cityfan Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 Accepting that Man City are possibly the best team in the world and that Premier League players are on the whole, better than Championship players, there were two things that really stood out for me last night. Man City had exceptional power and pace moving forward right the way through the team and when breaking with that power and pace they did it very directly and often through the centre of the pitch. They are a very direct, yet concise and efficient machine As with Division one teams, when Steele collects the ball, City slowly move up the pitch, organise themselves on the half-way line and on the side of the picture that our goalkeeper indicates. This results in a 50-50 ball with the defender frequently having the advantage and was particularly fruitless against Man City last night. When Bravo collected the ball, he rarely (though did on occasion) kick the ball up field. What more often happened was that the team were already running forward when he collected the ball and Bravo was delivering that ball to them very quickly and within their stride. The number of times Bravo did this with De Bruyne, right through the centre of the park was unbelievable. They're a class team, but I think if we want to progress to the next level, it would be good to learn and instil this approach as soon as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Up The City! Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 And just think, Bravo is the backup keeper! That has to be the best ever goal keeper performance I have ever seen at Ashton Gate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesBCFC Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 4 minutes ago, Up The City! said: And just think, Bravo is the backup keeper! That has to be the best ever goal keeper performance I have ever seen at Ashton Gate. He looked incredibly dodgy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davefevs Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 Schmeichel used to do the same as Bravo, but with a throw. It was a well known tactic that whenever Schmeichel came for a cross (he usually made it / caught it), then Kanchelskis on the right or Giggs / Sharpe on the left would be told to get wide and up the pitch as quickly as possible. Schmeichel would launch so many counter attacks in that way. Man City do it through the muddle though. For Aguero’s goal, it wasn’t just KDB’s pass and Aguero’s movement / finish, but the Silva layoff from the outward header, Sane’s Half volley touch / pass to KDB that was so inclusive in cutting us open. Brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CotswoldRed Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 It was their defending in midfield that astounded me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityfan Posted January 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 I thought he looked vulnerable too. Took several chances with approaching City players where could easily have been dispossessed. Nonetheless, he played the City way and the speed with which they went from Goalkeeper collection to our penalty area was ferocious. It was not only a lesson in how to play football and retain the ball, it was also a lesson in lung management for the City players. I'm sure fitness and strength levels will have to rise again if Bristol City are to play in the Premiership next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welcome To The Jungle Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 15 minutes ago, cityfan said: They're a class team, but I think if we want to progress to the next level, it would be good to learn and instil this approach as soon as possible. You have to remember that they have the players to implement their system too. Neither FF or Steele can play like Bravo, Flint and Baker cannot pass or dibble like Stones etc. The reason KDB was constantly in space in the middle was because we were trying to cut out Stones and (excuse the spelling) Otamendi from receiving the ball. With players like that, it just makes the pitch bigger as you can play in all of it. 5 minutes ago, JamesBCFC said: He looked incredibly dodgy. I think that's only because we are not used to our keeper playing like that. We naturally think it seems dodgy as it is so different to how many of us were brought up...where the keepers job is to lump it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B1ackbird Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 8 minutes ago, CotswoldRed said: It was their defending in midfield that astounded me. Superb weren't they. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesBCFC Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 3 minutes ago, Welcome To The Jungle said: You have to remember that they have the players to implement their system too. Neither FF or Steele can play like Bravo, Flint and Baker cannot pass or dibble like Stones etc. The reason KDB was constantly in space in the middle was because we were trying to cut out Stones and (excuse the spelling) Otamendi from receiving the ball. With players like that, it just makes the pitch bigger as you can play in all of it. I think that's only because we are not used to our keeper playing like that. We naturally think it seems dodgy as it is so different to how many of us were brought up...where the keepers job is to lump it. I didn't mean dodgy because of where he was passing it. I was applauding Lucic for doing the same when he filled in last season. He seemed very uncomfortable, and when kicking, particularly longer distance, it felt like there was a decent chance of him shanking it as he did a few times at the Etihad, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowshed Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 10 minutes ago, JamesBCFC said: se looked incredibly dodgy. Bravo had the highest passing accuracy stats in the EPL for a Keeper. He passes the ball more accurately than BCFC defenders. If forced to play it long it is a different matter. Ederson their first choice manages to improve even on this. His long passing is in the John Terry range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesBCFC Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 1 minute ago, Cowshed said: Bravo had the highest passing accuracy stats in