Our attack - what's off?

[LongsightM13]

In my opinion we have a very simple problem which is David Silva got old and left.

Thats it. Bernardo has lost his spark, Gundogan isn't doing much around the box, Foden can be magic but hes still incredibly inexperienced and loses the ball too much.

That lack of creativity means Mahrez is picked out wide, because hes one of the most creative players in the league.

But that slows our play down and is ultimately counterproductive. It also takes away a threat in the box and makes us lopsided and narrow in attack with no one really wide on the right.


We needed to replace David Silva with a ball hogging, subtle, creative attacking midfielder who has the brain and skill to unlock a defence but the work rate and pace to defend well too.

There are 4 solutions to this IMO.

1) Fix Bernardo. 2018 Bernardo would fix everything. Dont know what's wrong with him, it is not tiredness, but he just hasn't been the player he was in 2018/2019 since that season ended (it predates the racism row). It's a mental problem which seems like it won't go away on its own.

2) Go with Foden and accept we will concede goals because of his mistakes while he learns but try to score a lot more.

3) Go back to Lyon on January 1st and buy Aouar which I think would solve our problem overnight.

4) Get Messi in and just replace Mahrez with him because he is 100x the player and actually will dictate the game and create and score the goals from RW.


I really don't think we have a lot of problems, it is just one big one that is pretty catastrophic because the way Pep is trying to coach around it is throwing everything off.

It's a Pep Guardiola side. If the midfield isn't working then none of it will.

I would add that we are crying out for a pacy and aggressive DM who can sniff out and deal with danger but who can also play, but at least you have offered potential solutions so fair play

 

[WNRH]

What's off?

Our 30 goal a season striker is a crock and a year away from drawing down his footballing pension.

Our best winger is now in Bavaria.

His replacement is just FFS

Our main creative player is no longer slipping through balls through and has now become a second rate Beckham, whipping crosses in to our 5ft 9 attackers in the box.

Our midfield kingpin spends 90% of his game playing one twos with the centre backs and the other 10% doing swivels in the centre circle, slowing down any sort of progression and leaving everyone at walking pace.

And because of all the above, the inverted winger who has scored the most goals in the last three seasons can no longer score his customary tap ins and therefore cannot contribute anything else to the side.

So not a lot.

 

[domalino]

I would add that we are crying out for a pacy and aggressive DM who can sniff out and deal with danger but who can also play, but at least you have offered potential solutions so fair play

I dont think we are! Look at that run to win the 18/19 title - 14 games in a row with Gundogan at 6 and it was the most solid we have ever been under Pep.

With Dias now in, I think we have a solid enough backline to defend if the front 5 are pressing and busting a gut in the opposition's third.


I would like a pacey and aggressive defensive midfield option long term, but we can win without one if the rest of the side is sorted.

If we could drop a 2018 David Silva in the midfield with this backline and Ferran/Sterling on the wings I think we would do just as well we did in that stretch in 2019 with Gundogan or Rodri at 6.

 

[wolviedinho]

What's off?

Our 30 goal a season striker is a crock and a year away from drawing down his footballing pension.

Our best winger is now in Bavaria.

His replacement is just FFS

Our main creative player is no longer slipping through balls through and has now become a second rate Beckham, whipping crosses in to our 5ft 9 attackers in the box.

Our midfield kingpin spends 90% of his game playing one twos with the centre backs and the other 10% doing swivels in the centre circle, slowing down any sort of progression and leaving everyone at walking pace.

And because of all the above, the inverted winger who has scored the most goals in the last three seasons can no longer score his customary tap ins and therefore cannot contribute anything else to the side.

So not a lot.

Spot on.

 

[LongsightM13]

I dont think we are! Look at that run to win the 18/19 title - 14 games in a row with Gundogan at 6 and it was the most solid we have ever been under Pep.

With Dias now in, I think we have a solid enough backline to defend if the front 5 are pressing and busting a gut in the opposition's third.

If we could drop a 2018 David Silva in the midfield with this backline (and Mahrez dropped) I think we would do just as well we did back then with Gundogan or Rodri at 6.

True, though I think we had an aura and a fear factor back then that we have lost over the last year. Teams fancy their chances against us now

 

[simon23]

Haaland scored just the 4 tonight

get him signed

We wont deal with his agent and our history with transfers is patchy at best and worse when we are in direct competition with other big clubs - and everyone will be after him (Munich, Madrid, Utd, Liverpool) - we wnt even get close.

 

[domalino]

True, though I think we had an aura and a fear factor back then that we have lost over the last year. Teams fancy their chances against us now

Auras come back easily enough when you've won 5 or 6 in a row and the back pages decide City are back.

Remember that run started after the terrible Newcastle loss and teams were supposed to fancy their chances against us after that too...

 

[PhdWave]

True, though I think we had an aura and a fear factor back then that we have lost over the last year. Teams fancy their chances against us now

Aura is one thing but I think we are genuinely weaker right now. This combined with a lot of experience gained by other teams playing us is a problem. However it feels that these problems should not even matter if we are at our peak...

 

[Tevez City]

What's off?

Our 30 goal a season striker is a crock and a year away from drawing down his footballing pension.

Our best winger is now in Bavaria.

His replacement is just FFS

Our main creative player is no longer slipping through balls through and has now become a second rate Beckham, whipping crosses in to our 5ft 9 attackers in the box.

Our midfield kingpin spends 90% of his game playing one twos with the centre backs and the other 10% doing swivels in the centre circle, slowing down any sort of progression and leaving everyone at walking pace.

And because of all the above, the inverted winger who has scored the most goals in the last three seasons can no longer score his customary tap ins and therefore cannot contribute anything else to the side.

So not a lot.

The injury of Aguero shouldn't be an excuse considering the half billion spent after his arrival.

In addition to that, I remember few years ago when our forwards were injured, the Team won many games with Milner / Nasri playing upfront.

We are the last team on the planet who should make an excuses for the manager who is given the biggest budget + supported by the best academy.

 

[Blu3m00n91]

What's off?

Our 30 goal a season striker is a crock and a year away from drawing down his footballing pension.

Our best winger is now in Bavaria.

His replacement is just FFS

Our main creative player is no longer slipping through balls through and has now become a second rate Beckham, whipping crosses in to our 5ft 9 attackers in the box.

Our midfield kingpin spends 90% of his game playing one twos with the centre backs and the other 10% doing swivels in the centre circle, slowing down any sort of progression and leaving everyone at walking pace.

And because of all the above, the inverted winger who has scored the most goals in the last three seasons can no longer score his customary tap ins and therefore cannot contribute anything else to the side.

So not a lot.

This is annoyingly very accurate