Kompany Returns from Injury

[George Hannah]

...As for announcing the global injury situation 48 hours ahead of the game, I can see no advantage to us whatsoever. Useful for the opposition though.

it's a pick me up for depressed fans, we deserve it

 

[1961_vintage]

it's a pick me up for depressed fans, we deserve it

Good point. Though it may seem a little selfish, I would preferred Pellers' just sends me a txt update as normal rather than telling the whole world.

 

[YaYa's Left Peg]

Maybe it's a double bluff from MP, and both players are actually not fit at all. That's fooled the bastards....hehehe they'll be busy changing their plans now and bam pow on Sunday...no Kompany or Silva...oh how we'll laugh...

 

[Gaylord du Bois]

Might? Seriously?

Oh he's serious alright. He doesn't rate our skipper at all, you know.

 

[Ric]

Fantastic news. Would be wonderful if he could play 70 mins or so on Sunday.

As for announcing the global injury situation 48 hours ahead of the game, I can see no advantage to us whatsoever. Useful for the opposition though.

it's a pick me up for depressed fans, we deserve it

I think it was a good idea to be honest. Confidence was pretty low amongst fans heading into this game, but having Kompany and Silva back has given everyone a lift. Hopefully the crowd will be a bit more positive tomorrow as a result.

 

[Plain Speaking]

Kane may play as he usually does, i.e to his strengths of stretching play and occupying deeper roles and running onto the ball etc.

But to disagree with Tolms bolded partbis madness. Coaches get ready for a game with one of their team accurate tactical reports of their opponents systems. Strengths, weakness, possible subs and go to men etc. Do fullbacks overlap, does a CB run from deep cunningly as he has no marker etc. For set pieces you look for fundamentals, man mark or zonal etc, then you look at who goes where typically, do they have a small man on a post, if so get a big man to attack that area etc.

This is why Pep is so acclaimed, his reports (same as Jose tbh) are what sets him apart from the 99%. Predicting an opponents move before they make it is what football is now about. We are decadedls behind the chess tacticians of Serie A but this league is getting tougher with the influx of foreign managers.

Pep and JM are renown for their meticulous analysis of the opposition and preparation before every game.

When SWP came back from Chelsea he was full of praise for JM's management, despite hardly playing.

In his early days with us, MP said something like, "we play the same way against all teams, we don't change our game to suit them, they change to play us."

Hopefully we are increasingly improving our match preparations? I was embarrassed when we played Pep's BM, and we clearly did not know what scores took us through the CL group as winners. Pep looked bemused.

I remember VK saying when we played Chelsea, "we had never been so well prepared before a game," but from the way he said it, implied that it seemed unusual?

It's great to have him back, good luck Vinnie! I am hopeful we will be well prepared for this one.

 

[OB1]

I think it was a good idea to be honest. Confidence was pretty low amongst fans heading into this game, but having Kompany and Silva back has given everyone a lift. Hopefully the crowd will be a bit more positive tomorrow as a result.

I think there are pluses and minuses to giving out this info but I would have expected Spurs to already have thought it a possibility and worked it in to their planning but they, like us, do not know for sure that he will start. Regardless of any of that, the club wants to behave in a certain way and not being straight with the media about things like this or any form of gamesmanship is probably not what they want.

I actually think that clubs should have to say in advance of games who is definitely not fit and then not be permitted to use those players i.e. who is on the injured list should be officially controlled and public information.

 

[City_Sean]

I think it was a good idea to be honest. Confidence was pretty low amongst fans heading into this game, but having Kompany and Silva back has given everyone a lift. Hopefully the crowd will be a bit more positive tomorrow as a result.

I agree, I also think with Kompany back we'll have that leadership we desperately require. We can definitely Spurs, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if we did.

 

[mancity1]

I think there are pluses and minuses to giving out this info but I would have expected Spurs to already have thought it a possibility and worked it in to their planning but they, like us, do not know for sure that he will start. Regardless of any of that, the club wants to behave in a certain way and not being straight with the media about things like this or any form of gamesmanship is probably not what they want.

I actually think that clubs should have to say in advance of games who is definitely not fit and then not be permitted to use those players i.e. who is on the injured list should be officially controlled and public information.

Some players are touch and go up until match time and you can't account for things like the flu on the other side of the coin.

Invariably a player can wake up sore on the morning of a game having been ok through the final session.

Some believe that MP's lists he gives at the start of each presser as to who is out gives the other side an advantage but most sides pick their eleven that they think will do the job regardless of who might be in or out.

Presently unless he starts with youth the side picks itself because we only have 13 fit outfielders.

MDM of VK or vica versa to ease him into the game is the only consideration so there will be few surprises for us or Spurs.

As for Spurs they have only two ( really one ) player who might start in their eleven if fit unavailable so they are likely to make more than a couple if that changes to the side that has carried them in the main to six wins on the spin.

 

[bluetev]

Who Kompany defends on a set piece is frankly inconsequential. In as much as it wouldn't change what they do. It might reduce their chances of success. But that's a different matter.

Frankly that is embarrassingly wrong but it's fine coming from you, you are just a fan like us and we all are basically armchair analysts.
The worrying thing for us as a club us that pellegrini thinks similarly.

My view is its wrong to intentionally hide injury news normally, but a smart manager should do exactly that on rare occasions when it gives you a big advantage at a critical juncture.

And this was precisely such an occasion.
1. Clearly central defense, and especially demichelis lack of pace is our key weakness. By springing ottamendi / kompany at the last minute, he would completely upset their planning - nor just because that's a better pairing but also play very differently.
2. Because we are already so short, announcing Delph / sagna makes it almost completely obvious what is the team likely to be.

Does it lose us the match? No.
But it's just example of how oblivious pellegrini is to detail and minor aspects of tactics that add up.