Having slept on it I’ve made a further observation on our set up and play. Not sure if others agree or not but I think it explains partly why we were so poor first half and why at times we seem to lose the midfield in games, particularly in Europe.
City, to their credit make the pitch big. They stretch teams. We’re at our best when we are really compact. This allows our full backs the freedom to get forward as our wide midfielders can tuck in and cover that space without compromising too much in the middle.
Yesterday City pulled our midfield 3 apart in that the gaps between them became too large. As a result they were exposed in 1 on 1 situations or unable to hold possession. Similarly, Trent in particular was also exposed as Henderson was kind of caught in-between covering him or the midfield.
Good for thought I feel, don’t know if others agree or have different thoughts.
I think we got the midfield wrong
Nabby shouldve started ahead of Hendo who was off the pace.
Nabby had a great game v Benfica and shouldve kept his place.
Yesterday, we were not on our best level, especially not in the first half. City was clearly the better team and with all the chances they created, they could have scored a few more goals (the same cannot be said for us). Sterling’s offside was obly marginal and we would be all fuming at the referee if a goal scored by us was ruled out by such a marginal offside, which even seemed on with a naked eye.
That being said, we can be really satisfied for having taken a point out of this match. The title race is still very much on!
It’s kind of why I think we might have started with Firmino instead of Jota. He does that job of dropping in and making an extra midfielder better than Jota does and that would have helped take a bit of that pressure away. You have to give them credit though, they play against the press incredibly well. If we could somehow find a Diogo Firmino or a Roberto Jota we’d be have the perfect player but I understand why he went with the player more in form rather than adjusting to counter City too much.
I saw Hendo getting a lot of stick pre and post game but I thought he was pretty decent. We know he’s not going to carry the ball like Naby does but his energy in leading the press and his game management is so much better than Naby’s. He tired after an hour but that’s no surprise given the energy he put into trying to fill gaps. I don’t want to have a o at Naby as coming on in a game like that in centre mid is a tough ask for anyone but we did noticeable change after his introduction and he did look lost in the pace of it all.
I probably sit on the opposite end to yourself. In my ideal world, the whole replay system for offsides would be removed. Go solely on the linesman. None of this playing on for 10 second until the linesman raises his flag after getting buzzed in the ear by VAR. None of these half celebrations where the players and fans are not sure if it will stand. It’s an area of the game I think is needless to bring technology into it. Yes, linesman will get it wrong. But those decisions won’t wreck the game as much as the stop and start of VAR interfering.
Second best option for is going very strictly to the offside line. I’ve heard this year they eased the rules here but I don’t think it’s right. Use the available technology and decide strictly if he’s offside or onside. Lines don’t exist in nature. They also aren’t truly measurable as a point on the earth. They are merely a representation of reality. As such, the words “in line with a line” is a completely incompatible statement. A video pixel can only ever be on one side of a line. Use that. If that’s a toe offside, so be it. If we absolutely must use technology for this element of the game, then use the available technology in its best capacity.
Those two are my preferred options. Either a totally natural method of linesman only, or a totally black and white method. IMO I haven’t seen a hybrid method that works.
Henderson was immense when we played City in 2014. That’s 8 years ago and he wasn’t 18 then. Hopefully, we’ll all see all our fav players age and slow down, means we’re waking up every day. He turns 32 and it’s inevitable what will happen to him. I’m by no means writing the guy off but against City’s midfield, he was always going to either struggle for 90 or have to come off after an hour. Hindsight is 20-20 and Naby did do well when he came on but equally (given his injury record) playing games back to back are not ideal. Fab was off the pace but I don’t think anybody predicted this. He’s normally world class in his position, I don’t think he (or the boss) intended for him to have a bad game. Was very interesting to see Mo helping out a lot more at RB in the second half, no doubting his commitment, he just needs a goal or 12.
Ultimately I think we did very well to escape with a draw. After the first 10 minutes, it was looking a little grim. We didn’t leap out of the blocks and the number of mis-placed and intercepted passes was worrying. However, City at home, are normally a frightening concept. Yesterday they actually played as well as they can (I think). We didn’t. I’ll take the point.
We’ll now win every game till the end of the season, hand us number 20 because City sure as hell won’t.
Spot on. As great as Fab usually is, every player is entitled to have a bad game (for his usual standards) from time to time. Unfortunately his one (and, well, a few others too) came against City. I think he should be rested against Benfica and on Saturday, I am pretty sure he cannot have another game so off his usual level.
Someone else said it, maybe in the pre-match thread, it’s not drawing this game which could ultimately mean we finish 2nd. A draw away at City is a fantastic result… It will be the games like 3-2 losing to Brentford etc.
Also important to understand the difference between being happy with the result, but not happy with the first half performance. Can’t get my head round how we started to badly, if we had played like we did 2nd half we’d have won, I’m sure of it.
. I avoided the match thread for this reason and enjoyed the game far better. Couldn’t believe some of the comments when I came on here. It’s like people make judgements on the performance of our players with zero reflection on how the opposing team’s performances are a contributing factor
Fabinho’s performance reflected his other performances against players of that level (he was just as bad as he was at Anfield earlier in the season). He’s a great player until he comes up against athletic midfielders who can move with the ball. The likes of De Bruyne, Silva, Foden, Cancelo, Kovacic, Kante etc just walk past him with ease. It’s games like that where I’d love a Mascherano type to be sitting in front of the defence, he’d be a monster against that Man City side.
Fine margins. The game is so unpredictable. Who would have thought we would lose to Brentford . Who would have thought a bad ref decision when MC played Everton would be so important. The ref apologised for his mistake but that helps no one, certainly not us. I suppose what I am trying to say is we are not always in control of our own destiny
. I avoided the match thread for this reason and enjoyed the game far better. Couldn’t believe some of the comments when I came on here. It’s like people make judgements on the performance of our players with zero reflection on how the opposing team’s performances are a contributing factor