Lets Panic

[Ted Hughes]

The second half tonight was EXACTLY what we're talking about wasn't it ? We proved we can do it. The more tactics went out of the window, the more dangerous we became. Ball out to wing, 1st time cross, penalty are full of City players, some of whom are amongst the top goalscorers in Europe.

Q: What happens when you put several of the top goalscorers in Europe in the box + a football bouncing around ?

A: One of them scores.

1st half: ball out wide, Kolarov swings foot, only Aguero in the box.

2nd half, ball out wide, Kolarov swings foot, Dzeko, Balotelli, Aguero, all in the box= fucking panic for Sporting, unable to pass the ball out & break, just kick it straight back to us & we put it in again. This is what happens to teams when the rags do it & just like them; we got deflections, penalties, corners, goals. Not only that but at the other end, Kolo & Savic, rather than looking like two kids in their underpants playing with the older kids, suddenly became confident on the ball & solid defensively, because they were too busy thinking about scoring goals, to worry about making mistakes.

We have seen similar stuff from OShea & Brown etc at OT & wondered how the fuck they can play without being turned over; the answer is because they're not defending anything, they'e attacking. The mentality is one of attack not defence.

We will win the title with this attitude if we keep it up. My worry is that Bob had nothing to do with it.

[carl_feedthegoat]

The second half tonight was EXACTLY what we're talking about wasn't it ? We proved we can do it. The more tactics went out of the window, the more dangerous we became. Ball out to wing, 1st time cross, penalty are full of City players, some of whom are amongst the top goalscorers in Europe.

Q: What happens when you put several of the top goalscorers in Europe in the box + a football bouncing around ?

A: One of them scores.

1st half: ball out wide, Kolarov swings foot, only Aguero in the box.

2nd half, ball out wide, Kolarov swings foot, Dzeko, Balotelli, Aguero, all in the box= fucking panic for Sporting, unable to pass the ball out & break, just kick it straight back to us & we put it in again. This is what happens to teams when the rags do it & just like them; we got deflections, penalties, corners, goals. Not only that but at the other end, Kolo & Savic, rather than looking like two kids in their underpants playing with the older kids, suddenly became confident on the ball & solid defensively, because they were too busy thinking about scoring goals, to worry about making mistakes.

We have seen similar stuff from OShea & Brown etc at OT & wondered how the fuck they can play without being turned over; the answer is because they're not defending anything, they'e attacking. The mentality is one of attack not defence.

We will win the title with this attitude if we keep it up. My worry is that Bob had nothing to do with it.

I dont think you are far off.

[Kladze]

The second half tonight was EXACTLY what we're talking about wasn't it ? We proved we can do it. The more tactics went out of the window, the more dangerous we became. Ball out to wing, 1st time cross, penalty are full of City players, some of whom are amongst the top goalscorers in Europe.

Q: What happens when you put several of the top goalscorers in Europe in the box + a football bouncing around ?

A: One of them scores.

1st half: ball out wide, Kolarov swings foot, only Aguero in the box.

2nd half, ball out wide, Kolarov swings foot, Dzeko, Balotelli, Aguero, all in the box= fucking panic for Sporting, unable to pass the ball out & break, just kick it straight back to us & we put it in again. This is what happens to teams when the rags do it & just like them; we got deflections, penalties, corners, goals. Not only that but at the other end, Kolo & Savic, rather than looking like two kids in their underpants playing with the older kids, suddenly became confident on the ball & solid defensively, because they were too busy thinking about scoring goals, to worry about making mistakes.

We have seen similar stuff from OShea & Brown etc at OT & wondered how the fuck they can play without being turned over; the answer is because they're not defending anything, they'e attacking. The mentality is one of attack not defence.

[highlight]We will win the title with this attitude if we keep it up. My worry is that Bob had nothing to do with it[/highlight].

Earlier in the season, when we were sweeping all before us, we started every game with a high tempo / pressing the ball well upfield / getting bodies into the oppo's penalty area. It worked a treat, so why do we now start every game at a snail's pace?

[PeterParker]

The second half tonight was EXACTLY what we're talking about wasn't it ? We proved we can do it. The more tactics went out of the window, the more dangerous we became. Ball out to wing, 1st time cross, penalty are full of City players, some of whom are amongst the top goalscorers in Europe.

Q: What happens when you put several of the top goalscorers in Europe in the box + a football bouncing around ?

A: One of them scores.

1st half: ball out wide, Kolarov swings foot, only Aguero in the box.

2nd half, ball out wide, Kolarov swings foot, Dzeko, Balotelli, Aguero, all in the box= fucking panic for Sporting, unable to pass the ball out & break, just kick it straight back to us & we put it in again. This is what happens to teams when the rags do it & just like them; we got deflections, penalties, corners, goals. Not only that but at the other end, Kolo & Savic, rather than looking like two kids in their underpants playing with the older kids, suddenly became confident on the ball & solid defensively, because they were too busy thinking about scoring goals, to worry about making mistakes.

We have seen similar stuff from OShea & Brown etc at OT & wondered how the fuck they can play without being turned over; the answer is because they're not defending anything, they'e attacking. The mentality is one of attack not defence.

We will win the title with this attitude if we keep it up. My worry is that Bob had nothing to do with it.

I am not with you this time, Ted.

