Man City match thread

[mark1975]

Big players are not noted for their agility, so it's a bit stupid to pick Benteke and Lukaku and then complain that they are like poles.

Pretty much Portly.

 

[Markeh]

I think of Benteke as more of a lamppost than a pole

Poles sound too mobile and much more hard working

 

[Squiggles]

Big players are not noted for their agility, so it's a bit stupid to pick Benteke and Lukaku and then complain that they are like poles.

I imagine he was referring to a complete lack of movement, which sadly we are all too familiar with. Having said that, Everton are getting the best out of Lukaku this year. I'm not sure if he's running more, if they are playing to his strengths, or both, but hes been terrific all year. Makes Benteke being shit even more frustrating because it's natural to compare the two.

 

[rurikbird]

3 problems with that

You can't really play a diamond with 2 defensive full backs. They're your main source of width so they need to be great at attacking.

You can, actually. In well-balanced teams, the nominally defensive full-backs – the likes of Azpilicueta or Branislav Ivanovic – can maraud up and down the flanks and contribute a lot in attack too.

Secondly, Coutinho is great, but in central midfield, especially deeper, he can be erratic with the ball. I'd rather have dependable ball users here.

Huh? I think Coutinho's best and most reliable quality – much more reliable than his goal-scoring – is the ability to bring the ball out of midfield into the attacking 3rd. That's why I always thought his role model should be Iniesta. Sure, he can contribute with important goals, but he becomes predictable and frustrating when you rely too much on him to produce directly. Also he is great at playing through-balls from the deep; that's how him and Sturridge destroyed Arsenal in that 5:1 game a couple of years ago. There is no one better than him in this team (and few better in the league) at turning defense into attack instantly with one devastating turn of a shoulder or a pass. And this ability to catch teams on the break is absolutely fundamental to Klopp's style.

Thirdly, in a diamond your two wider central midfielders - in your case Henderson and Coutinho are the work horses of the side. Not only do they need to function as central midfielders up and down the pitch, they also need to shuttle between centre and wide in order to protect the full backs. In a diamond you're essentially playing a 7-3 system. 7 structured players and 3 fluid attackers. The likes of Milner, Henderson, and Allen are perfect for these shuttling mid roles. I wouldn't want to take our most creative player and make him a workhorse who needs to be disciplined. If we played a diomand despite all it's flaws - Coutinho needs to be number 10.

That's why if Coutinho plays CM, I think someone like Flanno should play LB, not Moreno. You're right – you definitely don't want Coutinho near our corner flag "protecting" the full-back, you want him in the middle starting the counter-attacks.

On a side note, Coutinho playing wide is no bad thing. It's too easy to get picked up and crowded out in the middle. From the left he's harder to pick up and gets more space. It's no co-incidence that the likes of Zidane and Pires played some of their best football coming in from a wide left position.

I don't know; initially I also thought Coutinho would play wide left in Klopp's system, but the more I see him play there, the more it becomes clear he's no Pires. Every team now knows he is going to cut in from the left and once they take this option away through the double-team, there is nothing much Coutinho can do to counter this tactic. He doesn't have the pace of Hazard or Messi to get away from the double-team and he doesn't have the effortless power on his shot that he can generate with no backlift in order to exploit small positional mistakes of his marker. So he either shoots harmlessly into the goalkeeper's arms or tries an impossible flick or pass that usually just concedes possession. I think something needs to change because he is a genuinely superbly talented player who is not playing anywhere close to his potential in what should have been his break-through season.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Emre Can on a good day:

 

[doctor_mac]

Emre Can on a good day:

That was a terrific midfield performance.

 

[manwithnoname]

That's a great video. He's been inconsistent so far in his career at Liverpool, but that was a great performance. It was also interesting how he did an incredible amount of defensive dirty work, and also contributed to our attack well.

He was also an extremely central midfielder. Unlike your CM extremes, withbGerrard and Lampard being obviously very attacking, and Hamann being obviously defensive, he anchored himself generally in the middle and moved back and forth 30 yards each way.

His size, power and delicate feet also make him potentially a very, very good all rounder and he is capable of dominating games at his best.

Again, I keep going on about consistency, because the occasional game at that level is of no interest or use. But if he can give Liverpool that level 8 out of 10 games, we will have a genuine Liverpool great in our hands.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

The part that pleased me the most in that clip was at the 20 second mark. Aguero, on the right touchline and covered by Lallana, dribbled inwards towards Can, played a short pass forward to Silva, and started to make a curling run away from Can before slipping into the centre behind him to receive Silva's return pass. Can showed great awareness and tracked Aguero's movement very well.

While it was Milner who cleared the danger in the end after reading the play perfectly and sprinting 8 to 10 yards to close the gap on Aguero, I think Can would've probably gotten the pass interception or block in just in time anyway. Can has fallen asleep in the past losing track of the runner, so it was good to see his awareness and commitment in making sure Aguero didn't get the ball in this case. Kudos to Milner also for his help defence, fantastic work there.

Oh, and Aguero's class. That was a clever disguised run pulling away to open the gap to Can and then cutting in again to meet the return ball.

 

[Hansern]

 

[Frogfish]

Huh? I think Coutinho's best and most reliable quality – much more reliable than his goal-scoring – is the ability to bring the ball out of midfield into the attacking 3rd. That's why I always thought his role model should be Iniesta. Sure, he can contribute with important goals, but he becomes predictable and frustrating when you rely too much on him to produce directly. Also he is great at playing through-balls from the deep; that's how him and Sturridge destroyed Arsenal in that 5:1 game a couple of years ago. There is no one better than him in this team (and few better in the league) at turning defense into attack instantly with one devastating turn of a shoulder or a pass. And this ability to catch teams on the break is absolutely fundamental to Klopp's style.

Absolutely. One of his best attributes, that I've mentioned a few times in the past few season, especially when Suarez was here, was his ability to go on slaloming runs through the midfield that reeks havoc on the opposition's formation opening up gaps all over the place. Of course we've seen far less of that now that he's playing further forward.