I understand what your point is but i think we tried to frustrate them until the mistake injures for Xhaka also didn't help
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Mikel Arteta: Fighting Until The End
- Thread starter OnlyOne
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Very poor today, the team selection was worrying, although given the circumstances I wouldn't be surprised if he just picked the fittest 11 players.
Pepe has to play man, he is the only guy in the team that can play 1 on 1.
Pepe has to play man, he is the only guy in the team that can play 1 on 1.
Shalmaneser V
Active Member
It really is like a training ground exercise for the City players every time they play us. Teams like Burnley and Palace cause them more problems.
It really does baffle me why all our managers make such meal out of facing the likes of City. At least fire your players up a bit get them playing with some passion and pride for the shirt FFS.
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Midfield is a major problem. Willock is getting slated and AMN is marmite on this forum but I still reiterate that I believe they could offer more than any of Guendouzi, Ceballos and Xhaka.
They will play the ball around the corner and make a run. They will drive forward. They will try and pass forwards. They will be able to get into physical duels because they are fast enough. Ceballos, Xhaka and Guendouzi cannot get close enough to a player to make a tackle. That is absolutely criminal.
The best pass from a midfielder came from AMN playing Laczette through and it was so simple how he created the space to play the pass. He just moved...quickly.
Also. Notice how long they spend on the ball. Minimal time. Ceballos and Guendouzi take so many unnecessary touches. Torreira, AMN and Willock move the ball quickly.
Arteta needs to stop trusting the wrong players.
The team selection was right you can see why he didn't start Özil Luiz Sokratis they finished. Our midfield whoever you put they are bunch of average footballers
nick gould
Well-Known Member
Things started going bad way before that. Lerno made some saves he was not supposed to make. And yet Arteta did nothing to address that. I suspect it would have been better to swap Ceballos and Willock around, Ceballos doesn't have the pace to stay will Debruyne.
Country: England
Pepe wouldn’t have made a difference in this sort of game since our midfield were just chasing the ball.
We literally have no midfield and defence. One ball through the middle and they’re in.
Manberg
Predator
Performance may have turned out differently had Xhaka not got injured. I maintain that I think Xhaka's integral to Arteta's plans, and it's difficult to adjust when he gets injured within 5 minutes. At no point in the game did we have a good hold of the ball or win the ball in midfield. That's down to the personnel we had on the pitch.
On the whole, we were never going to get a result this game. City had a fully fit squad yet we went in with Torreira and Sokratis injured, I don't know what people were expecting if they didn't see a result like this coming.
On the whole, we were never going to get a result this game. City had a fully fit squad yet we went in with Torreira and Sokratis injured, I don't know what people were expecting if they didn't see a result like this coming.
Country: USA
Player:Saliba
I honestly don’t know mate. I’d rather see mistakes from my team when they play with purpose and intensity than perfection from my team when they play with caution and predictability.
We’re playing to avoid mistakes. We need to be more direct and provocative. The defenders are thinking about keeping the ball when they should be thinking about releasing it.
I admit, for example, I criticise Xhaka a lot but it’s not because of his mistakes, it’s because of the above.
truth_hurts
but Holding’s hair transplant was painless
He had an absolute shocker today. Awful management. Yes, City were supposed to best us, but we showed nothing. He got everything wrong tonight. Nice suit though.
benjamin86
Established Member
A lot of people seem to be forgetting that we're playing again in 64 hours too.... No point tiring Pepe and Martinelli out in this game.
Disagree here, he can take the ball and beat men, and showed away at Chelsea he can do it from deeper positions. He could have made an impact at 10 men, or at least more so than the players that were on the pitch at the time.
Country: England
Messi wouldn’t have done anything tonight had he been placed in our side. I think the real issue is the lack of quality in our side.
We can barely even hold the ball, so what’s to suggest that Pepe would receive it.
I would drop this idea of playing Eddie CF. I don't care what he does in training, he isn't better than Auba or Martinelli there. Don't care about Lacazette. Get your most dangerous players on the pitch at the same time. The players who are a nightmare for the opposition.
Pepe, Martinelli, Auba, Saka, Willock, Tierney, Bellerin, AMN. Play them because they win you duels all over the pitch. They can run, they have energy, they make things happen, they can recover. Stop sticking to plodders like Ceballos, Guendouzi, Xhaka, and Lacazette. Play players who can make the opposition step back with he drop of a shoulder.
Martinelli---------Auba-------Pepe
--------Saka----------------------Willock
----------------------AMN
Tierney----dont care-dont care--Bellerin
Invert Bellerin and push Tierney forward. I don't care about whether any of them lose the ball because if they do they can actually win it back rather than get overtaken by a ref. How often did you see AMN in a full back position in the last 15 mins? WHERE THE **** WAS CEBALLOS.
