Kiev post match reaction thread - PLEASE keep it in here.

[Bluemoon115]

Well, after a good kip, some time to reflect, a nice brekkie and a cup of tea, I'd like to change my original opinion of the performance of "wank" if I may...

Complete and utter wank.

 

[Soulboy]

This is one of my main concerns with the tactics and squad we have at our disposal.

I didn't think we played that badly last night however when we go behind we don't seem capable of picking up the pace/tempo to put the opposition under pressure.

How many times did we get in behind the Kiev defence last night?

Answers on a postcard please.....

Rammy, you do realise it's extremely tough to get in behind a defence when they sit deep? Theres no room in behind them because they were basically defending on their 18 yard box in the second half. Kiev are a well drilled team and they defended with two banks of four and got plenty of men behind the ball which made it difficult. We should have been better but i don't think there was much chance to get in behind last night and thats due to how Kiev defended so fair play to them

So Kyiv defended with two banks of four... played on the break... and?

Didn't our manager/coaching staff realise this?

If so, why not just match up with Kyiv, play as defensively as they did, and get a 0-0 draw?

It really makes me smile that somehow it's not fair that Kyiv played defensively at home... even though they still scored two goals against us!

Mancini must have known before the game... or he could have changed it during the game. But whatever he did do it didn't work, and some realtively unknown Eastern European coach totally outhought him...

 

[uncletom]

Dzeko absolute joke 20 odd million
Balotelli absolute cry baby joke 20 odd million.

Who ever authorised them signing needs sacking.

 

[Failsworth_Blue]

Rammy, you do realise it's extremely tough to get in behind a defence when they sit deep? Theres no room in behind them because they were basically defending on their 18 yard box in the second half. Kiev are a well drilled team and they defended with two banks of four and got plenty of men behind the ball which made it difficult. We should have been better but i don't think there was much chance to get in behind last night and thats due to how Kiev defended so fair play to them

Do you realise that it is the managers job to counter those tactics?

Not picking a fight mate but we have to have a plan b/c/d etc etc.

Bobby just doesn't have one and at this level, its unforgivable.

Of course i realise its the managers job to counter those tactics. Kiev got their tactics spot on so getting in behind was always going to be tough which was my responce to Rammy. We needed to use the ball better in the final 3rd which we didn't do, of course Mancini should take blame because the tactics didn't work but you've also got to look at the players and what impact they had on the game, too many last night in the final 3rd were sloppy in posession and it cost us

Mancini i felt last night set up the right way and we looked quite good in possession till they scored then we went back to being sloppy and even Silva who is normally brilliant in posession was giving the ball away under little pressure, it wasn't a good performance last night and it wasn't a good result but thats football for you, what we need to do is bounce back, thankfully we've got the second leg to turn things round. Won't be easy but we are excellent at home so we're in with a chance

 

[gio's side step]

This is one of my main concerns with the tactics and squad we have at our disposal.

I didn't think we played that badly last night however when we go behind we don't seem capable of picking up the pace/tempo to put the opposition under pressure.

How many times did we get in behind the Kiev defence last night?

Answers on a postcard please.....

Rammy, you do realise it's extremely tough to get in behind a defence when they sit deep? Theres no room in behind them because they were basically defending on their 18 yard box in the second half. Kiev are a well drilled team and they defended with two banks of four and got plenty of men behind the ball which made it difficult. We should have been better but i don't think there was much chance to get in behind last night and thats due to how Kiev defended so fair play to them

They sit deep because we play in FRONT of them without natural width. This point has been made so many times now. The way we set up in most games, relies on Silva playing between the lines, and there is so much emphasis on him playing a pass in between the defending centre back and full back (again with so much emphasis on players timing runs to perfection to break the offside and get in behind). It will work in some games. So much pressure on Silva. What we rarely do (particularly with Johnson absent) is get into situations where we go past players out wide one on one to get to the byline and cut the ball back. A good example last night was Tevez, where whilst he didn't get right to the by line literally, he got beyond the defence on the right hand side, and cut the ball back (silva missed but created the opportunity for Toure who nearly scored). We need to play with more width to open these types of games up. It's so predictable seeing us play side ways in front of defences all the time. Barca can do it, because they have xavi and iniesta who can both play similar passes to Silva, and equally, because they have all been playing together for years, thus sing from the same hymn sheet.

Add to that, we don't have the players up front to play that way either (for example Dzeko)

 

[KingRuben]

Dzeko absolute joke 20 odd million
Balotelli absolute cry baby joke 20 odd million.

Who ever authorised them signing needs sacking.

Who the fuck do you support?

 

[MATCITY]

Dzeko absolute joke 20 odd million
Balotelli absolute cry baby joke 20 odd million.

