Next game: The Arsenal

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Friendlies only matter unless we lose, then they don't.

Did you see me go into "we are going to win Champions League" hype mode after Chelsea and Milan like some people? No you didn't. Friendlies are training exercises. Nothing more nothing less.

Chelsea?

That stupid end of the season friendly that got some people buzzing after disappointing season. I was obviously exaggarating but you get my point.

[Slim]

Friendlies only matter unless we lose, then they don't.

Did you see me go into "we are going to win Champions League" hype mode after Chelsea and Milan like some people? No you didn't. Friendlies are training exercises. Nothing more nothing less.

Chelsea?

That stupid end of the season friendly that got some people buzzing after disappointing season. I was obviously exaggarating but you get my point.

My concern is we are trying to rely on defenders to do their job without being shielded by a midfielder and they may not be as impressive as we are lead to believe. However the new signings are looking good, all had the preseason with the club, only one major injury and we have yet to unleash our big gun.

[Green & Blue]

Overall I don't think we were all that bad to be honest.Our general play was good we were moving the ball around at a nice tempo and we created a few good chances.Negredo could easily have bagged himself a hatrick today.

On the balance of play we were the better side but the goals we conceded were poor and playing Arsenal our defence should have been expecting them to try and hit us this way.The finishes however were tidy and Joe could do little to stop any of them, still disappointing to see him beaten in three one on one situations.

The setanta commentary was diabolical almost as bad as the referee.He must have had a wager on Arsenal.

To be fair, however we think of individual performances you can't say it's been a good performance when we've conceded three goals
AND lost
(5-3 against a still-rusty Milan side wasn't too bad, but it was still bad!)

It was a decent work out no more no less.Looking a bity rusty at the back alright but overall it's been a reasonably good preseason, Pelligrini has had them playing some nice possesion football at times but i don't think we can look too much in to these performances or learn much about the team until we have a few competitive games under our belts.

[Spurge]

The key thing for me (and apologies if this has already been mentioned elsewhere in this thread) was that we took longer to move the ball between midfield to attack. We'd moved the ball much quicker in previous pre season games not afraid to go long when required.

We were pedestrian like in moving the ball forwards for large parts yesterday (although I only watched the second half), this may have been because there were fewer striking options in the last 3rd - Negredo on his own. Against Sunderland for example with Negredo and Dzeko a ball of 30 yds plus from deep in midfield regularly found one of these two on the shoulder of the centre half - two on two (or three) and posing a real threat.

Teams like Arsenal are used to us walking the ball to the edge of their box so knew how to organise themselves to negate the threat. If we play 2 up top and are prepared to mix it with our approach we will be much more effective. Perhaps Pellers used the opportunity against Arsenal to a) see how last seasons tactics as a plan B might work or b) not give too much away to Arsenal about how we might play next season

or c) I'm just trying to put a positive slant on things!

[Blue Since 76]

So Chelsea lost their last game, as did the rags and we lost to Arsenal. Right, I'm off to put my mortgage on Arsenal to win the league then. Should be in for a tidy profit as the bookies think they have no chance, but I'm using the power of the pre-season friendly.

The more relevant bit of info from yesterday is we leaked three very similar looking goals. Pellegrini needs to work out the reason - formation, tiredness, being told not to give 100% or whatever else and has a week to fix it. An easy 3-0 win would have taught us very little and possibly led to complacency in 8 days time.

[Ted Hughes]

Friendlies only matter unless we lose, then they don't.

Did you see me go into "we are going to win Champions League" hype mode after Chelsea and Milan like some people? No you didn't. Friendlies are training exercises. Nothing more nothing less.

Chelsea?

That stupid end of the season friendly that got some people buzzing after disappointing season. I was obviously exaggarating but you get my point.

My concern is we are trying to rely on defenders to do their job without being shielded by a midfielder and they may not be as impressive as we are lead to believe. However the new signings are looking good, all had the preseason with the club, only one major injury and we have yet to unleash our big gun.

Nail & head.

We look great going forward & only poor finishing has kept each opponent alive, including Bayern Munich. I have no concerns about that, it will be great. At the back, we are not right at all & lack of protection is one of the factors.

We are asking defenders with no pace, to defend situations which require pace, & the fullbacks are constantly standing in the wrong position, letting passes get between them & the cbs. Far from this being nothing to worry about, it is something to worry quite a lot about, just like the realisation after the start of last season that our defence was undercooked.

Two years ago, Lescott & Vinny used to cover for each other. Then we started fucking about experimenting. Now they have lost it, & Vinny/Nasty have never had it. This, plus no cover in front & wandering fullbacks, is a problem.

1st goal no midfield harassing or cover means Arsenal have time to pick a pass, Clichy should be next to Lescott but has wandered wide, same happened to Zaba v Bayern. This stopped happening under Mancini. Now it is coming back.

The 2nd goal was also a prime example of several faults: No midfield picking up so Lescott has to come out of the line but is not quick enough, nobody tracking a runner from midfield leaves a gap, Vinny fails to spot the danger & cover for Lescott then is too slow to rectify it when he does see it.

3rd goal, Vinny fails to read it & is not quick enough to rectify it.

Our defenders need organising & protecting they are not quick enough to just wing it for themselves like Wio etc used to be when asked to do that by Ferguson. Rags had to change their style. Hughes got sacked trying to play like this at the back.

[Goaters 103]

How did we get on again?

