Pep's tactics

[Josep]

KdB is certainly a work-in-progress. At the outset, hes least-suited to Pep system. Question is his intelligence. Cesc is a good example - not very intelligent, lazy worker. But KdB seems more willing. Pep made Cesc play close to Leo to make best use of him. But the midfield balance did get affected. However Pep is smart and would hv that experiment in mind and learnt from it.

It will truly be another work of genius if he improves KdB's game, right now the guy is little one-dimensional, best for counter-attacking, and through the middle as a 10! Lets see...Pep can still mould him to understand the fluid nature of his system and how he can seamlessly take different responsibilities in the offensive midfield/wings, as he begins to read the game situations better.

In different games, Pep could still use KdB as 10, or in wide right. Fascinating. I only hope KdB is willing to learn. Thats my only concern. He should know hes not a finished product.

 

[Andrew___K]

Agree. And Pep also has a history of using Iniesta and even Thiago (!!) as wide midfielders to provide additional passing options on the wing. The problem is, I just can't see KdB winning a competition with fast dribblers (Sterling, Sane). Anyway, we'll see soon.

 

[Chrisdunk]

KdB is certainly a work-in-progress. At the outset, hes least-suited to Pep system. Question is his intelligence. Cesc is a good example - not very intelligent, lazy worker. But KdB seems more willing. Pep made Cesc play close to Leo to make best use of him. But the midfield balance did get affected. However Pep is smart and would hv that experiment in mind and learnt from it.

It will truly be another work of genius if he improves KdB's game, right now the guy is little one-dimensional, best for counter-attacking, and through the middle as a 10! Lets see...Pep can still mould him to understand the fluid nature of his system and how he can seamlessly take different responsibilities in the offensive midfield/wings, as he begins to read the game situations better.

In different games, Pep could still use KdB as 10, or in wide right. Fascinating. I only hope KdB is willing to learn. Thats my only concern. He should know hes not a finished product.

This is an awful post. Both KDB & Cesc are highly intelligent players & it's asinine to claim anything but. Problem is they're not the best under pressure & are weak defensively.

 

[Josep]

To compare intelligence, maybe next time, u can watch KdB & Silva play their free 8 role at City (note, Pep has actually played Silva on the left where he has HARDLY played) and compare their movements and decision-making. With cesc, where should we start? Hes wrongly framed as a premier playmaker in Eng, partly coz the country has a dearth of playmakers. Next time Spain play, compare again the movement and decision-making of Iniesta & Cesc. Pep best described cesc as a player who causes chaos coz many times even Cesc doesnt know what his next decision will be. Not conventional midfield movements - little all over the place (bad PL education imo), nor the intelligence to understand team structure and stability. I would rather take Pep's words who knows a thing or two about midfielders & footballing intelligence.

 

[Andrew___K]

To compare intelligence, maybe next time, u can watch KdB & Silva play their free 8 role at City (note, Pep has actually played Silva on the left where he has HARDLY played) and compare their movements and decision-making

Spot on. Recalling that Cesc (and Pep) failure in 2011-2012, I come to a paradoxical conclusion - KdB could actually flourish in the same system, but in a wing role. Imagine: Sane & Nacho (or GJesus) acting like hybrid "false-forwards-midfielders" through the middle, one winger "with afterburner" (Sterling) terrorizing one flank and a playmaker occupying the other (KdB). That Barca at its best was basically a handball team, in which any player could burst into the box any moment from any direction (Barca-Corinthians game is the first what comes in mind). Maybe Pep will build something similar in 3-4 years to fulfill his (failed) project.

 

[Josep]

Possibly, Im as it is too excited at what is to come with all these attacking options - but I would like to concentrate on the midfield stability for the next month or two. Btw, I wouldnt call it Pep's failed project at Barca though. A few players let him down that season. The 3-4-3 was meant to be the next evolution for that Barca team to stay constantly ahead of rivals. A freaky CL semifinal loss & a season-full of dodgy refereeing decisions made it look worse than the very good season Barca actually had. And certainly in one more year;s time there, Pep would hv perfected it. Yes, in a sense, u can call it unfinished work. Im sure Pep will keep evolving the City team too, year after year, like he did at Barca.

 

[oldhamblue]

Hi, greetings from Russia! I'm a Pep's follower since his Barca days (2008). Nice to see such an astute tactical talk here)
Just a couple of thoughts, if you don't mind my bad English)
How do you think Pep will integrate KdB? Does Kev possess the skills needed to play No8 in the current system?
I myself doubt it. We (obviously) can only imagine what "ideal" team in terms of movement and personell Pep holds in his head, but I guess it's rather his "Barca" than his "Bayern", i.e. stretching the oppo with wingers and attacking through the middle, contrary to wing-focused play a-la BMunich. For such game you need CMs with the ability to pass and hold the ball under pressure - Silva, Gundogan, Xavi, Iniesta, Kroos, Busquets, Weigl etc. Pep once tried to integrate a player with more or less similar skillset (Fabregas - good final ball, good shot, relatively bad onball skills) and it didn’t work well. Cesc usually disrupted xaviesta's clever passing flow and seemed a liability even in his best games when he scored and/or assisted for Barca.
Of course, Pep can try to move technically weak player to the wing, like he used to do with Muller. But it would bring the need to either combine him with fast, forward-bombing full back in the mood of alves/bellerin or to sacrifice one defender like he did in Barca (watch Barca vs Chelsea, 2012) or one CM (like in BM). But I can't see Pep turning to any of these cases.
My bet is that KdB won't last long as a first team player in the light of Ilkay's return and possible attaining of Coric, Kroos etc. I watched Kev for 2 last seasons, he is a deadly weapon for every counter-attacking setup, but just won't do it with Pep.
What are your thoughts? Cheers)

