Leicester v City post match

[Stoned Rose]

I would like to see that as I do feel we are being purposely bullied by teams without Fern.

Problem is, Lyon won't be selling anyone in January.

The outlay would be worth it for Ndombele and a left-back.

Unlikely in January I agree.

He’s the nearest I’ve seen to a Fernandinho though, has added Yaya-ness as well which only strengthens my view.

 

[Roachy]

Everyone banging on we should have got a Fern replacement in last summer and are now lambasting the club - who was that player who, was avaialble, affordable and wanted to come? over to all the experts who seem to know but never seem to announce

Not sure if you're having a go at me or just in general, anyway to reiterate in order to fulfil that role a player has to be exceptional and they are hard enough to find as it is let alone in January. All the players have more or less said at some point that adapting to Peps style takes time. So yes summer would have been ideal but who I don't know.

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

Ah right, was at cross purposes!

They are still half chances at best for me. Not glaring misses (Jesus against Palace late on being the exception)

We have absolutely zero penetration in the box and both Leroy and Raheem are being caught more on the ball because they have zero space to run in to behind the lines, all because the build up to the 18-yard box is just so careful and measured.

Perhaps another indication we are fearful of losing the ball in transition judging by the goals we are conceding.

It often seems to me that Pep has laid down a minimum number of passes before we get into the penalty area, but, again, spot on th, we are being denied the space in the oppos penalty area that chalks up stonking scores and fluent football. The Palace game was a second half of banging heads on a brick wall -few bricks get dislodged but the pile of rubble just hampers our kind of play.

 

[LucahArchie10]

It will always be an issue if you are 80-20 attack minded. You know that if one chance goes begging another five will turn up, four of which might be spurned. Meanwhile the opposition have netted twice and we're chasing the game.

Jesus has struggled from the 1st day back till now.

Aguero has been average for us & his movement is very poor.

Injurys for both have been many but both are guilty of missing many chances.

Goals from Sane, Sterling & Dave have dried up & KDB has had little time to get going.

At the back last year both LB & RB were tight & always 8 out of 10 whereas this season both areas have been very poor which doesn't help both CH

We are also conceding some goals that are out of this world.

It's tough to take & I sulk like fuck, I won't read a paper or look on any sports pages knowing the shite people will print.

It hurts but that's down to the standards we have set it's now time to roll the sleeves up & get back to basics.

Scrappy win at Southampton followed by a big win at home to the Scousers.

Come on lads let's get going again.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

The many factors that have resulted in the position we find ourselves in have been discussed extensively on this forum. These include:

World Cup hangover
Injuries to key players (could be linked to the World Cup)
Physical Fatigue
Bad luck (or opposition good luck)
Lack of on-field leadership (how many of our players have captained or vice captained at either club or national level? Liverpool and Spurs, on the other hand have Milner, Henderson, Van Djik, Robertson, Keita, Mane, Salah, Lloris, Kane, Erikson, Son who've all captained or vice captained somewhere in the last 18 months. This is key, especially when things aren't going your way in a game)
Mental fatigue

The last factor could be linked to the exertions of the World Cup and indirectly linked to how Pep approaches the game. He's a perfectionist who places specific demands on his players. He's after footballing perfection. His methods don't allow for any coasting and require players to be mentally switched on 100% of the time. The results of that approach were evident last season as we swept sides and broke all sorts of records along the way. However, it's not humanly possible to be switched on like that forever. The players are not machines and over time this can wear them down. Factor the World Cup in and you'll see that over the past 18 months, the players have had no real mental break from the game and its exertions. And I personally think that's one of the biggest reasons why many of our players seem to have lost form "all of a sudden".

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

It often seems to me that Pep has laid down a minimum number of passes before we get into the penalty area, but, again, spot on th, we are being denied the space in the oppos penalty area that chalks up stonking scores and fluent football. The Palace game was a second half of banging heads on a brick wall -few bricks get dislodged but the pile of rubble just hampers our kind of play.

I've always said we can be on a par with Liverpool as a counter-attacking team, especially with our superior passers in midfield.

Perhaps we need to mix it up a little more and let teams come on to us a bit as even Ederson isn't being pressed anymore, so the triangles aren't needed.

I know Pep loves his basketball and that's what our games have resembled of late.

We are being allowed to arrive at our own pace to the Arc but then our opponents are happy to remain zonal and invite us to take pot shots and three pointers, knowing the margin for error is far higher, as is the opportunity to recover the ball back on a break.

We need to be far quicker than precise until KDB and Silva are back to up speed and are able to deliver that ball which makes defensive plans useless.

If I had five minutes with Pep I would make an argument for Foden to start as he reminds me so much of Gazza at the same age, great with his back to the play but always wanting the return, so there is much more speed in his game than Gundogan.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Jesus has struggled from the 1st day back till now.

Aguero has been average for us & his movement is very poor.

Injurys for both have been many but both are guilty of missing many chances.

Goals from Sane, Sterling & Dave have dried up & KDB has had little time to get going.

At the back last year both LB & RB were tight & always 8 out of 10 whereas this season both areas have been very poor which doesn't help both CH

We are also conceding some goals that are out of this world.

It's tough to take & I sulk like fuck, I won't read a paper or look on any sports pages knowing the shite people will print.

It hurts but that's down to the standards we have set it's now time to roll the sleeves up & get back to basics.

Scrappy win at Southampton followed by a big win at home to the Scousers.

Come on lads let's get going again.

Only Zis.

 

[Marvin]

You're all putting this down to Fern but the bigger problem for me but we have 70% possession and do not look like scoring. We have to thread the ball through an eye of a needle to score. I think that's always the way to an extent when it's 0-0 or you are chasing a game but we're missing Silva and de Bruyne to make those passes and we're missing a sharp forward to make those sprints to get into space.

I don't think Guardiola trusts Mahrez. He should be running games like this but we seem reluctant to use him. Having seen his pathetic performances on the wing I can see why but he does have the creativity to unlock defences.

Part of the problem is that Aguero is slow. He's still an amazing player but he's quite easy to mark and he doesn't have the basic speed any more which makes it difficult to find him. And where's Jesus? Just when he had that great game against Everton he gets injured.

You get these moments in football. Forget title talk. We need to get back to winning games again. Get Ederson, Stones and Laporte, Walker, KDB,Silva, Sterling, Sane and Bernardo on the pitch and the rest to make up the numbers and we'll win most games.

Even last season we didn't play great all season. This season we've had injury problems and when we've had bad games the opposition have scored belting goals. The team has got the bottle but we haven't had the luck this season.

We also have 2-3 players who are getting old such as Fern, Silva and Aguero but we should have enough to carry on and evolve.

I would change things a little bit if I were Guardiola and we do have the options to do that:

eg. Either Jesus (if fit) up front, or Sterling. Put Mahrez on the right. Play Foden. We also have De Bruyne returning to full fitness and David Silva getting fit.

We'll be OK. We whatever the doubters say are very strong defensively although for 2-3 games Delph's sending off has given us an extra problem we could have done without.

 

[ken tali]

I believe we will beat Southampton ,but i have no confidence of beating Liverpool at home ,which is a must win game now..the way we have defended last month or so is really really poor and it seems we have to score atleast 3 goals to beat them if things don´t improve dramatically.

 

[Grassland Blue]

Foden should start before Gundogan imo. He is quicker and more assured on the ball.
Whenever he has come on as a sub he has slotted in seamlessly.
I seem to remember against the rags that he, Sane and Sterling were involved in some short, quick passing moves, towards the end of the match.