The object of every friendly game is to ensure the squad is ready for the Newcastle game, as from next week that's when they start keeping scores. If we win next Monday, then the pre-season preparation will have been a success, beside Nastasic's injury.

Besides I keep reading many people telling us the new managers an absolute genius so theres always that to fall back upon too.

[brite blu sky]

I can see a bit of a rocky ride till The Count works it all out. Strikes me as more of a round peg in a round hole manager when it comes to players, but that said he also has shown he knows how to compress and expand the team both with positioning and selection. So he is quite practical imo and should be aware of what the problem is.

I'd put the arse game down to him testing things out in a prem style situation.

So the issue then ultimately is how much of a transition period is needed and what practical compromises Pelligrini makes towards that transition. If he is going to go for a high midfield line to press then the defence need to come up high too. If we can't play the better teams like that then as suggested Bazzer or someone who can actually do a DM will have to be the compromise, losing an AM or striker as a result. Yaya cannot do that role.

If I were Pelli I'd play it safe for a couple of months while they out work team shape, seems foolhardy to try and emulate the end result before everyone is ready enough.

I would think that the aim is to not have to field a specific DM - the reason I think this is that City would have bought a good one had it been the plan to use one, as we didn't, I assume there is another strategy. Besides if needed in certain games Baz can do a job.

As Ted says the lack of pace at the back hinders a plan to lose the DM. However as a longer term strategy relying on fast CBs is a bit of a gamble as both injuries and players getting older can completely scupper it.

I'd argue that operating without a disciplined DM is always going to invite more risk. That isn't necessarily a problem though. If the pressing game gets sorted then there will be a much better attitude to closing off lofted/through passes etc from the whole team, together with that the CBs could hold a high line with offside trap and the goalkeeper trained to read the game better so he is already half way to the ball if played over the top.

[Tokyo Blue]

I can see a bit of a rocky ride till The Count works it all out. Strikes me as more of a round peg in a round hole manager when it comes to players, but that said he also has shown he knows how to compress and expand the team both with positioning and selection. So he is quite practical imo and should be aware of what the problem is.

Me too. He needs to bring a left winger in if he wants a round peg in that particular hole because no-one currently at the club can do the job. I am sure he has got someone in mind but whether he'll get the money to buy that player is out of his hands. I hope he gets the backing cos a) he's the City manager, and b) I like the way he is going about things.

[Ted Hughes]

I can see a bit of a rocky ride till The Count works it all out. Strikes me as more of a round peg in a round hole manager when it comes to players, but that said he also has shown he knows how to compress and expand the team both with positioning and selection. So he is quite practical imo and should be aware of what the problem is.

Me too. He needs to bring a left winger in if he wants a round peg in that particular hole because no-one currently at the club can do the job. I am sure he has got someone in mind but whether he'll get the money to buy that player is out of his hands. I hope he gets the backing cos a) he's the City manager, and b) I like the way he is going about things.

I thouroughly like the way he is going about things but he has a lot of training to do in order to make this system work in its current form imo. And making it work for Premier League is different to Europe, as all the other defences in the Prem are as bad as ours, as Arsenal showed yesterday.

[Risby]

I think it was a massive learning curve for Pellegrini. He won't like the fact that we have conceded a lot of goals in pre-season - 3 in two games (AC and now Arsenal).

He will obviously address the situation, but to what degree. We won't compete in the CL with defending like that or challenge for the PL as good teams will simply play through our defence.

We need another quality CB and the new system needs to embedded as quickly as possible so the back line is not exposed.

I don't think the defeat is the end of the world. I despise losing, but actually think it may do the manager and players a favour.

A week of hard tactical training and we should be more than ready for the start of the season.

[Clowncrete]

I think it was a massive learning curve for Pellegrini. He won't like the fact that we have conceded a lot of goals in pre-season - 3 in two games (AC and now Arsenal).

He will obviously address the situation, but to what degree. We won't compete in the CL with defending like that or challenge for the PL as good teams will simply play through our defence.

We need another quality CB and the new system needs to embedded as quickly as possible so the back line is not exposed.

I don't think the defeat is the end of the world. I despise losing, but actually think it may do the manager and players a favour.

A week of hard tactical training and we should be more than ready for the start of the season.

Don't the players go for some international matches or something this week?

[Ted Hughes]

I think it was a massive learning curve for Pellegrini. He won't like the fact that we have conceded a lot of goals in pre-season - 3 in two games (AC and now Arsenal).

He will obviously address the situation, but to what degree. We won't compete in the CL with defending like that or challenge for the PL as good teams will simply play through our defence.

We need another quality CB and the new system needs to embedded as quickly as possible so the back line is not exposed.

I don't think the defeat is the end of the world. I despise losing, but actually think it may do the manager and players a favour.

A week of hard tactical training and we should be more than ready for the start of the season.

Don't the players go for some international matches or something this week?

Yep.

[AG7]

I don't mind the result AT ALL ... losing to Arsenal in a no-nothing of a pre-season game 3-1 is far better than winning this one 5-0 ...

Had we won this 5-0 yesterday, Chelski and Scum both had been running for signing new players today itself ... if this leaves them in a sense of relief and not make them rush into strengthening their squads too much between now and end of the window, it'll suit is just fine for when it will really matter. Who cares if Arsenal fans were happy yesterday (or if the rags are today) ... tis just pre-season ... the real thing starts next weekend!

[City64]

Yes they are only "friendlies" but our defence looks shambloic at times which is very worrying , ....... lets all hope it is sorted very soon !