Fordyboy46
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I know mate, but all these comments do is whip the scouse and rag knicker wetters into a frenzy to spout their drivel about it
Pep Guardiola - 2023/24
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Then get a fucking backbone. Who gives a fuck what some sad **** on Twitter is saying.
Surely his heat maps were dependent on where the opposition were?
Villa games would have been a lot less compact, and he'd have had plenty of room to roam - usually ahead of the ball. The 'free' players in teams often move around a lot looking to receive the ball or drag their marker about.
That doesn't really work with City once we're in control of a game. Where would he roam in a free role? He'd usually be behind the ball, and no defender would feel the need to go with him if they're sitting with nine men in position.
Gabriel
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In his last season at Villa, they were pretty much compacted back into their half, but I take your point.
In terms of possession, I don't think we are anywhere near in control of games as much as we were last season, especially against better teams and it's hard to see that pattern changing. Guardiola appears to be favouring a more open style and that is partly a result of having a young quartet up front who are less ball retentive than was the case when he could also perm Gundogan, Mahrez, Bernardo, and Grealish.
I expect we'll see quite a few more open games this season and just reckon Grealish could play in the middle rather than stay out wide. We are consistently getting into good positions, yet those positions are 30-45 yards out and too frequently break down due to either a lack of composure or a combination of poor touch/pass selection.
If Villa were pushed back, that means there was space in front of Grealish, hence easier to roam about. At City the players roaming tend to be the less creative ones - but I do think it would be interesting to see Grealish in the middle rather than Alvarez.
We're definitely less compact ourselves, and it'll be interesting to see how that persists. As well as losing Gundo and Mahrez, we've had De Bruyne out, so Bernardo gets pushed into midfield. And with Kovacic, Nunes and Grealish injured at various times, that young quartet of risk takers is probably nothing like Pep's first choice.
Over the Summer we were told that the new innovation was dribbling, with Kovacic, Nunes, and Doku brought in to drive between the lines of compact defences. We've not really had a settled side long enough to see if that's going to work, but I wonder if Grealish in the middle could bring out his own dribbling, as it would be more about driving through gaps, rather than beating a static opponent.
supercity88
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I'd like to see Grealish-Foden-Doku as a three behind Haaland, with Bernardo and Rodri in the middle. Walker can probably cope better with Doku's defensive weakness (compared to Grealish) and you could also have some fluidity across the positions.
Alvarez in current form, isn't good enough to be starting. But we've had no choice because of injuries. I don't think Grealish is good enough to play in the middle, I think he's better as a wide player given the freedom to find space and attack it. But his final ball and finishing have been an issue at times, which is why his assists and goals aren't there. What he is good at, is drawing in the opposition players. Often a few of them. And that leaves space for others to attack. He doesn't need to beat the man like Doku, because he can just play it to someone else in space instead.
Gabriel
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I‘m happy with three risk takers but four is just too risky for me. :-)
I can see where Kovacic fits in when we have the kind of broken lines we saw at the weekend where Liverpool gifted us possession and weren’t properly set. At that point, Kovacic is capable of emulating Ake and carrying balls passed players over a relatively short distance. I’ve yet to see enough of Nunes to draw a meaningful conclusion.
What we’ve seen in Europe and domestically against better sides, however, is that the pitch is often being played ‘big’ so there is much more space for the front 4-5 to play with, especially on the counter. In the absence of de Bruyne, Grealish strikes me as the only one with the physique and retention skills to drive the ball up the middle and get the front three on their way. Of course, it won’t be suitable for every opponent, but I reckon 4 of the next 5 will again be more open affairs, and if Luton/Burnley/Sheffield United become cast adrift, as I suspect might happen, then we may see other teams in the bottom half play more expansively.
Gabriel
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That for me is why he is probably better in the middle. He’s capable of drawing players in, turning both ways, and has better control and physique than Foden. The weight of expectation would also be off him as well as he’d be the player setting up the player who gets the assist. We’re just lacking a little composure and experience in the middle/top and Grealish could bring that. Don’t think I’ve seen us have as many 3 v 3, 4 v 4, and 5 v 5 breaks as we have in recent matches since 2017-2018. Alas, without de Bruyne we‘re just not converting those into clear opportunities.
supercity88
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We're rushing things in the final third and not being patient enough. You'd hope in time the relationships would develop. Allison's shank which landed at Foden's boot was a great example. He should have passed left to Bernardo who could have then slid Doku in and we'd have had a great chance to score. But his eyes lit up and he hit a poor shot instead, with Allison covering the goal well. A bit more patience is needed at times. You can see below we had 4-4 in the box plus Bernardo outside and Alvarez joining the attack.
The Doku counter after Bernie's skill was even more frustrating. That should have settled the game. Haaland wasn't sure where Doku was going to go and where he needed to be. If it was De Bruyne he'd have instantly known the run to make and trusted he'd get the ball.
From this position it ended up as:
Which meant the ball had to go to Alvarez, Haaland had gone too wide really and look at Allison's position - he knew what the play was! Alvarez probably could have just slotted it in the bottom right corner!
Hopefully these little things click as the players gel a bit more. As I said, Alvarez is off form at the moment which isn't helping - but when you look at Doku's run, I'd imagine De Bruyne takes the ball slightly right so it sucks Van Dijk and Matip over a bit and then plays it behind Matip and onto the run of Haaland to score. Without De Bruyne we might need to play the ball into Haaland a bit earlier before the defence can sort out their positions.
Gabriel
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Excellent break down.
In the first image, the killer ball for me would have been a weighted pass between the oncoming defenders and into Rodri’s path. As you say, though, he saw the headlines.
There have been numerous incidents like the others, and it’s often a heavy touch or lack of game nous that sees it come to nought. I’m not sure either Kovacic or Nunes would have made the difference in those breaks, but someone like Tevez would have seen us take all of the last six points.
I don’t think all 4 will suddenly click this season. With the average age of 22.5, I reckon it will be another year, maybe even two, before everything is clockwork, which is again why a little experience beside them would help just now.
Said it before, this is the worst we’re likely to be in the coming three years, which should scare the bejesus out of our opponents.
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