Who ever authorised them signing needs sacking.

Who the fuck do you support?

sometimes i dispaire i really do

 

[Failsworth_Blue]

Rammy, you do realise it's extremely tough to get in behind a defence when they sit deep? Theres no room in behind them because they were basically defending on their 18 yard box in the second half. Kiev are a well drilled team and they defended with two banks of four and got plenty of men behind the ball which made it difficult. We should have been better but i don't think there was much chance to get in behind last night and thats due to how Kiev defended so fair play to them

So Kyiv defended with two banks of four... played on the break... and?

Didn't our manager/coaching staff realise this?

If so, why not just match up with Kyiv, play as defensively as they did, and get a 0-0 draw?

It really makes me smile that somehow it's not fair that Kyiv played defensively at home... even though they still scored two goals against us!

Mancini must have known before the game... or he could have changed it during the game. But whatever he did do it didn't work, and some realtively unknown Eastern European coach totally outhought him...

Who said its not fair that Kiev played defensively? Kiev got their tactics spot on, defend deep and in numbers but break in numbers, it worked, they got it spot on and we didn't, i have no isses with how Kiev played so not sure what you are going on about?

We could have matched up but obviously Mancini wanted to be more attacking, something which a lot of our fans have wanted from his side aswell, unfortunately it left us open at the back and they exploited that

 

[ST Coleridge]

Rammy, you do realise it's extremely tough to get in behind a defence when they sit deep? Theres no room in behind them because they were basically defending on their 18 yard box in the second half. Kiev are a well drilled team and they defended with two banks of four and got plenty of men behind the ball which made it difficult. We should have been better but i don't think there was much chance to get in behind last night and thats due to how Kiev defended so fair play to them

Do you realise that it is the managers job to counter those tactics?

Not picking a fight mate but we have to have a plan b/c/d etc etc.

Bobby just doesn't have one and at this level, its unforgivable.

The agreed method to counter two deep banks of four is width. We had width, no? It came down to interplay between Silva, Dzeko and Balotelli, and the latter two were too keen to turn and take on their man, rather than pass the ball off quickly and retain possession.

Hopefully, Mancini will tell them 'hold it up better'. That aside, I'm at a genuine loss to see what he should have done differently.

And tactics is all I'm concerned about - not imagined 'divisions in the camp', or 'an angry and critical manager' (what has that got to do with anything, honestly?).

The discussion would be healthier if we stuck to the actual football - why our attacks break down too easily, specifically.

 

[Soulboy]

So Kyiv defended with two banks of four... played on the break... and?

Didn't our manager/coaching staff realise this?

If so, why not just match up with Kyiv, play as defensively as they did, and get a 0-0 draw?

It really makes me smile that somehow it's not fair that Kyiv played defensively at home... even though they still scored two goals against us!

Mancini must have known before the game... or he could have changed it during the game. But whatever he did do it didn't work, and some realtively unknown Eastern European coach totally outhought him...

Who said its not fair that Kiev played defensively? Kiev got their tactics spot on, defend deep and in numbers but break in numbers, it worked, they got it spot on and we didn't, i have no isses with how Kiev played so not sure what you are going on about?

We could have matched up but obviously Mancini wanted to be more attacking, something which a lot of our fans have wanted from his side aswell, unfortunately it left us open at the back and they exploited that

So we're agreed that Mancini was out-thought last night? That he got the tactics and formation wrong? That's all I was saying...

Oh, and it wasn't aimed at you the comment about if being "unfair" that Kyiv defended at home... but quite a few posters have all but whinged that as the home team they should have attacked more!<br /><br />-- Fri Mar 11, 2011 10:32 am --<br /><br />

Do you realise that it is the managers job to counter those tactics?

Not picking a fight mate but we have to have a plan b/c/d etc etc.

Bobby just doesn't have one and at this level, its unforgivable.

The agreed method to counter two deep banks of four is width. We had width, no? It came down to interplay between Silva, Dzeko and Balotelli, and the latter two were too keen to turn and take on their man, rather than pass the ball off quickly and retain possession.

Hopefully, Mancini will tell them 'hold it up better'. That aside, I'm at a genuine loss to see what he should have done differently.

And tactics is all I'm concerned about - not imagined 'divisions in the camp', or 'an angry and critical manager' (what has that got to do with anything, honestly?).

The discussion would be healthier if we stuck to the actual football - why our attacks break down too easily, specifically.

You have a very simplistic view of management. It's quaint.

You don't believe a manager has any influence in terms of motivation or spirit, that an angry manager is less effective than a rational one?

Well, you fly in the face of hundreds of years of management philosophy... but at least it's an original viewpoint!

;-))