If you're really Russian and English is your second language I will eat your Bryan Briggs duvet

 

[yeah whatever !!]

If you're really Russian and English is your second language I will eat your Bryan Briggs duvet

washed down with a can of Red bull.

 

[Delphacito]

Hi, greetings from Russia! I'm a Pep's follower since his Barca days (2008). Nice to see such an astute tactical talk here)
Just a couple of thoughts, if you don't mind my bad English)
How do you think Pep will integrate KdB? Does Kev possess the skills needed to play No8 in the current system?
I myself doubt it. We (obviously) can only imagine what "ideal" team in terms of movement and personell Pep holds in his head, but I guess it's rather his "Barca" than his "Bayern", i.e. stretching the oppo with wingers and attacking through the middle, contrary to wing-focused play a-la BMunich. For such game you need CMs with the ability to pass and hold the ball under pressure - Silva, Gundogan, Xavi, Iniesta, Kroos, Busquets, Weigl etc. Pep once tried to integrate a player with more or less similar skillset (Fabregas - good final ball, good shot, relatively bad onball skills) and it didn’t work well. Cesc usually disrupted xaviesta's clever passing flow and seemed a liability even in his best games when he scored and/or assisted for Barca.
Of course, Pep can try to move technically weak player to the wing, like he used to do with Muller. But it would bring the need to either combine him with fast, forward-bombing full back in the mood of alves/bellerin or to sacrifice one defender like he did in Barca (watch Barca vs Chelsea, 2012) or one CM (like in BM). But I can't see Pep turning to any of these cases.
My bet is that KdB won't last long as a first team player in the light of Ilkay's return and possible attaining of Coric, Kroos etc. I watched Kev for 2 last seasons, he is a deadly weapon for every counter-attacking setup, but just won't do it with Pep.
What are your thoughts? Cheers)

I will quote my post from another thread regarding this :

To be quite frank KDB isn't really Pep's type of player. He's quite wasteful with his possession although he's better now after with Pep. And he takes a lot of risk.

BUT Pep needs KDB's quality and his delivery of the final ball. Remember Thierry Henry mentioned something about Pep telling his team that his job is to carry his team to the final third of the pitch, and from there the players are on their own and they are free to play however they want in order to score. This is where KDB comes in. His final delivery in the final third is second to none in football (except Messi), let alone our team. Not to mention his ability to score goals there as well. KDB is not like Silva where he can hold the ball for quite some time. He's not that type of player, never was, never will be. What he is, is an outlet of some sort. He does one touch passes and such. The moment he got the pass from our midfield, he won't hold the ball long, if he doesn't see the space for his final ball, he would just recycle the possession.

My observation from these past 3 games is that KDB has to come a little deeper to get the ball, as our midfield passing isn't at its best yet. Getting the ball deep nullifies his best qualities as he's at his best in the final third. I'm thinking that once Gundogan is back and in the midfield, he won't have to come too deep for the ball, same with Silva. So in the end we have Gundogan and Silva dictating the possession, and KDB will continue the job and try to pick that final ball to Kun.

These past 3 games there were many chances for him to make the final killer pass but he just mishits it all the time. These are the passes that last season he would hit 9 out of 10 times. I would attribute this to him only being in training for 2.5 weeks. I would wait until midseason to freak out if KDB is still not up to his level last year, at the very least.

But please, comparing KDB and Fabregas is shambolic. They couldn't be more different. It's an insult to KDB to be compared to Fabregas.

 

[Andrew___K]

If you're really Russian and English is your second language I will eat your Bryan Briggs duvet

Enjoy your meal! Had to google who this Briggs fella is....))))

So in the end we have Gundogan and Silva dictating the possession, and KDB will continue the job and try to pick that final ball to Kun.

Could you post a possible line-up with KdB as No10 and Gundogan&Silva behind him? I hope it doesn't mean using Ilkay as a sole DM, cause you can slot SIlva there with the same effect. Gundogan never played as a lone pivot, he lacks physicality, height and tackling skills. Pep is a brave coach, but not a crazy one. Also he learns from mistakes. He played Thiago as DM in his first competitive match with Bayern vs Dortmund in the Supercup, and it cost him dearly. Gundogan was cruising through Bayern's DM zone with ease.