how it makes the players feel - is it fun now? Probably not.
 
mattcity5 said:
Some good points there. I always thought the only reason Mourinho lasted 3 seasons at most at places was because players at big clubs don't want to just be playing in a deep block the whole time. The players get fed up of it.

At first under Pep we felt like the opposite to that - loads of goals, dominating matches, and winning of course.

Now though?

I dont believe Pep has particularly changed, but watch back to how teams defended against us. Nobody played a back ten like we end up facing regularly - even teams like Arsenal do it against us. Only Liverpool (plus maybe Chelsea) don't. We haven't become tedious because of what Pep does, but how other teams defend us has made us tedious. And seeing as it has proven to have some success, I'm not sure how Pep can fix it. I've thought all this previously, but not about how it makes the players feel - is it fun now? Probably not.
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I agree absolutely with this.
We castigate our team, yet place no blame whatsoever on opponents who play a back ten. I have even seen players running from the ball to get back into position. Of course, it is upto us to break it down, but in terms of entertainment, that style is absolutely counter-productive, and it is relatively new.
I don't believe that top-drawer players are turning us down because of style of play whatsoever.
 
Gorbachev said:
Liverpool could sign him if they wanted. They make a lot of money, spent nothing last summer and have plenty of room for PSR.

Someone said on here earlier that it could be a case of City knowing he is going to Liverpool and City have come out with the too expensive PR to put the money issue on Liverpool.

Bayern aint paying more than £100m
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I don't think they could - mainly though because I don't think they've bought anyone that highly wanted before. Don't get me wrong they've bought very well, but never a player who would probably be wanted by every club if they could afford him.
 
Gorbachev said:
Liverpool could sign him if they wanted. They make a lot of money, spent nothing last summer and have plenty of room for PSR.

Someone said on here earlier that it could be a case of City knowing he is going to Liverpool and City have come out with the too expensive PR to put the money issue on Liverpool.

Bayern aint paying more than £100m
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He’s going to Bayern ffs.
 
If you were a top player, and watched that shit on Saturday, you’d hardly be chomping at the bit to come here.

Poor recruitment has caught up with us big time this season and it will become harder to attract the best.

The PR spin put out about Wirtz today and Guardiola’s nonsense about the Charity Shield are concerning.
 
Brewster's millions said:
If you were a top player, and watched that shit on Saturday, you’d hardly be chomping at the bit to come here.

Poor recruitment has caught up with us big time this season and it will become harder to attract the best.

The PR spin put out about Wirtz today and Guardiola’s nonsense about the Charity Shield are concerning.
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Tbf foreign managers do usually class the shield as a trophy as they’re often from countries where they’re considered to be super cups.
 
Aguuuerroooooo said:
I’m absolutely shattered. I really believed, right up until the final moment, that it was happening…that he was going to wear our shirt, play in our stadium, become one of us. I’ve never wanted a player this badly. That’s why I’ve been in this thread for months, day in and day out, pushing, hoping, convincing myself and others that we were going to pull it off.

I don’t even know what to say right now. I’m genuinely sorry if I gave anyone false hope or built up your expectations. I wasn’t trying to mislead… I just had complete faith in our board to get this over the line. And to see it all collapse like this… it’s heartbreaking.

Let’s stick together now. We’re still fans of the same club. We still want what’s best for it. And even though this one slipped away, we have to look forward, regroup, and find the next best alternative. But yeah…this one hurts. Deeply.
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You've gone from a self proclaimed ITK to a KFA within a day. Probably best you don't get too giddy over any potential transfers in future.
 
Gorbachev said:
Liverpool could sign him if they wanted. They make a lot of money, spent nothing last summer and have plenty of room for PSR.

Someone said on here earlier that it could be a case of City knowing he is going to Liverpool and City have come out with the too expensive PR to put the money issue on Liverpool.

Bayern aint paying more than £100m
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He will go to Bayern
Liverpool won’t sign him
 
wolviedinho said:
I would just give this lad a chance:

Claudio Echeverri

Buy MGW and Rudolph and 2 x fb job done.

Phase the older players out and start to introduce more academy.

Proper reset and if anyone world class comes up the go for it.

Barca had to do it not so long ago.

Pep needs new fresh faces.
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He needs more than that I am afraid
 
mattcity5 said:
Some good points there. I always thought the only reason Mourinho lasted 3 seasons at most at places was because players at big clubs don't want to just be playing in a deep block the whole time. The players get fed up of it.

At first under Pep we felt like the opposite to that - loads of goals, dominating matches, and winning of course.

Now though?

I dont believe Pep has particularly changed, but watch back to how teams defended against us. Nobody played a back ten like we end up facing regularly - even teams like Arsenal do it against us. Only Liverpool (plus maybe Chelsea) don't. We haven't become tedious because of what Pep does, but how other teams defend us has made us tedious. And seeing as it has proven to have some success, I'm not sure how Pep can fix it. I've thought all this previously, but not about how it makes the players feel - is it fun now? Probably not.
Click to expand...

Agree with this. If the opposition don't want to play football there isn't much you can do about it. Each game we play I hope we get an early goal to prise the fuckers away from their own 18 yard box and then the game can become more open. Unfortunately this season the exact opposite usually occurs and it's them that's scored first and the very little ambition they had going forward to begin with has almost gone altogether.

It's like those saying we need to play to Haaland's strengths. His strengths are chasing balls in behind. Sides are fully aware of this now so they just sit deep and that alone pretty much neutralises this threat altogether. Often rendering Haaland a passenger for most of the game. He's poor in the air for his size and his touch generally isn't great in and around packed boxes. The only time Erling really becomes effective is in the rare games we've gone a couple ahead and the opposition are forced to throw caution to the wind and spaces open up for him. He'd be more effective in a counter-attacking side and not one that dominates possession, but the build up play is slow and ponderous.
 
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