Gray
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Might excuse the Brentford one as they seem to have some magic formula.
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Fulham (H) | PL | Post-Match Thread
- Thread starter SebastianBlue
- Start date
pride in battle
Well-Known Member
More blame on the midfield for me, huge gaps there...Yep
the international break does fuck up the early part of the season and City have players going everywhere in the world, Sloppy today and made it harder than it should have been but 3 points won and you get the same amount of points for a sloppy win or an amazing win.
My only question is that our defence is looking patchy at best
Rubbish!For our throw in we are fully marked up; for the oppo throw ins they have a free pass
Gaz (FMwkdsoul)
Well-Known Member
yeah cant say im a fan of this 316 thing weve got going on. too openMore blame on the midfield for me, huge gaps there...
mcfcbill91
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- 7 Jan 2015
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- 86
Really important to get three points yesterday, given absences and lack of playing time so far this season for Foden.
Fulham have been impressive so far and recently turned over Newcastle. Hadn't lost since the opening day either.
However, we have run into a problem in recent games with teams all using this hybrid 541/532 out of possession and then shifting into a 433 on the ball. Fulham have played 433 all season and shifted to this yesterday.
By doing this, it's forcing City into attacking perfection, which we just don't have at the moment.
Iwobi was sacrificed to allow Traore to maintain a higher position throughout and Fulham played 541 off the ball.
They also looked to isolate Traore with Rico by playing out through Bassey, Lukic & Robinson. It was either working the ball to Robinson to play into Lukic behind Bernardo & Foden, or a longer ball into Traore's body.
Teams want to create transitions. If you have 10/11 players defending, we are going to attack with similar numbers. There are times where a transition is created simply by City having a shot blocked and given Traore is a unique threat, if he can pick the ball up with 50/60 yards to run into, it's going to be a problem.
We did well to get ahead. Doku scored a great goal and Bernardo had the chance to kill it prior to their second.
Fulham also used the formula of moving into attack with 20 minutes left by bringing on a number of quality players. They pinned us through width and Pep made a rare error putting Walker on for Akanji. I think he felt they would continue to frustrate and we could use 3241 to pin them. Stones came on and we looked resilient enough.
I've seen us be pinned before by teams using width - Brighton did it a couple of seasons ago too and we got through.
My takeaways are -
- It's likely time for a change in personnel and attacking. Pep will find a solution to this 541/531 shifting.
- I think the PL has reached a stage where most teams can comfortably play through pressure - perhaps moving to a more mid block would help, rather than our typical high press
- How we attack has a significant bearing on how we defend. We can't afford to turn the ball over 30/35 yards from goal at the moment. Pretty much attacks have to end with the ball out of play to prevent these transitions. Even corners are a risk, if the goalie catches the ball - this is what did for Bayern at Villa midweek.
- There is a bit of lethargy given our success. It's in the stands & on the pitch.
Fulham have been impressive so far and recently turned over Newcastle. Hadn't lost since the opening day either.
However, we have run into a problem in recent games with teams all using this hybrid 541/532 out of possession and then shifting into a 433 on the ball. Fulham have played 433 all season and shifted to this yesterday.
By doing this, it's forcing City into attacking perfection, which we just don't have at the moment.
Iwobi was sacrificed to allow Traore to maintain a higher position throughout and Fulham played 541 off the ball.
They also looked to isolate Traore with Rico by playing out through Bassey, Lukic & Robinson. It was either working the ball to Robinson to play into Lukic behind Bernardo & Foden, or a longer ball into Traore's body.
Teams want to create transitions. If you have 10/11 players defending, we are going to attack with similar numbers. There are times where a transition is created simply by City having a shot blocked and given Traore is a unique threat, if he can pick the ball up with 50/60 yards to run into, it's going to be a problem.
We did well to get ahead. Doku scored a great goal and Bernardo had the chance to kill it prior to their second.
Fulham also used the formula of moving into attack with 20 minutes left by bringing on a number of quality players. They pinned us through width and Pep made a rare error putting Walker on for Akanji. I think he felt they would continue to frustrate and we could use 3241 to pin them. Stones came on and we looked resilient enough.
I've seen us be pinned before by teams using width - Brighton did it a couple of seasons ago too and we got through.
My takeaways are -
- It's likely time for a change in personnel and attacking. Pep will find a solution to this 541/531 shifting.
- I think the PL has reached a stage where most teams can comfortably play through pressure - perhaps moving to a more mid block would help, rather than our typical high press
- How we attack has a significant bearing on how we defend. We can't afford to turn the ball over 30/35 yards from goal at the moment. Pretty much attacks have to end with the ball out of play to prevent these transitions. Even corners are a risk, if the goalie catches the ball - this is what did for Bayern at Villa midweek.
- There is a bit of lethargy given our success. It's in the stands & on the pitch.
IronsideKozuch
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- 23 Aug 2022
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- 411
Watched the game second time tbh, just to check whether i really missed it first time due to many views hear.