the EPL for a Keeper. He passes the ball more accurately than BCFC defenders. If forced to play it long it is a different matter. Ederson their first choice manages to improve even on this. His long passing is in the John Terry range. See above Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbored Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 9 minutes ago, cityfan said: Accepting that Man City are possibly the best team in the world and that Premier League players are on the whole, better than Championship players, there were two things that really stood out for me last night. Man City had exceptional power and pace moving forward right the way through the team and when breaking with that power and pace they did it very directly and often through the centre of the pitch. They are a very direct, yet concise and efficient machine They're a class team, but I think if we want to progress to the next level, it would be good to learn and instil this approach as soon as possible. They certainly are a class team with a class manager who been successful everywhere he's been. Gaurdiola has been hugely influenced by the great, late Johnathan Cruyff who he played under at Barca and it was Cruyff who 'invented' the ticka - tack style that Pep tries to adopt. Of course to play that way you need players capable of it. Quick feet, quick mind and vision with massive stamina levels. That's why the Man City team last night cost around a cool £380m compared to our team of just about £8m. Its no surprise that LJ sees Pep as his managerial idol and ideally he'd like to get our team playing in a similar style but is well aware that he doesn't have access to such high quality players so is trying to develop those he has to be as good as they can be. The youngsters City have signed are a part of the clubs long term policy. Last seasons desperate run of defeats was LJ looking at the different players qualities/abilities and this season is turning out to be a good one because of it. LJ knows what he wants from a player and any incoming will have been watched and fully assessed. The days of duff signings are hopefully long gone. No more Dinnings, Styvars or Hunts..................... Ive said several times already that the club is as healthy right now as it's ever been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welcome To The Jungle Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 6 minutes ago, JamesBCFC said: I didn't mean dodgy because of where he was passing it. I was applauding Lucic for doing the same when he filled in last season. He seemed very uncomfortable, and when kicking, particularly longer distance, it felt like there was a decent chance of him shanking it as he did a few times at the Etihad, Lucic did it very well, the problem was who he was passing it too. I thought Bravo seemed composed all night and although he may shank the odd one, at no point did I think he was about to make a mistake that'd lead to a goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CotswoldRed Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 Players like that need little coaching. I'd like to see Pep at Yeovil for two years to see how good he really is without the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Batman Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 This current Man City set up have the attacking prowess similar to that of teams who have won the premier league in the past. A strong quick striker in Aguero (not big but still tough) - 2 quick wingers in Sane & Sterling (B Silva last night does the same role) - 2 creative midfielders in D Silva & De Bruyne and a Holding midfielder in Fernandinho (the key position in modern football) This is similar to that of when Chelsea first won the league under Mourinho after Abramovich took over. Drogba up top with his pace & power, Duff & Robben on the wings, Lampard & Essien as the 2 creators (and they were tough players too) with Makelele as the key. All play in the same roles as the man city players above. Chelsea obviously had a much better defence than the current Man City team, but they still have time to buy Laporte and when Mendy comes back, they will be very dominant at the back. No team has won the premier league without power AND pace. Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher have mentioned this so many times on MNF as to why Arsenal will not win the league for a long long time. Once they had Campbell, Vieira and Henry - a formidable spine, probably the best we will see - now they have Holding, Xhaka & Welbeck. Ask any defender at any level what they do not like playing against and most will say out and out pace and speed. Granted they need to be able to do something with that speed (Ivan Sproule, i'm looking at you) but mixing it with strength through the side and pacey wingers and that is the template for a successful team. Tottenham have a very strong side, but going forward, except for Son, there is no pace in their attacking play. Ali and Erikson are technically excellent, but you dont see them sprinting passed anyone, same with Kane. Hence why they wont win the league in my opinion any time soon. Liverpool are the opposite. They have all the pace, but no power and strength in the side. Man Utd have the players there to win the league with their spine, they have the best goalkeeper in the world in De Gea, Eric Bailley (when fit) is a tremendous defender, Matic as the Holder alongside Pogba (not as good as Korey Smith but still a good player) & Lukaku with pacey wingers all over the place in Rashford, Lingard and now Alexis Sanchez. They will go far in Europe this year as will the other British Clubs in the Champions League. