Quote:
Originally Posted by jem
£#%&! all you like over pep, but we made them look good and it had nothing to do with 6-line structures.
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what i'm saying is that guardiola has done nothing special, he's just given them immediately a strategy to slow the game - and the opponent - down, use the entire length of the field as well as the width to space the game out, and thereby exploit the pace and change of tempo his players are capable of.
Quote:
Originally Posted by S/Side.Red
Don't agree with that really. They have great quality up top in Aguero and De Bruyne but other than that it's a squad that was awfully prepared for Guardiola's arrival. A back four and goalkeeper poor at building the play, the lumbering Toure in midfield. He'll be delighted that he's 100% so far because many of these players won't be there next season.
United's squad I don't feel is imbalanced. He has guys there in Carrick, Schnweini and Schneiderlin who would probably help control a midfield better, and the options that could be explored by dropping Rooney are interesting.
The main issue with us is still a little lack of leadership from the back into midfield, and the fact that we have a manager trying to erase two years of coaching of a manager who asks very different things. Blind being told not to play out from the back a good example from the weekend; Mourinho displeased at how often he looked to pass short instead of clearing his lines.
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again though, mourinho gave his team - by the sounds of it - a very clear strategy to avoid the initial central press ie don't play certain passes, play it wide or long from centre back by default instead.
completely agree with you though, no point using blind in the back line if you don't want the team to play from there and sadly i expect we'll be back to two standard centre backs very soon. the whole idea of united developing into a top continental-style team is all but over for the foreseeable. if we get back to winning ways that's fine i suppose, but if we don't then what a £#%&!ing farce the last 3 years has been. and if city continue as they are, then even moreso...