Mancini

[Rammy Blue]

I'm not having a pop fella, just saying that bacon has a tried and tested formula and he purchases players that in the main all seem to fit the system.

That's surely why the idea of Txiki imposing the approach from Barca of a 4-3-3 formation and tiki-taka football is not far fetched. The club needs a well defined way of playing and needs to recruit at all levels to that template.

Exactly. It just seems you can't make any relevant comment on here without it being viewed as having a pop at Bob. We used to have a default formation of 4-2-3-1 but then this season, due to having 4 front line strikers, Bob attempted to change it to accomodate at least 2 of them each game. If I could be arsed I'd dig out posts of mine from the beginning of the season where I said this would create issues - we never had the right midfield balance in the squad to play 4-4-2, no genuine wingers and central players with no pace.

Hopefully imposing the 4-3-3 and buying players that specifically fit the system will eradicate this issue.

 

[chesterbells]

and he's only had a quarter of a century to work at it too

Yep, spot on.
That's why it dismays me to see the posts trying to compare Mancinis position with fergusons - 'you wouldn't expect fergusons job to be questioned after not winning the title for 1 year' etc - it's not comparing like with like

You mean like when the 'inners' compare Mancini,like for like,with other mangers who haven't had his resources or backing?

And its normally the same bunch
who bring the Rags into every argument.

Absolutely, mate

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

I'm not having a pop fella, just saying that bacon has a tried and tested formula and he purchases players that in the main all seem to fit the system.

That's surely why the idea of Txiki imposing the approach from Barca of a 4-3-3 formation and tiki-taka football is not far fetched. The club needs a well defined way of playing and needs to recruit at all levels to that template.

Got to say I have my reservations about the likely effectiveness of this tactic in the Premiership OB1. It has served Barca well, but they have a Messi that no-one else does, and yet even with him, on the last 4 occasions they've faced British opposition (Chelsea and Celtic twice each) they've floundered completely in the face of a blanket defence. If we do go down the tiki-taka route, I hope it will be with players big enough and quick enough to stretch the game if needed

 

[Rammy Blue]

I'm not having a pop fella, just saying that bacon has a tried and tested formula and he purchases players that in the main all seem to fit the system.

That's surely why the idea of Txiki imposing the approach from Barca of a 4-3-3 formation and tiki-taka football is not far fetched. The club needs a well defined way of playing and needs to recruit at all levels to that template.

Got to say I have my reservations about the likely effectiveness of this tactic in the Premiership OB1. It has served Barca well, but they have a Messi that no-one else does, and yet even with him, on the last 4 occasions they've faced British opposition (Chelsea and Celtic twice each) they've floundered completely in the face of a blanket defence. If we do go down the tiki-taka route, I hope it will be with players big enough and quick enough to stretch the game if needed

I wouldn't go tiki-taka but I do think that 4-3-3 would be a good way to go. Gives a better way of stretching the opposition and as long as the 2 wide men in the 3 forwards are players that are prepared to work back then I see no reason that it can't work well in the prem with the nucleus of the squad we already have.

 

[Bluemoon115]

That's surely why the idea of Txiki imposing the approach from Barca of a 4-3-3 formation and tiki-taka football is not far fetched. The club needs a well defined way of playing and needs to recruit at all levels to that template.

Got to say I have my reservations about the likely effectiveness of this tactic in the Premiership OB1. It has served Barca well, but they have a Messi that no-one else does, and yet even with him, on the last 4 occasions they've faced British opposition (Chelsea and Celtic twice each) they've floundered completely in the face of a blanket defence. If we do go down the tiki-taka route, I hope it will be with players big enough and quick enough to stretch the game if needed

I wouldn't go tiki-taka but I do think that 4-3-3 would be a good way to go. Gives a better way of stretching the opposition and as long as the 2 wide men in the 3 forwards are players that are prepared to work back then I see no reason that it can't work well in the prem with the nucleus of the squad we already have.

I don't think it's so much about emulating the particular way Barca play. It's more about having a system that's used up and down every team we have, so it's drilled into the players. It's just one of the reasons why Barca's academy is so good. If they need a youth player to step in, he already knows exactly what his position/role is in a game. It takes one of the obstacles of making your début away.

 

[Rammy Blue]

Got to say I have my reservations about the likely effectiveness of this tactic in the Premiership OB1. It has served Barca well, but they have a Messi that no-one else does, and yet even with him, on the last 4 occasions they've faced British opposition (Chelsea and Celtic twice each) they've floundered completely in the face of a blanket defence. If we do go down the tiki-taka route, I hope it will be with players big enough and quick enough to stretch the game if needed

I wouldn't go tiki-taka but I do think that 4-3-3 would be a good way to go. Gives a better way of stretching the opposition and as long as the 2 wide men in the 3 forwards are players that are prepared to work back then I see no reason that it can't work well in the prem with the nucleus of the squad we already have.

I don't think it's so much about emulating the particular way Barca play. It's more about having a system that's used up and down every team we have, so it's drilled into the players. It's just one of the reasons why Barca's academy is so good. If they need a youth player to step in, he already knows exactly what his position/role is in a game. It takes one of the obstacles of making your début away.

Yep, agreed. When you choose a default formation though it has to be one that suits all games, whether home or away. Barca always play the same formation, irrespective of the opposition. The good thing about 4-3-3 is that it easily becomes 4-5-1 depending on which 2 players are picked either side of the frontman - sometimes Barca will pick Iniesta or Fabregas in those roles knowing they will add strength to the midfield when they haven't got the ball.

