It's Quiet 18 - Wanna ring the bell?

[Goater101]

The board needs to pull their fucking fingers out. When pep says he needs player they better deliver.

 

[supercity88]

Saturday merely highlighted once again the blatant hole in our squad in central midfield - giving up 17 shots and numerous free runs at goal to West Ham.

No holding midfielder and until that is addressed we wont be beating any half-decent sides.

1 week in and despite 3 months advance notice, still no sign of any improvement in this area. Utterly bizarre.

It's not about the holding midfielder, it's about the team not defending as one. Even with Rodri on the pitch we would be conceding so many chances. He's read the game better and make sure he was in a position to cover better than the options we've currently got. But if Haaland, Foden, De Bruyne, Bernardo and Savinho all press but that half a second too late then it's a simple pass and you've cut out 5 of the team and we're left with Kovacic and 4 defenders trying to deal with the situation. That's what the issue is at the moment. We've either got to stop pressing completely and just sit in or everyone has to be bang at it so we win the ball back high up the pitch.

 

[cheekybids]

Pep still has the fire in his belly his press conference was immense.

I loved his response to the question about “the fans seemed nervous” & he simply said the fans can see what we’ve done & how we aren’t doing it now.

 

[spinney]

It's not about the holding midfielder, it's about the team not defending as one. Even with Rodri on the pitch we would be conceding so many chances. He's read the game better and make sure he was in a position to cover better than the options we've currently got. But if Haaland, Foden, De Bruyne, Bernardo and Savinho all press but that half a second too late then it's a simple pass and you've cut out 5 of the team and we're left with Kovacic and 4 defenders trying to deal with the situation. That's what the issue is at the moment. We've either got to stop pressing completely and just sit in or everyone has to be bang at it so we win the ball back high up the pitch.

Nail on head

Its the whole midfield not just rodri gone missing

 

[mosssideblue]

The board needs to pull their fucking fingers out. When pep says he needs player they better deliver.

Good grief

 

[oldius]

It's not about the holding midfielder, it's about the team not defending as one. Even with Rodri on the pitch we would be conceding so many chances. He's read the game better and make sure he was in a position to cover better than the options we've currently got. But if Haaland, Foden, De Bruyne, Bernardo and Savinho all press but that half a second too late then it's a simple pass and you've cut out 5 of the team and we're left with Kovacic and 4 defenders trying to deal with the situation. That's what the issue is at the moment. We've either got to stop pressing completely and just sit in or everyone has to be bang at it so we win the ball back high up the pitch.

Bang on. Rodri's positional sense and physical stature mean that he cuts out a lot of the danger but none of the front players is currently pressing in the way that they have previously done, and none appears to be making the same effort to get back once the press has been beaten.

This is a collective thing, not just one player's absence, though he is a significant player. It remains the case that Foden, Bernardo, Gundo, Kovacic, and KDB, are naturally more attack minded than defensively minded.

 

[Ajm1985]

It's not about the holding midfielder, it's about the team not defending as one. Even with Rodri on the pitch we would be conceding so many chances. He's read the game better and make sure he was in a position to cover better than the options we've currently got. But if Haaland, Foden, De Bruyne, Bernardo and Savinho all press but that half a second too late then it's a simple pass and you've cut out 5 of the team and we're left with Kovacic and 4 defenders trying to deal with the situation. That's what the issue is at the moment. We've either got to stop pressing completely and just sit in or everyone has to be bang at it so we win the ball back high up the pitch.

It's both. Kovacic's positioning isn't good enough and he is often caught further forward than he should be - his talent is carrying the ball forward, which isn't what we need from the 6 in this current team. The rest of the team press is as you say

 

[Dazzle84]

Clear the decks and build us centurions 2 pep ..

Still my favourite City side, despite the success of the treble winners

 

[Mancityphilfo2000]

It's not about the holding midfielder, it's about the team not defending as one. Even with Rodri on the pitch we would be conceding so many chances. He's read the game better and make sure he was in a position to cover better than the options we've currently got. But if Haaland, Foden, De Bruyne, Bernardo and Savinho all press but that half a second too late then it's a simple pass and you've cut out 5 of the team and we're left with Kovacic and 4 defenders trying to deal with the situation. That's what the issue is at the moment. We've either got to stop pressing completely and just sit in or everyone has to be bang at it so we win the ball back high up the pitch.

It's about the lack of cover in front especially when gvardiol is left back as he leaves the defence exsposed.hence why ake will now stay there until we got mobility in midfield or a defensive mid.

 

[supercity88]

It's both. Kovacic's positioning isn't good enough and he is often caught further forward than he should be - his talent is carrying the ball forward, which isn't what we need from the 6 in this current team. The rest of the team press is as you say

It's very hard to position yourself when there's so much space and so many players to cover. Rodri's reading of the game is so much better so he'd help, but Kovacic is left covering huge areas of midfield and often it's a split second call whether to step up or drop off. I don't put much blame on his shoulders, because when you see how poor our front four are at closing the gaps and putting the opposition under pressure he's got no chance. If they've not got the legs then we have to sit off. You can't give the opposition time to pick a pass and then press them or you're just playing yourself out of the game.