Pepe, Martinelli, Auba, Saka, Willock, Tierney, Bellerin, AMN. Play them because they win you duels all over the pitch. They can run, they have energy, they make things happen, they can recover. Stop sticking to plodders like Ceballos, Guendouzi, Xhaka, and Lacazette. Play players who can make the opposition step back with he drop of a shoulder.
Martinelli---------Auba-------Pepe
--------Saka----------------------Willock
----------------------AMN
Tierney----dont care-dont care--Bellerin
Invert Bellerin and push Tierney forward. I don't care about whether any of them lose the ball because if they do they can actually win it back rather than get overtaken by a ref. How often did you see AMN in a full back position in the last 15 mins? WHERE THE **** WAS CEBALLOS.
Country: Iceland
What could he have done differently?
Leno
Soares Sokratis Holding Kolasinac
Torreira AMN Özil
Pepe Laca Auba
Dear lord.
City third team is better than our second team. Haha!
Leno
Soares Sokratis Holding Kolasinac
Torreira AMN Özil
Pepe Laca Auba
Dear lord.
City third team is better than our second team. Haha!
I was a bit surprised by the lineup and having seen the match, not sure exactly what the plan was. We looked pretty tight defensively for a spell but we really lost momentum fast, especially after Luiz' mistake.
I think it's possible he could have been a bit braver with his selection but my guess is he's got to have eyes on the more winnable fixtures ahead. I would have liked to see Willock much deeper in midfield today - after all the training with 4-3-3 over the break, was a bit disappointed to see us haphazardly try to play the standard 4231 that we've been struggling to make work all season.
Like @The_Playmaker said aswell, the midfield's lack of agility and athleticism is a real problem. I thought Ceballos was actually pretty good when he came on initially and Guendouzi had some good spells but they really don't offer enough dynamism and movement on their own, so together it leaves our midfield looking a little dry, especially given they didn't have Willock as a 3rd man available. Surprisingly, Emery made that combination work better the one time he did it (v Burnley earlier this season). May have been by accident but he did it.
I also think one or both of Pepe and Nelson would have been useful - Nelson looked energetic when he came on and there were a number of opportunities to play him in behind that weren't taken. Pepe IMO is a good counter-attacking option but I reckon the reason he didn't play is because of how bad he is defensively. Better to play him against the fodder for now then I guess.
I understand Arteta has to work with what he's got and I'll give him the benefit of the doubt against a full strength City team - but I would like to see him find a better balance in this team.
I think it's possible he could have been a bit braver with his selection but my guess is he's got to have eyes on the more winnable fixtures ahead. I would have liked to see Willock much deeper in midfield today - after all the training with 4-3-3 over the break, was a bit disappointed to see us haphazardly try to play the standard 4231 that we've been struggling to make work all season.
Like @The_Playmaker said aswell, the midfield's lack of agility and athleticism is a real problem. I thought Ceballos was actually pretty good when he came on initially and Guendouzi had some good spells but they really don't offer enough dynamism and movement on their own, so together it leaves our midfield looking a little dry, especially given they didn't have Willock as a 3rd man available. Surprisingly, Emery made that combination work better the one time he did it (v Burnley earlier this season). May have been by accident but he did it.
I also think one or both of Pepe and Nelson would have been useful - Nelson looked energetic when he came on and there were a number of opportunities to play him in behind that weren't taken. Pepe IMO is a good counter-attacking option but I reckon the reason he didn't play is because of how bad he is defensively. Better to play him against the fodder for now then I guess.
I understand Arteta has to work with what he's got and I'll give him the benefit of the doubt against a full strength City team - but I would like to see him find a better balance in this team.
The lack of quality is obvious, but that problem is aided when you don't play your best winger... His pace and directness would unquestionably have posed more of a threat than Saka.
Honestly I was (and am) fine with Nketiah starting as I'm a big fan, but I think it's time to try Auba as a CF again.
There is no problem playing Auba at left wing if you have a constant overlapping full back and he basically moves inside as a striker. However he didn't do that at all today. We left 3 up disconnected from the rest of the team.
Athleticism is a major issue in the entire team. Just watch how we are unable to get close enough to tackle. Only certain players can.
Also. Did anyone notice Auba pulling out of challenges?
Agree. I think Nketiah is much better at pressing and winning duels than Lacazette is personally - he did it a couple of times today - so theoretically it should work with the two of them but there just wasn't enough connections between Tierney and Auba - and honestly that's mainly because of the static nature of our midfield. Too slow.
I don't care how many people think AMN and Willock are bad - I want both of them at CM next game, just to see how much better or worse we look with 2 midfielders who can actually run.
Auba lost the drive as the game went on, it was noticeable.