 

[OB1]

Got to say I have my reservations about the likely effectiveness of this tactic in the Premiership OB1. It has served Barca well, but they have a Messi that no-one else does, and yet even with him, on the last 4 occasions they've faced British opposition (Chelsea and Celtic twice each) they've floundered completely in the face of a blanket defence. If we do go down the tiki-taka route, I hope it will be with players big enough and quick enough to stretch the game if needed

I wouldn't go tiki-taka but I do think that 4-3-3 would be a good way to go. Gives a better way of stretching the opposition and as long as the 2 wide men in the 3 forwards are players that are prepared to work back then I see no reason that it can't work well in the prem with the nucleus of the squad we already have.

At our best we already do a form of tiki taka and I am all for short passing, good movement and dominating possession. What City need to do is make better use of the flanks and stretch teams more. We don't need to play every game with two wingers or even one but we need the optiin to do so. I said ealier that I'd be excited by the idea of having (say) Neymar, Cavani and Aguero as a front three. Think Kun could be very effective in a wide role in a front three, he has the skill and enough pace to go past full backs and whip balls in, as well as the ability to come in and score goals. Neymar I'm no expert on but Brazil seem happy to put him on the flank. Cavani has some pace and power and even he, I understand, has been used in a wide role by his country so you would have a front three that could interchange positions.

I agree that we need to make sure that we have enough pace and physical presence in the side to cope with the demands of English football and I'd want another realy physical presence in midfield along side Yaya and Silva.

We don't need to be trying to clone how Barca or any one team plays. We do need to be set up to meet the specific needs of our league and it would be nice to develop something that was our way of playing; albeit inspired by the Dutch / Barca school.

That's why I'd be pretty chilled about the idea of bringing in someone like de Boer.

 

[OB1]

I don't think it's so much about emulating the particular way Barca play. It's more about having a system that's used up and down every team we have, so it's drilled into the players. It's just one of the reasons why Barca's academy is so good. If they need a youth player to step in, he already knows exactly what his position/role is in a game. It takes one of the obstacles of making your début away.

Absolutely.

Another word on Barca, no Messi, Xavi or Villa last night (in fact seven changes from PSG game) and they still racked up five goals. Not the strongest of opponents but a good example all the same of the system working.

Must say I would be tempted to try and nick Fabregas off them.

 

[Blue Heaven]

Got to say I have my reservations about the likely effectiveness of this tactic in the Premiership OB1. It has served Barca well, but they have a Messi that no-one else does, and yet even with him, on the last 4 occasions they've faced British opposition (Chelsea and Celtic twice each) they've floundered completely in the face of a blanket defence. If we do go down the tiki-taka route, I hope it will be with players big enough and quick enough to stretch the game if needed

I wouldn't go tiki-taka but I do think that 4-3-3 would be a good way to go. Gives a better way of stretching the opposition and as long as the 2 wide men in the 3 forwards are players that are prepared to work back then I see no reason that it can't work well in the prem with the nucleus of the squad we already have.

At our best we already do a form of tiki taka and I am all for short passing, good movement and dominating possession. What City need to do is make better use of the flanks and stretch teams more. We don't need to play every game with two wingers or even one but we need the optiin to do so. I said ealier that I'd be excited by the idea of having (say) Neymar, Cavani and Aguero as a front three. Think Kun could be very effective in a wide role in a front three, he has the skill and enough pace to go past full backs and whip balls in, as well as the ability to come in and score goals. Neymar I'm no expert on but Brazil seem happy to put him on the flank. Cavani has some pace and power and even he, I understand, has been used in a wide role by his country so you would have a front three that could interchange positions.

I agree that we need to make sure that we have enough pace and physical presence in the side to cope with the demands of English football and I'd want another realy physical presence in midfield along side Yaya and Silva.

We don't need to be trying to clone how Barca or any one team plays. We do need to be set up to meet the specific needs of our league and it would be nice to develop something that was our way of playing; albeit inspired by the Dutch / Barca school.

That's why I'd be pretty chilled about the idea of bringing in someone like de Boer.

If we're going to play that way, Kenobi, it would require a significant turnover of our playing squad, I think. It will be very interesting to see what Txiki does in this regard after Bobby is sacked at season's end.

 

[andyhinch]

I wouldn't go tiki-taka but I do think that 4-3-3 would be a good way to go. Gives a better way of stretching the opposition and as long as the 2 wide men in the 3 forwards are players that are prepared to work back then I see no reason that it can't work well in the prem with the nucleus of the squad we already have.

At our best we already do a form of tiki taka and I am all for short passing, good movement and dominating possession. What City need to do is make better use of the flanks and stretch teams more. We don't need to play every game with two wingers or even one but we need the optiin to do so. I said ealier that I'd be excited by the idea of having (say) Neymar, Cavani and Aguero as a front three. Think Kun could be very effective in a wide role in a front three, he has the skill and enough pace to go past full backs and whip balls in, as well as the ability to come in and score goals. Neymar I'm no expert on but Brazil seem happy to put him on the flank. Cavani has some pace and power and even he, I understand, has been used in a wide role by his country so you would have a front three that could interchange positions.

I agree that we need to make sure that we have enough pace and physical presence in the side to cope with the demands of English football and I'd want another realy physical presence in midfield along side Yaya and Silva.

We don't need to be trying to clone how Barca or any one team plays. We do need to be set up to meet the specific needs of our league and it would be nice to develop something that was our way of playing; albeit inspired by the Dutch / Barca school.

That's why I'd be pretty chilled about the idea of bringing in someone like de Boer.

If we're going to play that way, Kenobi, it would require a significant turnover of our playing squad, I think. It will be very interesting to see what Txiki does in this regard after Bobby is sacked at season's end.

ITK, tell us more its not on the OS some you must know something, bold statement but hats off to you. Source?