Watford (A) - Post-Match Thread

[oldius]

Goes under the radar how good he’s been.

That is really interesting. I am a huge fan but thought he had a less effective game than that - it just shows how much of what he does is not always seen.

 

[1961_vintage]

Joint top!

 

[cyan]

Ahhhhh ... the latest thing the sheep say.... City are boring

Anybody who says that is either bitter as fuck or knows fuck all about football

Funny that you've never heard a 'pundit'... even the most anti City ones... say it EVER

City can be boring, and if you were a neutral I think you would pick and chose the games you watched. But that boringness is determined by the way the opposition play against us - a good team willing to match us and stop our passing lines makes for a good match, but perhaps still too technical for those who still want to watch the ball being pumped into the box.

Against a team whose only tactic is to pack the box, we will pass and probe looking for the opening, there are often not a lot of goal opportunities, little to put in the highlights package and if you are half watching whilst doing something else there will be little to draw you away from whatever else you are doing. And even if we get a couple of early goals and such a team then tries to attack us a bit more, then it can become a landslide - great for us, OK for a neutral who wants to watch good teams destroy poor teams - but if you like sport to have some jeopardy then even our 5-0 wins are not particularly thrilling.

Our thrilling games are against teams that can match our technique and press. PSG a couple of weeks ago, Chelsea, Liverpool. They ask questions of our defenders as we play out from the back, they isolate our midfield options and they have the ability to nullify our press. They have the ability to take of advantage of the chances that our high risk game will present. Anybody who enjoys good competitive sport will appreciate these games. Yet they often still only produce a couple of goal opportunities - because both sides are capable of stopping the other sides attacks before they become dangerous. For those who want to see the ball pumped into the box in the hope that the keeper will spill it or a deflection will create a shooting opportunity - it is still boring, because the good sides (other than Liverpool) don't work on those percentages.

I guess whether we are boring depends on what you want from sport and it will be hard for the neutral who quite understandably will want a Watford, or Villa or Everton to match us and beat us. But most of the time that won't happen, then you have to appreciate why good players are good players and enjoy their skill. We are in the fortunate position of being able to appreciate their skill and enjoy the fact that they produce wins for the team we support.

 

[stan bowles]

When we ran up massive scores (Burton and Watford at Wembley in the Cup Final) we were accused of being "disrespectful". Or the backing of our owners gave us such a massive advantage that we were killing the game because we were so much better. They can't have it both ways !

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

If we were more clinical it would have been double figures , not worried about our goal difference because it will not be needed , we are the best team and prove it every week , beating teams by 4 or 5 goals is entertaining but its wins/points that matter and we will get more than any other team.
We will not have any contenders for the golden boot but i predict at least six of our players will score ten or more goals and combined with the best defence in the league it is a recipe for another title win , our style of play can only be described as total football and there isnt a team that can live with us in this form

 

[hammocity]

Mate... our first 15 games have been far more difficult than Chelsea's or Liverpool's.. a fact the media have either not noticed or decided to ignore. I think at the start of the season, the general feeling on here was that if we were still in touch by the turn of the year we'd be favourite's to win it. It's beginning to look like we'll be in a far better position than 'still in touch'. A contentious issue for some, but if we get a striker in January we'll become even better (imo) and give ourselves an even greater chance

Also, Pep manages the squad better than any other gaffer, we will have Mahrez missing for the AFCON but all the players get rested when required and it reaps rewards at the business end of the season. Klipperty Kunt will have his “special” remedy ready but burn out and AFCON will really test his players.

 

[Mancity1980]

My thinking exactly. If we did put our chances away we'd be winning by cricket scores every week and that just doesn't happen in football for some reason.

Can you imagine if we do get one that successfully slots into our system (for which there is no guarantee) and we start finishing games off in the first 20, 30 minutes? Combine that with Pep’s insistence that we continue to control and pick apart our opponents, our goals scored column would go through the roof. Surely we would ease up which most great teams have done in the past (that’s the reason cricket scores don’t happen much in football).

 

[hammocity]

Agreed, Kev's form has been indifferent for a while now. Bernardo's extra workrate and goals mean he's first choice. We are creating chances without Kev and missing most of them so at the moment he's a luxury player to come on with the game won, or a really tight game he might make the difference.

Think Bernie will get a little rest now, definitely won’t play Tuesday and I guess he’ll sit out the FA Cup 3rd round and be on the bench for at least a couple of League games. He’s so important to us but Pep won’t burn him out, he’s such a fantastic lad off the pitch as well, love the little fella.

 

[BlueBas]

Feel with Grealish, we've got to give him time. Got to remember it takes time for players to understand what Pep is trying to get them to do, but once it clicks we have the likes of Foden, KDB, Bernardo et al. Once it clicks with Grealish, I feel we will have another world class player in our team!

 

[Brightwell Bros.]

Feel with Grealish, we've got to give him time. Got to remember it takes time for players to understand what Pep is trying to get them to do, but once it clicks we have the likes of Foden, KDB, Bernardo et al. Once it clicks with Grealish, I feel we will have another world class player in our team!

I thought he played the system really, really well last night. His positional play was ace, he knew when to drive at them and knew when to pass, and if he'd scored one or two of his chances we would be talking about a great performance. Bernie outshone him but that would have been true of peak Messi last night. Him, Foden and Cancelo are developing very nicely on the left, they are going to do big things for us.