Our Defence

[g180aj]

We do not have a defensive coach and have not since pelle took over.

 

[simon23]

Im saying that Pellegrini was brought in because they trusted him 100% to implement the plan to the letter.

Im saying he is doing exactly what he is being told to do right now.

i dont like it or agree with it but it is what it is and the club i believe have accepted they might lose a few and suffer some pain because of it but with what we have and what we are against, it should be good enough to still bag us some silverware.

Pellegrini was always keeping a seat warm for Pep and its something ive said for nearly 3 years.

im not so sure on the silverware.....

i don't think we will win the league and that CC semi against Everton is a real tough one.

No way we will get anything in the champs league and the FA cup hasn't even started

Adapt and we would win the league at least

if true about Pep, then there is still going to be needed a major overhaul of players

 

[blueinsa]

im not so sure on the silverware.....

i don't think we will win the league and that CC semi against Everton is a real tough one.

No way we will get anything in the champs league and the FA cup hasn't even started

Adapt and we would win the league at least

if true about Pep, then there is still going to be needed a major overhaul of players

I have faith. If the past 4-5 seasons have taught us nothing its never write this squad off ;-)

 

[simon23]

I have faith. If the past 4-5 seasons have taught us nothing its never write this squad off ;-)

yeah i get that

but we can (with this present squad) achieve more and surely that should be the ultimate goal?

 

[cleavers]

i saw what you posted yesterday (good read)

However i will say this - they are wrong to try and play this way at the present time...they may want to play like that but with the present players we cannot do it......we have forward who can press in sterling and KDB (but are not doing) and Kun (who is ok at it but not in comparison to say a tevez) but Bony is rubbish at it and Kelechi we just don't know

Our midfield isn't dynamic enough....fernando and yaya are terrible at it while ferna and delphi are ok but those two linked with non pressing from the forwards causes huge gaps to appear. Silva is good at stealing the ball but more in that he takes a player by surprise and not by pressing

Kolorov is woeful at it and gets turned and then looks like he is running through treacle

There are the centre halves who are getting a pasting at the moment but they are trying to dive into gaps and press that are just too much doe to the situation in midfield. We look better when we are complicit and there have been games when we do this sometimes but its not sustainable with the players we have

I get that this is the way the club wants to play and i also like it that way but with the repent crop of players we are struggling....and players like yay get hung out to dry because he is being asked to do something he is really not very good at.....we are stuck between two systems...one the club wants to play and one the players are better at and w are playing neither.....

The answer is to change and adapt for now and then a huge overhaul is needed:

Yaya will go (we know that)
Fernando just doesn't fit into that either
delphi gives us that energy but I'm not sure he has the class to take us to the very top (but a good squad player so he possibly stays)
nasri - feel sorry for him with his injuries but he doesn't fit into the pressing game - he relies on possession based football
kdb and sterling fit various systems

As for the defence

Kolorov - has to go....awful at it and then cant recover
MDM - just hasn't got the legs to do it and gets left for dust far too easily
the rest need proper coaching in it besides VK

Good post, I agree with a lot of it.

I'm not so sure about Yaya going though, I think he can play in a pressing team, and showed that last Tuesday for me, he doesn't have to be mobile, just be the furthest back, and the controller, the one they can always use. His days of bursting forward are probably done, and he doesn't have the energy to chase about, but his ability to be in space to receive and pass is exceptional, so why not use his strengths ? When we signed him, he was brought in as a defensive midfielder, in fact we were criticised for having too many at the time, he'd even played in the back 4 at Barca, but we never use him that way. People say play him further forward, but I disagree, I think we should play him as an anchor in front of the CB's, we'd lose some of our attacking style, but we'd gain some stability, and from there he can also organise the others. Delph and Fernandhino can then provide the legs, with others working ahead of them.

 

[TFC]

Having played together at Porto, we should be looking at Otamendi and Mangala as our first choice partnership for the foreseeable future but not seeing much of a 'click' out of them as of yet in sky blue....hopefully game time will see them form a better understanding. Of course once Vinny is fit for his half a dozen games before his next injury, he will come straight back in and we'll be back to square one in this regard.

Dont want to even get started on the full backs, we need a lot of work in this department. Not neccessarily going forward, but the defending is weak from both flanks.

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

Much as i applaud MP's outlook , when a team is going through a rough patch , its the defence you organise first , and build on that , a more solid midfield set up , will leave the defence less exposed , and when we get our best players back and in form , we can revert to the swashbuckling attacking football that MP loves to play and the supporters love to watch , in the meantime lets grind a few results out , keep in touch with the top of the premiership, becasue the next 8-10 weeks will make or break our season

 

[lancs blue]

Im saying that Pellegrini was brought in because they trusted him 100% to implement the plan to the letter.

Im saying he is doing exactly what he is being told to do right now.

i dont like it or agree with it but it is what it is and the club i believe have accepted they might lose a few and suffer some pain because of it but with what we have and what we are against, it should be good enough to still bag us some silverware.

Pellegrini was always keeping a seat warm for Pep and its something ive said for nearly 3 years.

But what is the point in trying to play like Guardiola's Barca when we have neither the players nor, it seems, the manager to do that? That Barca side had Pique and Puyol as CBs with Busquets in front of them, as a defensive triangle that was as good as anything in Europe (or the world as they proved with Spain). It's becoming clear that we don't have defenders able to implement that style so if/when Guardiola arrives there will have to be considerable changes in personnel, defensively at least. In the meantime why not use a system that suits the players we have to maximise our chances of winning trophies?

 

[blueinsa]

But what is the point in trying to play like Guardiola's Barca when we have neither the players nor, it seems, the manager to do that? That Barca side had Pique and Puyol as CBs with Busquets in front of them, as a defensive triangle that was as good as anything in Europe (or the world as they proved with Spain). It's becoming clear that we don't have defenders able to implement that style so if/when Guardiola arrives there will have to be considerable changes in personnel, defensively at least. In the meantime why not use a system that suits the players we have to maximise our chances of winning trophies?

Its a fair and reasoned question but the difference to these men and us as fans is they are thinking the long game rather than the here and now i suppose.

 

[City & Blue Brazil]

If and when Kompany and zaba get back many of the problems will disappear , none of the back four presently seem too upset when we concede , these two are committed to keeping clean sheets