The Quality of Our Press Has Gone Down - Agree / Disagree?

I think it’s time Khaldoon and Soriano f***ed these stupid halfway around the World pre-season tours off, and let Pep decide what he wants to do with the team next Summer.

It’s obvious this season’s pre-season tours were nothing more than a PR exercise, and did the Pep and the players no favours at all.
 
Bernardo hasn't turned up yet.

That's the only difference in pressing. Hes probably the most effective at doing it, especially at actually winning the ball back through a tackle, but hes just not at the races yet.

Look at West Ham when Mahrez put in a shift that drew Bernardo comparisons - we scored 4 goals from winning the ball back via pressure. The wingers are the ones who end up winning the ball in dangerous situations which lead to chances when the whole team presses. If they arent doing it 100% then a lot of the team pressing is wasted.
 
Whoever signed off on the pre-season tour needs shooting,money over preperation,left late,red hot temps and humidity,dippers played several more games than us and in this country,the whole thing was a farce,we'll be alright
Totally agree about pre season.

The last two trips to China have been a disaster in terms of preparation.

USA only for me, Pep and the players seems to love their trips out there.
 
I think it's a matter of small percentages adding to make a bigger effect.

More older/slower/not match fit players on the pitch, on a given day= less effective pressing, also when the opponent gets out, less effective defending.

We have started he season less fit than ideal imo, have one or two players coming back & then on Saturday in particular, picked a very slow, unathletic balance to the team.
 
What was wrong with pre season, most of the players were not there, the heat would have got shed the pounds and got them fitter quicker, and playing that Japaneses team was brilliant for getting upto speed ?

We had the exact same preseason before the 100 points season.

So for people to suddenly decide preseason in Asia is the root of our problems seems pretty bizarre to me.

Maybe the bigger issue is that Ederson, Otamendi, Fernandinho, Jesus, Mahrez, Bernardo, Aguero, Cancelo all had international tournaments in the summer and had greatly reduced preseasons and we lost 2 players to major injuries?
 
i agree with you. Im not trying to have a go at the op here, but some of the reactions on here have been ridiculous. do city fans not know how to handle defeat anymore?

one defeat in how ever many months.
You are spot on here i think. We lose so rarely now that when we do people go into absolute meltdown and have no ability to just move on. Its like the last 2 years have suddenly been forgotten.
 
I would like to know if anyone has any stats to compare our (short) start of the season to last year's pressing numbers.

Watching the games, I feel like our intensity has dropped some. Am I going crazy, because that can't be possible with Pep...right? He won't accept it for much longer if so.

Blasphemous to say perhaps considering Kun is our top scorer, but personally, I think we should be playing Gabriel Jesus. Kun has long been my favourite player. I used to never get names on shirts and he was the first player to have changed that for me.

But based on Jesus's cameos. I see that we can be more intense with him in the lineup. He has come back looking extremely sharp and hungry. I hope Pep Ken see that.

I think David's leg's are going this season either. I saw it coming and was hoping that him being captain would galvanise him to find that last ounce of potency this season but he's not as nimble as he used to be.

And Gundogan, similarly, i think he's kind of jacked after those injuries. He came back looking a bit heavy as well. Yesterday, I was fuming red because on occasions he would stroll along while Bernardo literally sprinted back and forth 4 times in a short amount of time trying to chase the ball to no avail like a dog after a dangling treat.

I don't think Gundogan and DS should play together as AMs away from home.

I think these players are affecting our press some, and wanted to know what you all think. It's the games you don't wake up for against the little teams that I'm talking about. I'm not worried about it in big matches, because those matches breathe new life into players. I could be talking out of my arse right now, so I'm hoping you guys can help me see why I'm wrong, if I'm indeed incorrect.
Fully agree with your point regarding Gundog and Merlin starting together. Gundog probably is best these days to come on to close out a game and David probably should be reserved for home games. Jersus needs much more game time but not necessarily at the expense of Kun. I think if Jesus had started up front instead of Bernardo and he dropped back into AM along with say Fodden you could still have rested Kevin and perhaps had a better outcome regardless of the comedy show at the back.
 
You are spot on here i think. We lose so rarely now that when we do people go into absolute meltdown and have no ability to just move on. Its like the last 2 years have suddenly been forgotten.

It's because of Liverpool. They are very good and we have very small margins to lose points and + people are scared of letting them winning the title. It would be like dinosaurs extinction moment in Worlds history.

if the league would still be at 80-85 points to win, people would be far less nervous. It's probably at least 90 now, 98 was needed last year. It's a tense affair.
 
We were clearly under-cooked at the start of the season, but that hasn't affected the loss of points against Spurs/Norwich.

Irrelevant topic given current defensive issues.
 
I think our press would be a lot better if Pep starts compensating for the possible flaws we may have in central defence?

Problem being, some 'established' big names won't get game time as a result.

Play wing-backs in Mendy and Cancelo/Walker.

Play Fern, Rodri and KDB.

A bit more defensive like Liverpool but with more quality in the pass through the final third. There's a technical link between the base of the midfield and the three at the back, the willingness to get back in and cover from Jesus and Bernardo when Cancelo and Mendy bomb on.

The press from the front would be insane.

...................EDERSON............

CANCELO........STONES.........MENDY......

...............RODRI....FERN.......
.................. KDB..........
BERNARDO........................JESUS

..............SERGIO..STERLING....
 

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