TomSutton

Players lost faith in him completely here will be surprised if he makes it to West Brom if we lose this which we should

My word this is grim viewing isn’t it

I’ve had an absolute disaster there I’ve got the box sets and all. gutted with myself to get that wrong

I prefer Eat My Cheese

I must admit I do find it confusing from Ian. if you have a club source who would rather be anonymous (BT) then defending them blind saying they had no involvement with the LM appointment is completely bizarre. It’s as though he doesn’t realise people have sussed out who it is giving him information and instead of now balancing it out and at least attempting to make it seem as though BT is not the source he’s doubling down and making it worse. It’s like some sort of Alan Partridge skit

Ah I see completely agree on trends it’s not a surprise to me that when an elite team has success in a certain shape or rotation of play then other teams do take inspiration from this and although they won’t copy it they will make small adjustments however the concept behind it (eg an extra body in midfield) remains the same.

For U12 they are not allowed in training to head the ball more than 12x a week. the way Man City play are unique and you make a good point about Doku who’s best ability is his 1v1 dribbling. Although the quality Man City possess allows them to have wingers with different attributes. Foden coming inside and finishing, Grealish ability to gain fouls and retain the ball etc. LM is far off copying that like you say due to them being Man City and us being who we are that level of tactical rotation is only possible in a team of world class players

There are outliers but on the whole I think wingers currently aren’t being utilised as “traditional” wingers at the top level of the sport. those who play 4-3-3 e.g liverpool, Madrid etc those wingers cut in to fill the half space and attack between the full back and the centre back as it forces the centre back to often defend on his weak foot.

All down the trends set by top managers at the elite level that trickle down. the idea of wingers only is effective if you are crossing into the box which is a dying art currently as headers are being phased out of the game particularly at youth level where they are only allowed to head the ball 12x a week. now you have a wing back which is viewed in a similar mould to wingers. These players are typically superb athletes who can run run and run they will cover ridiculous distances a game 10-13k. They are usually asked to take the opposition full back on which is what a winger does best but yet they have more defensive responsibilities than said wingers who like to stay high and wide. This high and wide doesn’t work anymore as the game has become so tactical with much of the individuality taken out of the attack for a more methodical tactical build up of play. For example, when defending rather than the man-marking system teams now opt for a defensive block per se so they defend an area on the pitch. If one player does not defend their “area” as they are high and wide the other 9 outfield players will have to compensate for this and not be able to defend their individual area as well as the zone they are covering has increased. that being said there are always trends in football so currently we are in the centre back bringing the ball out, inverted full back to create an extra body in midfield to overload the opposition rather than taking it to the outside of teams.

It was Scattered Dream and I was absolutely in stitches for ages as I saw you laughing as well as Ian just almost in a state of shock while trying to maintain calmness but you could so tell it affected him

I do agree if you’re spending time doing something you’re passionate in and it’s doing no harm it’s all good. Even if we had no one listen we would still gather and speak our opinions as it’s something we care about. If it’s not for you I completely understand but you don’t have to listen or engage with what we post and none of us will hold it against you. For some I understand you don’t agree with our opinions and may think we are speaking on topics we’re uneducated on as none of us are professional we don’t claim to be. it’s something we care about and I enjoy coming on the forums and the podcast to speak about city as I’ve changed so many of my opinions due to others views some things resonate with you and makes sense some doesnt that’s perfectly okay.

In some ways I think Ian allows us to bounce off him and his let’s say alternative views at times it creates a debate I’m not sure how entertaining it would be if we all held the same views in truth. Although saying that there *should* be reason for why you hold that view that can be explained that’s where it starts to get a little irritating for some I imagine as a few on here have said that he says a lot without actually saying anything. In truth I actually do like Ian although I know many don’t and although he’s a polarising figure I get on with him but maybe I’ve just not been around long enough yet

Personally I’ve loved coming on the podcast. It allows all of us to express opinions on something we are all very passionate around and actually allows for some pretty interesting debates alongside getting to know other city fans better through it (many friendships have been formed through various podcast esc things). David as a lot know puts a lot of hard work into it you should see some of his notes when I get there in the morning pages long of various stats and figures and the work he as well as Mark and Ian (I know Ian hey…) has been paying off as numbers are going up which shows there’s a market for it. Certainly not in it for money and I can completely understand if the four or five or whoever’s on that pod doesn’t appeal to you as we can only cover our views. None of us are professionals at this but we hold a common passion for city hence why I love doing them.

Didn’t get him coming on at Rb if anything Roberts was the one absolutely blowing after 60 mins didn’t put another sprint in past 75. McCrorie can do a full game so leave him on the pitch. Agree R.E Cornick game was not suited to him yesterday I actually thought bringing him on was the correct thing but by 70 he had been on the pitch for nearly 50 minutes and had not grown into the game at all. Twine being on the bench yet quite clearly not being fit enough to come on says a lot around how Manning views the current state of the 21s which are a bit of a dead crop now and it seems we are just waiting for the 18s to be ready. All the subs who came on yesterday did not make an impact in fact I feel worsened us as a collective I would’ve left Mehmeti 1v1 against Jimmy Dunne who was awful for them a real clumsy footballer. Just highlighted our offence weaknesses yesterday, lack of an incisive passer who can play on the floor through back lines (twine, KP to an extent esc) and pace while being in control on the wing as Mehmeti and cornick both lack pace. Mebude has pace but not the control and it was clear we singled out dunne as their weak link and to try get in behind him with bells pace. That unfortunately went to pot after the injury and we just didn’t have a plan b players didn’t look confident in playing through the pitch as QPR defended narrow. what we were left with was a slow casual sideways passing approach waiting for a magic moment which never came

It’s the U18 crop that are a fantastic group (ahead of their age). This doesn’t mean they would currently be anywhere near the level required technically and physically for Champ football just means they are ahead of where is targeted relative to them. They are only 17/18 so I wouldn’t expect so see the majority of them until the 25/26 season where they would be in their late teens and then featuring more heavily in first team.