Our attack - what's off?

[Afterthefact]

Sounds odd but I think we used to turn the ball over more in the middle third, then win it back by hunting in a pack, go on counter & score (with wingers who ran really fast to get in behind).

now no one bothers to challenge in middle third, they basically let us come all the way up and knock it around to ourselves, so when we finally turn over or take a crap shot that’s blocked high up, the other side is simply off to the races and we’re so far up as to be completely exposed.

pep hasn’t done anything personnel or tactics-wise to address that. Our goal on every possession of a first half should be to get to the byline every time and then to cut back or across.

We make almost no effort to that end and it shows in our terrible shots which always make it sound like we’ve created far more than we genuinely have. We don’t really seem to score on purpose anymore.

 

[wolviedinho]

Sounds odd but I think we used to turn the ball over more in the middle third, then win it back by hunting in a pack, go on counter & score (with wingers who ran really fast to get in behind).

now no one bothers to challenge in middle third, they basically let us come all the way up and knock it around to ourselves, so when we finally turn over or take a crap shot that’s blocked high up, the other side is simply off to the races and we’re so far up as to be completely exposed.

pep hasn’t done anything personnel or tactics-wise to address that. Our goal on every possession of a first half should be to get to the byline every time and then to cut back or across.

We make almost no effort to that end and it shows in our terrible shots which always make it sound like we’ve created far more than we genuinely have. We don’t really seem to score on purpose anymore.

Good assessment.

 

[Cheeky Txiki]

I'll tell you what's off.

This inverted winger bullshit.

We should go back to normal wingers with Torres on the left and Sterling on the right and an extremely creative midfield of Foden, KDB and a destroyer CDM like Zakaria or Bennacer.

The ONLY WAY inverted winger works is you have high and wide full backs who make the sideline run, can put crosses in the box, can cut it back to someone like Foden or KDB to have an attempt from outside the box. This can work if we get a fast, agile, physical LB (Theo Hernandez/Alphonso Davies) for example. The risk with this is if they get past our midfield, they will end up in a 2 v 4 situation with our CBs and we will need our DM to cover and tactical foul immediately.

The problem now is Walker is horrendous at crossing into the box so that doesn't work. Cancelo is a RB playing a LB so he can't cross it. Mahrez is well...Mahrez and when we do have a cross (KDB today) no one expects it so no one runs inside the fucking box. The side effects of this are well, opponents play a 6-4-0 against us (Tottenham, Lyon, Arse Fa Cup etc) and we struggle to create because we want to rigidly pass the ball into the net. To make things even harder, we play an insanely high line against a sharp counter attacking side (Lyon, Spuds), get punished for it and suddenly Pep is found out and our play style is boring.

If you watched Torres today, there were many times where he beat his man but instead of hugging the side line he was cutting back inside and taking the shot from outside the box. This is exactly what they wanted. If Sane would've been there, he would've continued running and then crossed it or cut it back or he would've cut across the by line and create that tap in goal for Jesus like he used to for Sterling in 17/18.

I know a lot of people hate Mendy on this forum but at his peak his crossing was insane. He knew when to loft it, when to cut it back to KDB etc.

In any case, we need width. We need creativity in midfield. We need a destroyer defensive midfielder and we need fast full backs who can provide attacking prowess but also have pace to burn so they can get behind quickly and defend that high line.

 

[Cheeky Txiki]

One more note. You know who would love to play against a team like Spurs and this playstyle?

Bayern.

They will get Davies/Sane/Gnabry/Coman to get past their full backs, get their men inside the box, bully and jam their way in, get the crosses/cut backs in and smash the ball into the fucking net.

Once Spurs will go 2 down, they will have to open up. Their mediocrity will show. Gaps will open up. Mourinho will get 'found out'. Son and Kane will be passengers. Their DMs will be rendered useless. More goals will come in and the spuds fans will have to watch torturous football and get destroyed.

AFTER going 2-0 up, you can implement your beautiful tiki taka football and pass the ball into the net.

That's how you destroy negative football. Pace, physicality, creativity and a bit of luck to open them up.

Then you can implement your game plan.

 

[mancity1]

We don't have one.

Just some slow possession with no end product. Hence we continue to drop points at an alarming level.

 

[leo_city]

Moving the ball with a lack of purpose
Having multiple players out of form, little to no creativity outside of KDB, says a lot when Cancelo is the next highest creator to Kev.

 

[mikemcfc]

My post might have been too narrowly focussed. It's not solely the attacking players that are the problem. Let me give you a specific example of what we are missing:



This is an attacking move from the back. One touch football, possessions based, quick distribution, fluid movement. If you mark this as 10/10 we're running at 5/10 or 6/10 at best!

We haven't seen us play like this against a top side in awhile. That has nothing to do with Aguero being injured or KDB not 100%. Sadly, it's something bigger than that.

A contrasting example was how Walker ran from his own half deep into Liverpool's backline before being tackled. I remember a lot of blues in the match day forum championed that - they saw someone driving at Liverpool's defence - yet what it showed me was the lack of movement and passing options he had.

Maybe this is down to fitness and I'm worrying unnecessarily but there's fundamentally something gone from our attacking play. I don't quite know what or why but we aren't at the level we were at two seasons ago. Maybe we set the bar so high it's unrealistic to expect us to hit that every season?

That was great, and it's all well and good, but when was the last time a team defended that high against us? And it won't be happening anytime soon. but yes we need to attack quickly and more direct.

 

[The Stockport Iniesta]

Down to the manager i'm afraid. We make the same mistakes week in week out. Lack of width, no bodies in the box, possession without creating much.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

That was great, and it's all well and good, but when was the last time a team defended that high against us? And it won't be happening anytime soon. but yes we need to attack quickly and more direct.

Well yeah, but that was from when everyone was told that the way to beat us was to press, which is what Arsenal were doing. This season it seems that teams don't even have to press us into mistakes, just wait patiently for an inevitable gap to open up or set piece chance to appear, because you know we'll struggle to score down the other end despite committing so many forward.

 

[mikemcfc]

Well yeah, but that was from when everyone was told that the way to beat us was to press, which is what Arsenal were doing. This season it seems that teams don't even have to press us into mistakes, just wait patiently for an inevitable gap to open up or set piece chance to appear, because you know we'll struggle to score down the other end despite committing so many forward.

???
yes, that was precisely my point.