Tempering the Guardiola Optimism

Marvin said:
I have always thought that our offside has been superbly marshalled up till now. The Chelsea game was the first time I have seen a team constantly time their run perfectly through our defence.
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Liverpool and Stoke managed to bypass it without much difficulty as well! In truth it's a reasonably well oiled routine, but it's high risk in as much as if it does go wrong (and by the law of averages it's bound to now and then) it leaves Joe having to try and thwart an opposition forward at point blank range. As a system it works ok when passes are travelling long distances and the defence can see them coming, but when traffic is busy and the opposition are right on top of you, it's a fucking disaster waiting to happen......QED
 
Bayblue said:
That's good for you as it's Pep's preferred set up.
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Oh I know that :-) I was very familiar with how Barca played under Pep and have just finished reading Pep Confidential. His approach ticks so many boxes for me, which is why I've wanted him here for several years. The biggest tick for me is that he likes to see the ball as far away from his team's goal as possible for as long as possible.
 
The thing I am most looking forward to is the innate domination that comes with the foundations of his football style. It will be interesting to see how his vision of football translates once it's been through the filter of our current squad and the league climate. Potechino (spelling?) is from the school of La Volpe in many respects, and he's twice been successful in raising a team to play with aspects of Jeugo de Posicion. And not only does it entertain and awe to watch, tactically and technically, but it takes players who have come up under that school and makes them a lot better as players, no matter how their career goes afterward. Our English lads will benefit from managers like these guys.

Add to that that Guardiola is the best manager in the world and currently has the best football too. He will figure out how to communicate his vision in this league and we will be a better club for it after he leaves.

The details of the how's and what's and why's... I dunno. I just can't wait to enjoy the ride. I'll be the most patient fan in the fucking world.
 
OB1 said:
I suspect that if someone did a proper analysis of how effective the offside trap has been across Pellegrini's time, it would prove to have been very successful. However, it is not and never has been a tactic that I like.

It's a bit like zonal marking at corners, it can be very effective much of the time but when it goes wrong, it usually seems to cost a goal. As it happens, I do prefer zonal marking at corners.
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Our offside trap can be wonderful, don't get me wrong. I've seen us hold a rigid line plenty of times, in all areas of the final 30 yards and done with cohesion, discipline and communication. Sadly all those were lacking against Chelsea and with a makeshift line up we made an already tough job harder.
We were too deep, too often and it became pretty ugly watching us try and hold a line by literally using the 18 yard line as the focus.
 
Pablo1 said:
Our offside trap can be wonderful, don't get me wrong. I've seen us hold a rigid line plenty of times, in all areas of the final 30 yards and done with cohesion, discipline and communication. Sadly all those were lacking against Chelsea and with a makeshift line up we made an already tough job harder.
We were too deep, too often and it became pretty ugly watching us try and hold a line by literally using the 18 yard line as the focus.
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True.
 
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