Swansea - Post match thread

[Neville Kneville]

I thought he really struggled to find positioning in addition to the passing. Swansea had almost none of the ball when he was playing RB so he did very little defending. But if you use Clichy's positioning as a proxy for where Fernandinho should have been, Fernandinho was often 10 yards or so deeper and wasn't using the touchline to protect himself the way a natural wide player does. This would be my primary concern with this idea ... if you're going to play a position on the pitch you need to play it with confidence and move appropriately because your teammates will expect it. Fernandinho being so deep was a sign of not being sure and wanting to make sure he didn't get caught up the pitch. Admirable in the sense of sacrificing for the team but a sign that he wasn't comfortable in the role. But if he's going to be in wide positions as a full back he's going to need to learn the correct body shape and common movements of a full back in order to maximize his midfielder skills. I didn't think he did a good job of using the touchline or using his body positioning to open up options or create space yesterday.

But imo, Clichy was mostly hopeless, & having just watched the game again, I thought Fernandinho had a cracking game, popping up in positions our fullbacks don't & covering with more pace when things go wrong, & apart from a few loose passes, was as good as anything we've ever had there. Several crucial headers of the kind our fullbacks tend to fall asleep & miss, too.

I don't know if Pep plans to use him there again, but I'm not sure we can sign a player with as much ability.

I'll be very surprised, in fact shocked, if Pep finds a fullback on either side who can just step in & be reliable at both ends. I fully expect a Stones type calamity here & there from our new fulbacks & that we just have to ride through it. I'd be surprised if it would take Fernandinho longer to learn the job, than a new signing.

 

[Cityfan]

I'll be very surprised, in fact shocked, if Pep finds a fullback on either side who can just step in & be reliable at both ends. I fully expect a Stones type calamity here & there from our new fulbacks & that we just have to ride through it. I'd be surprised if it would take Fernandinho longer to learn the job, than a new signing.

Must admit I thought Fern was very ordinary, but it was his first game there, however as far as next season is concerned, I definitely think a new full back would be preferable. Fern is unproven there and he will be 32, full backs have just about the biggest distance to cover of anyone, Pep is looking to bring down the age of the squad, younger fullbacks are the way forward. Fernandinho whatever his attributes will inevitably lose the dynamism that you need in this position as he ages just as Zab and Gael have.

 

[Lancet Fluke]

TBH it's such a shit post I can't think of anything to say other than that. Try stepping back and looking at the bigger picture.

TBH I think you've been a bit of cock there, quoting that first sentence totally out of context and none of the rest of it, you know the bit where I said that I thought a lot more of Pep than that. You think my post was shit, that reassures me. I may not be a complete Pep arse licker like you but the point of my post was that I think I may actually think more of him than you, after all you're the one who implied he thinks Kolarov is a better player than a fit Vinnie. And obviously as that would make him an utter arse, I reckon you aren't giving him anywhere near enough credit.

 

[Chippy_boy]

I think that Pep is absolutely NOT going to 'rest' a player only for 'big' games. Pep wants players he can rely on. If he can't rely on Vinny he won't get selected and eventually he'll get sold. C'est la vie.

Feel free to come back and quote me if he suddenly is parachuted in for a 'big' game. I don't see it.

I think he will be sold but he can't sell him now and needs him this season.

 

[Chippy_boy]

It wasn't a shit post, a number of true blues are getting a bit tired with Pep using City like a child uses a chemistry set, lots of trial and error, while he cracks this Premier League thingy.

The jury is still out on Pep and the Premier League. Football management is like sales, no one gives a shit what you sold in the past, they want to know what you sold today. Let's not kid ourselves, we got a get out of jail card with that late Jesus goal and Lancelot Fluke is not alone when he stares at a Pep team sheet and looks at his tactics and thinks "what the fuck is he up to now?"

I am not in that group and I've not met a blue who is. In Pep we trust.

If that means there's some bumps along the way, I barely care.

