Spurs (H) | PL | Post Match Thread

Got no problem with the players, Pep lost us that game, he did not learn from the Palermo game, in which we could not get the ball out of our half, in the first 25 minutes, and he did not learn from the PSG Tottenham game, where a far better team than us PSG could not get the ball out of their half. PSG learnt, they played long because Tottenham are not much good with the ball, it did not matter if the ball went to a Tottenham player, because the game got played in the Tottenham half.
Pep has built a rod for his own back, this result just cements the belief that all you have to do to City, is play on the counter, not that that was what Tottenham did , nor did they play the high press, they played man to man marking, where if you lose your challenge, you just drop a foul in, not that they lost many, in fact they had a high win rate, but the result is the same, the ball goes back to the keeper, and we saw how that went

That's what concerned me. We've heard and seen a lot about going more direct. The Spurs game was the game to do it. They can't cope with it and the evidence was there based on how PSG broke them down and how we played when boxed in by Palermo. I was surprised Rico started, didn't know why Marmoush was playing wide left where he's nowhere near as effective and thought, with Cherki in the middle we'd be a bit more direct in our play.

It felt like we were playing this hybrid style where sometimes we'd go long, usually just giving it away and other times we'd keep the ball and were ineffective.

It's early days so not losing hope just yet.
 
We were much better than people are talking about in the first hour of the game. Even our build up is fine for a large portion of that period before Bernardo comes on. We go long and create chances, and we play through the lines and create chances.

Spurs were more aggressive than us in moments, but that felt like a fitness/rhythm thing to me. When Bernardo came on the team got demonstrably worse because he lost three or four duels and gave the ball away. Team didn't really recover until Pep brought Foden on and shifted Bernardo out to the right wing.

That same team that started on Saturday will take someone apart big time in the next couple of months. They're really not that far away. People talking about pace and high lines just feels like the same boring cliches we've had throughout Pep's time at City.

But it's the same tactic teams used last season. Where we look vulnerable, ball over the top and opposition teams are in. Same tactic over and over again. All teams have to do against us is play that ball over the top.

We can't counter it, that's the issue, to beat us all a team has to do is defend win the ball back, play over the top into space and their in. Defence is losing too many duels in the air, losing second balls constantly in defence when trying to get back during transition.

The attack will do its job this season but that defence is awful. Even against Wolves they had opportunities on the counter and transitions.
 
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But it's the same tactic teams used last season. Where we look vulnerable, ball over the top and opposition teams are in. Same tactic over and over again. All teams have to do against us is play that ball over the top.

We can't counter it, that's the issue, to beat us all a team has to do is defend win the ball back, play over the top into space and their in. Defence is losing too many duels in the air, losing second balls constantly in defence when trying to get back during transition.

The attack will do its job this season but that defence is awful. Even against Wolves they had opportunities on the counter and transitions.
So is the problem the tactics or the fact that players are not winning their duels or 2nd balls?
 
Sadly I agree, we are simply not learning. In am more angry today than Sat! First home game And a chance to build a fortress. Awful, awful display.

Don't forget we built a fortress after Frank's Brentford beat us in November 22!
 
But it's the same tactic teams used last season. Where we look vulnerable, ball over the top and opposition teams are in. Same tactic over and over again. All teams have to do against us is play that ball over the top.

We can't counter it, that's the issue, to beat us all a team has to do is defend win the ball back, play over the top into space and their in. Defence is losing too many duels in the air, losing second balls constantly in defence when trying to get back during transition.

The attack will do its job this season but that defence is awful. Even against Wolves they had opportunities on the counter and transitions.
A fair point. I mentioned it somewhere else and that is the issue of giving the ball away cheaply. We're in an offensive set up high up the pitch, next thing we're back peddling trying to regain some shape. There was some nice passing against spurs but ball retention didn't seem great at times. Granted spurs hassled and hurried is a lot, and hopefully we'll become more resistant to that in the next few weeks.
 

Thanks. I agree with this point of view re Trafford. Play Ederson, and Spurs would have been exposed. Get through the high press and Spurs get exposed. We couldn't do it with Trafford.

But what do we about Trafford. Stick him in training for a year and hope he learns.
 
Thanks. I agree with this point of view re Trafford. Play Ederson, and Spurs would have been exposed. Get through the high press and Spurs get exposed. We couldn't do it with Trafford.

But what do we about Trafford. Stick him in training for a year and hope he learns.
It's a conundrum, but one of our own making and we need to sort it out. I don't want the lad scapegoated, this is on Pep and his support team.
 
Carragher and Henry have done an analysis of how Frank's tactics surprised Pep that they played in advance of the Newcastle v Liverpool game that was very interesting. They showed that the inability of Trafford to play short and long passes allowed Spurs to go man for man on City because they knew that Trafford could not hit Haaland as Ederson so commonly does and that he oould not make himself the extra man at the back.

I have probably not explained it very well. They used video images to help illustrate the tactics.

This is worrying because I cannot see Trafford developing quickly and if Donnarumma comes in, then he also is not going to be able to replicate Ederson. Other people have made this point about the importance of Ederson and I ignored it but perhaps it hits home more when you see a team so thoroughly beat City using tactics that are made possible because of the change in keeper.
I think this is a theoretical argument, I don’t see Ederson finding Haaland that often, so building a whole strategy around that doesn’t hold water for me.
 
Carragher and Henry have done an analysis of how Frank's tactics surprised Pep that they played in advance of the Newcastle v Liverpool game that was very interesting. They showed that the inability of Trafford to play short and long passes allowed Spurs to go man for man on City because they knew that Trafford could not hit Haaland as Ederson so commonly does and that he oould not make himself the extra man at the back.

I have probably not explained it very well. They used video images to help illustrate the tactics.

This is worrying because I cannot see Trafford developing quickly and if Donnarumma comes in, then he also is not going to be able to replicate Ederson. Other people have made this point about the importance of Ederson and I ignored it but perhaps it hits home more when you see a team so thoroughly beat City using tactics that are made possible because of the change in keeper.
Esteemed coaches Carragher and Henry

If those clowns had a clue how to analyse tactics they wouldn't be on tv trotting out cliches masquerading as analysis, they'd be successful coaches
 
Not for one minute do I think it’d have changed the result, as you could easily argue about the Trafford non-sending off being an awful mistake too, but I’ve just seen ref watch and for the first time seen the penalty not being given for VDV on Bobb as it was opposite end of the ground from where I sit. I just want to know, other than the obvious plays in blue & it’s City, why VAR did not get involved and give the decision? It’s just plain wrong and this is exactly the kind of incident that we should be kicking up a fuss about and requesting an explanation.

We’ve seen Arsenal get a pen for less contact, and ffs they were 4-0 up at the time.

It’s just not acceptable or good enough and I don’t understand why we don’t highlight these inconsistencies and call out the piss poor double standard refereeing.
PL corruption. We need to get the press on side. But that’s a blue moon dream as we never challenge anything publicly
 
so Bournemouh visited them a week later and beat them with 19 to 5 shots ratio. Iraola completely fucked Frank in the head tactically here. how the fuck we let these fuckers keep getting results against us? Pep just need to prepare better because this is dog shit. and that a Bournemouth who lost all their defence (Huijsen, Kerkez, Zabarny all went for high fees)
 

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