It's still very early days and I'm sure there will be blips along the way as there have been in the opening games - there is no such thing as a completely counter proof system and his asks of his players are very mentally demanding (Fernandinho played in three different positions of Saturday). There's also a lot to do in the final third and ensuring we take advantage of the 3v3s that we create - we were wasteful with the final ball in those situations in the second half and we will get punished for that if we don't start taking the chances and killing games sooner.

It is very pleasing though to clearly identify exactly what the manager is doing on the pitch, know exactly why he is doing it and seeing the players reacting so positively to it, all of which we lost with Pellegrini after the first season. It's going to be an utterly fascinating season

You got lucky and bravo is tripe

That is an equally valid opinion too, as well as being far more succinct

ah no Melton good post and good insight on Peps tactics

Great read, melton. Studs...er...I mean straight up.

Ha! Cheers IOAG (I'm still going to call you that by the way , i can't cope with name changes!)

I like the fact pep has come out and said we aren't playing well enough to win the title, he's driving the players you're good but you can and will get better.

Whilst some part of me preferred Kneerashs write up it isn't often taking into account the benefits of taking risks playing the ball at the back. The mistakes are more obvious than the advantages and that means sometimes fans and pundits struggle to see it.

often taken into account.

Seen as I'm making another post anyway good article as per, maybe do a casual wum article next time just to mix it up a bit though

Ha! Will do saf

Excellent read Melton.
More insightful than the TV pundits who can only come up with "player x should have been closer to player z".

Are you/ did you dabble in professional football by any chance? The obvious things about our final ball needing a lot of work were there, but you've helped me see the really subtle nuances that I would never have seen.

Bravo did have a shocker on Saturday. I can see why Pep brought him but I have the feeling he underestimates the lower teams in the PL.

In Spain a lot of teams sit off Barca and occasionally break on them but in England teams come at you more often and I think while that will lead to a few massacres for you guys, it will also lead to some teams pressing Bravo into making mistakes like we did.

When you play Liverpool you may well get a bit embarrassed as their whole style is suited to beating teams with your tactics

I do applaud Pep for having the courage to bring in Bravo as it suits his style but I think it's a gamble rather than a straight up smart thing to do.

That's because you are judging him on different things to Guardiola. The best way to see him is as a defender that can use his hands.

As much as he had shaky moments in the second half, the point is that his positioning was what allowed us the control in the first half.

It's not about what happened in Spain, this style was put in by Guardiola in Germany to counter the style that you are talking about against teams like Liverpool.

And cheers Manc

In my very early days I did, long time ago now though!

Melton or Robbie Savage?....hmmm. Agree with Manc, can see the system now. Thanks.

comment by meltonblue (U10617)
posted 1 hour, 4 minutes ago
That's because you are judging him on different things to Guardiola. The best way to see him is as a defender that can use his hands.

As much as he had shaky moments in the second half, the point is that his positioning was what allowed us the control in the first half.

It's not about what happened in Spain, this style was put in by Guardiola in Germany to counter the style that you are talking about against teams like Liverpool.


----------------------------------------------------------------------

I think you're massively overrating his performance in the second half.

What really made the difference was you taking off a striker and bringing on Fernando which stemmed the flow and allowed you to add another player to the midfield. As we surged forward your wall had one more brick and you countered well.

Not sure I get your logic about 'teams like liverpool'. They love playing against keepers who have the ball at their feet as they press right up to them and put them under pressure. I would actually love to see you play your way out of defence against a pressing side like Liverpool or Spurs. Will make for uncomfortable viewing for city fans.

Sorry Melton, reread that and saw you were talking about the first half.

Even so, I think the real reason you controlled the first half was how poor our wingers were and how indisciplined Pogba was more than anything bravo did.

Yeah my point about the second half was we retained numerical superiority in the midfield and dropped deeper - which is how to deal with it when the team starts pressing right up. I didn't make a point about bravo as his role changed. In the op, I mention the fernando sub as being the critical sub in the second.

The logic is that the whole point is wanting the press, as that is what creates the extra man behind it. It works less if you sit completely off, but then that's when we look to win the ball back quickly or cover the space through how he is using the fullbacks.

The main point was that Guardiolas system has now developed significantly since Barca and it is far more adaptable now. The reasoning behind Bravo though is a valid one to ensure we can play like we did in the first half.

In essence, both the first and second half are played with 2 different strategies then?
First half, control the game, score a goal or 2.
Second half, sit back counter attack.
Very good analysis.

Exactly, (well, three strategies) but always with superiority in numbers in midfield so we can control possession and kill the game for a bit if required too.

The other thing is that it forces the high balls to come in from deep (a lot of uniteds were from just past the half way line), which makes it both harder for an attacker to do anything but knock it down and also allows for numbers to be in the box to deal with it.

What United really wanted to do was get the ball down the flanks and in from there, but by shifting Fernandinho into defence and making us end with a 541, which was the final tactical change, there was just no space for them to do it.

comment by meltonblue (U10617)
posted 3 hours, 10 minutes ago
Exactly, (well, three strategies) but always with superiority in numbers in midfield so we can control possession and kill the game for a bit if required too.

The other thing is that it forces the high balls to come in from deep (a lot of uniteds were from just past the half way line), which makes it both harder for an attacker to do anything but knock it down and also allows for numbers to be in the box to deal with it.

What United really wanted to do was get the ball down the flanks and in from there, but by shifting Fernandinho into defence and making us end with a 541, which was the final tactical change, there was just no space for them to do it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
And yet some fans think Pep is one-dimensional.

Do you see the same strategy tonight

Yeah, Pep is anything but one dimensional, he actually changes too much.

In terms of tonight, I haven't seen Borrusia much to know, there will be tweaks to how we played on Saturday though. Guardiola tweaks that system based on every opposition and that and his training methods are worth another article really (he introduces drills into training three months before he might use it in a game, he might then drop it again until closer to the time, but it is all down to his preparation).

It's why I don't see him being an old manager, he won't mentally be able to keep this up.

Sorry, that first sentence should have read he changes too much at times for his players to follow. It's why he covets intelligence above anything else.

Regardless of the score or strategy, I just hope we pick up the 3 points tonight.