 

[Chippy_boy]

I have never been so excited about a new player. The closest was Aguero (and possibly Tevez), but I never thought we were getting a future balloon d'or winner until now.

You're forgetting Scott Sinclair.

 

[inchy14]

I agree, hence my chemistry set analogy. There are blues here who have faith and think if we give Pep time, and money (which I'm sure he'll get) it'll all come good, and on the balance of probability they may well be right, but right now? Can anyone here say we've not dropped points because of Peps inexperience? Can anyone say we'd have fewer points if Conte were our manager? Or even Koeman?

We've not reached a stage where there are diverging camps emerging among the fans, but there is a bit of bewilderment setting in over the post match pints.

Apart from Leicester when we were set up wrongly, no i don't think anything else has been down to Pep's inexperience of the PL. Piss poor finishing and individual mistakes have let us down and that's it. Everton, Middlesborough, Saints and Chelsea all at home we did enough with the style and tactics to have come away with 3 points, that's 9 more points plus 3 off Chelsea, then add the 3 we were robbed off from the Spurs home game and we'd be comfortably top. Even Everton away we were shafted by the ref who should have given us a penalty at 0-0, now i'm not saying we'd have won that game but i doubt it'd have ended like it did. We've been dominant in almost every game we've played, why people think he doesn't know what he's doing is beyond me!

 

[Chippy_boy]

Sure, if we need him in the centre, play him there. But we didn't improve in that area when we made the change & we weakened the rb position.

Barca might have thought that about Mascherano at cb. But it became a way of getting more quality into the team. If Fernandinho got his shit together on the ball, he's a whole world better than most fullbacks we could find, who are usually deeply flawed & very expensive, some are slow & skillful, some are fast & shit, some are skillful fast & stupid, some can attack but not defend, etc etc.

There is no guarantee that the fulbacks we sign, will turn out better than the ones we have already. We just hope they will.

Having players who can solve potential problems is a godsend & is what Pellegrini should have been doing with the squad, & the kids, for 3 years.

I don't mind either way, but I'm sure Fern can learn that role & probably be as good as anyone else, is my point.

In support of your argument, Milner's doing a pretty decent job at RB for Liverpool (recent results notwithstanding).

 

[BillyShears]

It wasn't a shit post, a number of true blues are getting a bit tired with Pep using City like a child uses a chemistry set, lots of trial and error, while he cracks this Premier League thingy.

The jury is still out on Pep and the Premier League. Football management is like sales, no one gives a shit what you sold in the past, they want to know what you sold today. Let's not kid ourselves, we got a get out of jail card with that late Jesus goal and Lancelot Fluke is not alone when he stares at a Pep team sheet and looks at his tactics and thinks "what the fuck is he up to now?"

If you and LF don't see where Pep is going fair enough. But to say that we got out of jail against Swansea sums up the shit negative mentality that seems to permeate through too many of our supporters. If we were lucky what exactly were Swansea who on another day could've been four down inside half an hour? Did they not "get out of jail"?

I'd love to know what exactly people like you want. We're third, in the knock outs of the CL, and have slapped the rags in their own back yard. Fine we might not win the title but as far as first seasons go in the league, it isn't a bad one for Pep. The jury can only be out if you're got wildly unrealistic expectations or actually just don't like him and want him to fail.

 

[BillyShears]

TBH I think you've been a bit of cock there, quoting that first sentence totally out of context and none of the rest of it, you know the bit where I said that I thought a lot more of Pep than that. You think my post was shit, that reassures me. I may not be a complete Pep arse licker like you but the point of my post was that I think I may actually think more of him than you, after all you're the one who implied he thinks Kolarov is a better player than a fit Vinnie. And obviously as that would make him an utter arse, I reckon you aren't giving him anywhere near enough credit.

Anyone can read back and read your original post if they choose to. It's not that big a deal. Calling me a Pep arse licker because I can see the writing on the wall for Vinny shows the lack of an actual argument you have. As I said, come back and tell me i'm wrong and when Vinny suddenly starts getting picked ahead of Stones, Otamendi, and Kolarov.