Last night, we had again just four chances. Three goals and that huge miss from Joe. Adding the fact that 2 goals from 3 were from set pieces (a corner and a penalty), it can just make things worst.

We played wide, ideed, but still we had problems opening them in a play, in one-twos and through passes after they parked the bus.

The only good thing that we can get after last night is the fact we finally had a PLAN B. No defence in the world can stop Dzeko, Kun and Mario at the same time on the pitch. It's time for Bob to understand that and use them. I can guarantee with those three we could had got 6 points from Everton, Wba and Sunderland.

[Ted Hughes]

The second half tonight was EXACTLY what we're talking about wasn't it ? We proved we can do it. The more tactics went out of the window, the more dangerous we became. Ball out to wing, 1st time cross, penalty are full of City players, some of whom are amongst the top goalscorers in Europe.

Q: What happens when you put several of the top goalscorers in Europe in the box + a football bouncing around ?

A: One of them scores.

1st half: ball out wide, Kolarov swings foot, only Aguero in the box.

2nd half, ball out wide, Kolarov swings foot, Dzeko, Balotelli, Aguero, all in the box= fucking panic for Sporting, unable to pass the ball out & break, just kick it straight back to us & we put it in again. This is what happens to teams when the rags do it & just like them; we got deflections, penalties, corners, goals. Not only that but at the other end, Kolo & Savic, rather than looking like two kids in their underpants playing with the older kids, suddenly became confident on the ball & solid defensively, because they were too busy thinking about scoring goals, to worry about making mistakes.

We have seen similar stuff from OShea & Brown etc at OT & wondered how the fuck they can play without being turned over; the answer is because they're not defending anything, they'e attacking. The mentality is one of attack not defence.

We will win the title with this attitude if we keep it up. My worry is that Bob had nothing to do with it.

I am not with you this time, Ted.

Last night, we had again just four chances. Three goals and that huge miss from Joe. Adding the fact that 2 goals from 3 were from set pieces (a corner and a penalty), it can just make things worst.

We played wide, ideed, but still we had problems opening them in a play, in one-twos and through passes after they parked the bus.

The only good thing that we can get after last night is the fact we finally had a PLAN B. No defence in the world can stop Dzeko, Kun and Mario at the same time on the pitch. It's time for Bob to understand that and use them. I can guarantee with those three we could had got 6 points from Everton, Wba and Sunderland.

No, we had more chances than that; an easy header from Balotelli 6 yards out which I would score & difficult one from Dzeko which Joe Royle or Alan Shearer would score immediately spring to mind. We also had loads of instances whe the ball was loose in the box & any random contact could cause a goal. That causes nerves in the oppo & brings about the corners/pens. It also makes them less likely to pass the ball out & more likely to lump it back to us.

We see the oppo do that for Utd all the time at OT & last night we saw a team doing it for us. Teams such as Stoke, Norwich, Newcastle, Wolves can't cope with that kind of concentrated pressure, they will collapse like a pack of cards if we repeat it there.

Arsenal & Utd would struggle too but would be more likely to spring a counter attack, so would need a bit more care at the back.

[DoomMerchant]

we can win the league playing like we did the second half last night. FACT. I believe that.

We will lose the league if we tippy tap the ball around a la Arsenal.

this sounds insane, but there are matches, like Chelsea, where i would legitimately play Aguero, Dzeko, Tevez and Balotelli...TOGETHER.

no shit...3 CBs, 3 midfielders including Wrinkly Dog, TYY and name the other -- Milner for now? give Silva a rest.

tell me i'm a clueless tactical American Idiot i suppose, but fucking unleash hell Roberto...please?

cheers

[Bridge'srightfoot]

We have three of the best attacking players in the world with Ageuro, Silva and Tevez. Against Chelsea, Arsenal and the Rags we need to put them on the back foot from the first minute, soemthing we haven't been doing.

[Hazy2]

Top players in form each game we have is winnable, Barcodes tough game but no reason we cannot counter attack the arse of them.

[Kladze]

we can win the league playing like we did the second half last night. FACT. I believe that.

[highlight]We will lose the league if we tippy tap the ball around a la Arsenal.[/highlight]

this sounds insane, but there are matches, like Chelsea, where i would legitimately play Aguero, Dzeko, Tevez and Balotelli...TOGETHER.

no shit...3 CBs, 3 midfielders including Wrinkly Dog, TYY and name the other -- Milner for now? give Silva a rest.

tell me i'm a clueless tactical American Idiot i suppose, but fucking unleash hell Roberto...please?

cheers

There's absolutely nothing wrong with playing (tippy tappy) one touch football as our main plan, providing it's done at pace.

Just recently we've been using that 'tactic' at the speed of a snail on mogadon, and it's so fucking predictable and easy to defend against.

We also need to incorporate a plan b into plan a.

[Grob]

Earlier in the season, when we were sweeping all before us, we started every game with a high tempo / pressing the ball well upfield / getting bodies into the oppo's penalty area. It worked a treat, so why do we now start every game at a snail's pace?

Interesting point.

I personally think that we've rarely started games at high tempo throughout the season. Its rare we score in the first 15.

The difference between the start of the season and now is that our passing was much crisper and sharper which resulted in us getting into good attacking positions in the early part of the season.

These days more players dilly dally on the ball and there are more misplaced passes. This is due to teams putting us under pressure more by playing higher up the park.

Teams have stopped surrendering at kickoff