We been very good against strong opponent, who gonna take points off other top4 challengers. Few of their breaks were really lucky. Last 20 min a bit too leggy for our standards. It misleads a bit a reception of the whole game.
People has so short memory. Year after year Pep tries indirectly explain, that season is soooo long for City, that we need to be smart about deployment of resources, that we wont play teams off the park, at least not until spring. And season always looks like he said it would.
We managing things more than fine. And including things like Rodri injury, repeated KDB absences we should be so happy about state of affairs points/performance wise.
We been very good against strong opponent, who gonna take points off other top4 challengers. Few of their breaks were really lucky. Last 20 min a bit too leggy for our standards. It misleads a bit a reception of the whole game.
People has so short memory. Year after year Pep tries indirectly explain, that season is soooo long for City, that we need to be smart about deployment of resources, that we wont play teams off the park, at least not until spring. And season always looks like he said it would.
We managing things more than fine. And including things like Rodri injury, repeated KDB absences we should be so happy about state of affairs points/performance wise.
OB1
Well-Known Member
People always seem to remember or notice the good more than the bad. Fulham did have one very good spell in the game but it was bad moments rather than lots of bad play that caused us problems, And no one should hide away from the fact that Pep is still working on improvements but we should have a bit of faith that, as he said post match, we will improve.The result was great. The performance not so much. I would struggle to write a list of all that was good though. Eddie, Josko, Doku’s cameo….
We must also have a huge war chest to go into the transfer market - although I guess there could be a couple of big targets for next summer that much of it is reserved for but then We should generate more cash this season and I hope they always have a contingency fund for unexpected requirements such as we have now.
About half City’s performances will be below average but the reaction of supporters when we have a below average game is often disproportionate.
I trust Pep will enjoy his break but will take some time to reflect on things and come back with a few important tweaks.
OB1
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately not. Someone said in the Matchday thread it had been taken down. I kept looking for it but didn’t see it at all.
It was very clear before the game.
Really important to get three points yesterday, given absences and lack of playing time so far this season for Foden.
Fulham have been impressive so far and recently turned over Newcastle. Hadn't lost since the opening day either.
However, we have run into a problem in recent games with teams all using this hybrid 541/532 out of possession and then shifting into a 433 on the ball. Fulham have played 433 all season and shifted to this yesterday.
By doing this, it's forcing City into attacking perfection, which we just don't have at the moment.
Iwobi was sacrificed to allow Traore to maintain a higher position throughout and Fulham played 541 off the ball.
They also looked to isolate Traore with Rico by playing out through Bassey, Lukic & Robinson. It was either working the ball to Robinson to play into Lukic behind Bernardo & Foden, or a longer ball into Traore's body.
Teams want to create transitions. If you have 10/11 players defending, we are going to attack with similar numbers. There are times where a transition is created simply by City having a shot blocked and given Traore is a unique threat, if he can pick the ball up with 50/60 yards to run into, it's going to be a problem.
We did well to get ahead. Doku scored a great goal and Bernardo had the chance to kill it prior to their second.
Fulham also used the formula of moving into attack with 20 minutes left by bringing on a number of quality players. They pinned us through width and Pep made a rare error putting Walker on for Akanji. I think he felt they would continue to frustrate and we could use 3241 to pin them. Stones came on and we looked resilient enough.
I've seen us be pinned before by teams using width - Brighton did it a couple of seasons ago too and we got through.
My takeaways are -
- It's likely time for a change in personnel and attacking. Pep will find a solution to this 541/531 shifting.
- I think the PL has reached a stage where most teams can comfortably play through pressure - perhaps moving to a more mid block would help, rather than our typical high press
- How we attack has a significant bearing on how we defend. We can't afford to turn the ball over 30/35 yards from goal at the moment. Pretty much attacks have to end with the ball out of play to prevent these transitions. Even corners are a risk, if the goalie catches the ball - this is what did for Bayern at Villa midweek.
- There is a bit of lethargy given our success. It's in the stands & on the pitch.
A great analysis of the game. You are correct now in that every team aside from the odd one are playing out from the back very well.
I think the lethargy is down to two things. The never ending 115 charge situation hanging over us and Rodri's injury. Our chairman can tell us until he's blue in the face ( No pun intended ) we have done everything above board, but deep down we fear they'll get us on something. The Rodri injury has knocked the stuffing out of us a fair bit. Pep sorting a solution out to protect the back four better and key players back fit and hitting form should get the mojo back.
OB1
Well-Known Member
Our lack of pace is scarey, can you imagine facing Real Madrids front three, watching Traore go past Walker yesterday it’s the first thing I thought, Vinicius, Mbappe would relish playing us with such a highline.
Lack of great pace is not new for City. Pep prizes technical ability over pace and we have seen the results. And sometimes teams with a lot of pace can cause us problems.
I do hope though that we buy a midfielder with pace and stamina in January (as well as high technical ability and good reading of the game): it could make an important difference to us.