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCFC Rich Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 1 hour ago, CotswoldRed said: It was their defending in midfield that astounded me. This, and then they re-cycled the ball so fast. An attack would break down we'd move the ball up to midfield they would regain possession and then it was right back in and around our box again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southport Red Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 Every time Bravo had the ball in hand he had options left, right and ahead. Clearly drilled into them. That plus they were like whippets (never see a team break so fast) means they were onto us instantly. It was terrifying how fast they went from their box to ours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowshed Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 4 hours ago, Robbored said: it was Cruyff who 'invented' the ticka - tack style that Pep tries to adopt. No it was not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshtonGreat Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 5 hours ago, Up The City! said: And just think, Bravo is the backup keeper! That has to be the best ever goal keeper performance I have ever seen at Ashton Gate. I don't remember him making a save Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiderEyed Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 What I thought was absolutely genius was Aguero's positioning, and how it made space for their wingers. He was either quite wide on the left or right, wide enough that one of the full backs had to cover him and the centre halves wouldve been dragged out of position and left space for De Bruyne had they followed. It meant that their wingers had acres of space to use all the time, really really clever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Popodopolous Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 Tbf to @Up The City! perhaps they mean as an all round game- on the ball, passing ability for a keeper- perhaps they mean he's the best they've seen at AG in that regard? Bravo is very technically sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbored Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 10 minutes ago, Cowshed said: No it was not The C4 documentary broadcast shortly after Cruyff's passing must have got it wrong then..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCFC Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 4 hours ago, CotswoldRed said: Players like that need little coaching. I'd like to see Pep at Yeovil for two years to see how good he really is without the money. This is just wrong. I'd say every single player Guardiola has coached since he arrived, has improved tremendously, barring Yaya and Bravo (age?) and Mangala, who seems to be a lost cause. Sterling, Ederson, Walker, Stones (despite his recent mistakes after injury), Otamendi, de Bruyne, Sane, Fernandinho, Aguero and even the magician David Silva, all of them have contributed and delivered a lot more. As for the Yeovil comment, he didn't do bad with a third tier Barcelona B side, at the start of his coaching career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCFC Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 5 hours ago, CotswoldRed said: It was their defending in midfield that astounded me. I'm glad you noticed that, a huge part of our game is de Bruyne and Silva hounding the opposition into mistakes, Silva rarely gets any credit for it too, and Fernandinho is possibly the best CDM in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portland Bill Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 4 hours ago, CotswoldRed said: Players like that need little coaching. I'd like to see Pep at Yeovil for two years to see how good he really is without the money. They would improve no end, this is a manager/coach that can buy top players and make them even better. It’s the likes of Mourinho that wouldn’t be able to do it lower down the leagues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BS4 on Tour... Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 5 hours ago, JamesBCFC said: ...I was applauding Lucic for doing the same when he filled in last season. It was a shame Lucic’s two appearances in the league were both home defeats.....but, how many knew that when he saved that penalty away at Fulham in the cup tie, the penalty taker was Cauley Woodrow...?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesBCFC Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 4 minutes ago, BS4 on Tour... said: It was a shame Lucic’s two appearances in the league were both home defeats.....but, how many knew that when he saved that penalty away at Fulham in the cup tie, the penalty taker was Cauley Woodrow...?! Great bit of trivia that. In Lucic's league games he chipped the ball over a striker closing him down. Heart was in my mouth for a few seconds, but I liked that he had enough belief to try it, and to be fair, the skill to pull it off with a good pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southport Red Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 6 minutes ago, MCFC said: I'm glad you noticed that, a huge part of our game is de Bruyne and Silva hounding the opposition into mistakes, Silva rarely gets any credit for it too, and Fernandinho is possibly the best CDM in the league. There was just no time for our players to cope. People on here talking about how many times we lost possession (esp first half), but the truth is they were given zero time before your players were on them. I though we were good at the press but Citeh gave a masterclass last night. Now our games are over @MCFC don’t be a stranger on here, i’ve enjoyed Reading your take on things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowshed Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 1 minute ago, Robbored said: The C4 documentary broadcast shortly after Cruyff's passing must have got it wrong then..... No doubt, but you as a sage and forum silverback should have known different. Tiki taka was a short period in Barcelonas football under Mr Guardiola and affecting the national team. It was style of play utilising triangulation in passing, six second press, false nine and characterised often by a narrow approach. A unique set of players created the style in Iniesta, Xavi, Messi ... Mr Guardiola moved away from the style and at Bayern used what could be looked upon as wingers in Robben and Ribery and a target man in Lewandowski ... Man City again do not try to adopt tiki taka, their style is far more forceful and is based on making the pitch big in the extreme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex_BCFC Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 Bravo - some great distribution at times but also capable of a horror mistake. Also rarely makes an actual save. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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