When will our next clean sheet happen?

[dave watson's perm]

Mangala is being sent back so maybe it will happen then. I think having Willy in goal will help but I really can't see us getting a clean sheet soon. The stats are not terrible but if you consider how much possession we have then we are easy to cut through. I'm more worried about having 4 wins in our last 14. The more we get familiar with what Pep wants the worse we seem to get. When Pep gets players in that can successfully play his system we will get more clean sheets then

Give me Mangala over Otamendi any day of the week

[Hazy2]

Mangala is being sent back so maybe it will happen then. I think having Willy in goal will help but I really can't see us getting a clean sheet soon. The stats are not terrible but if you consider how much possession we have then we are easy to cut through. I'm more worried about having 4 wins in our last 14. The more we get familiar with what Pep wants the worse we seem to get. When Pep gets players in that can successfully play his system we will get more clean sheets then

Give me Mangala over Otamendi any day of the week

Otter is like a cat on a hot tin roof, never set, never in the right position and always moving. Last ditch Otter. Piss poor defender IMHO to old to change him. Mango would have not got turned like that last week, he is not the solution though. Van Dyk is better than both at everything, but another 30 + mill at least. My mate screamed drag the cunt off after Costa abused him for the goal, Pep took Stones off I am still confused by that. Otter has been crap for some time. Not suited to the Premier, Not big or strong enough lacks any pace and he dives in and fakes injury, when he is scared.

[zuricity]

I'm not one to discuss soiled bedlinen.

[Mikhail Chigorin]

I'm not one to discuss soiled bedlinen.

Bladder problems can be, er......well, umm, problematical, to say the least

However, on the footballing aspect, I don't necessarily crave the tightest, most well drilled, meanest defence in the land, but I'd just like our back line to exhibit a degree of organisation, discipline and competence and to cut out some/most/all (??) of the 'howlers' we're currently making in abundance.

I'd much rather see us being devastatingly potent in attack and to assist in this, I want to see our defenders turning up in all sorts of unexpected areas and positions and plundering a few goals themselves to add to the overall tally.

Accordingly, I'd prefer us to be buying forwards and attacking players but the pantomime activities which regularly take place at the back have now got to be curbed as soon as possible, to prevent our season finishing almost before it's begun. On that basis, it would seem that a new centre-back is becoming more of pressing need.

Don't know who would suit us the best but, it would have to be someone with a more commanding and inspiring presence than at the moment.

Just a daft thought but, if Mangala is returning to ourselves, now would be the perfect time for him to make a name for himself, for all the right reasons.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Don't know if Mangala is returning MC, the reports indicate that Valencia will not take up the option to buy him that was part of the loan deal however the loan deal is a season long deal.

[Hazy2]

Don't know if Mangala is returning MC, the reports indicate that Valencia will not take up the option to buy him that was part of the loan deal however the loan deal is a season long deal.

Mangala has been pony for 3 season whoever scouted him, had it passed THROUGH THREE STAGES AT CITY 40 mill is a joke sorry,
Same as with the Otter deal decent in Spain,again since coming here no improvement, same mistakes on a shed load for 4 years. Defenders bought from Europe have got to have key strengths. 1 Ability to defend. 2 Ability to spot danger and nip it in the bud or get a midfielder to do it for you like Barry and De Jong did for seasons, 3 ability to have the common fucking sense to never ever pretend you are a midfielder, your not a libero there was only one Baresi !!! You are a central defender in a team of attacking players, ALL 80 YARDS AWAY WHEN IT HITS THE FAN! We have enough of them. Stop fannying around 18 yards from your own goal.This the fastest league in the world not the best but 100 mph more than one forward on the pitch wanting to rip you a new one. Pep could learn from that, I mean FFS we concede all sorts of goals, self inflicted and last week 2 passes 3X 3 GOALS !. It would help the defence if we had forwards happy to score 4 a game to settle the issue before it becomes 1, we don't we have missed a sitter another one will come along, Or Midfielder/s sitting to cut off counter attacks, What Chelsea did when they were not 4 down was isolate us like school kids. City have no pace at the back & none so getting out of trouble with legs, clear your lines. Pep will change that in time but with the players we have 1 V 1 is a no no.

[Mikhail Chigorin]

Don't know if Mangala is returning MC, the reports indicate that Valencia will not take up the option to buy him that was part of the loan deal however the loan deal is a season long deal.

Thanks for clarifying that FIBD.

It just seemed, from one of the above posts, that he was being returned


Don't know what it is with ourselves but, as a Club, we seem to be the equivalent of the Marie Celeste, where centre-backs are concerned.

[gillie]

We won't keep clean sheets until we have a settled defence,Pep makes more changes than Pellers ever did.

[Hutch's Shoulder]

When will our next clean sheet happen? When nobody expects it. Typical City.

[nottsblue]

We need goals much more than we need clean sheets.

I for one think we need to start keeping clean sheets in order to win things. Title winners invariably have mean defences, certainly not ones which get breeched every game. That puts undue pressure on the forwards. It's obviously much easier to just have to score one to win a game with a clean sheet than two or three.

Scoring goals in most games hasn't been our issue. Three 1-1s at home tells it's own story. All of those games we dominated possession and limited the number of chances for the away side, yet we still conceded in each game. I know we should have scored more in all of the games but we did score in all of them so clean sheets would've resulted in six more points. In both our title winning seasons we had a tight defence, especially at home. We have already dropped more points at home than in either of our two title seasons and it won't be long before we have dropped as many as in both put together.

Tomorrow would be a good starting point, but I have my doubts as to whether we will keep one.

[Hazy2]

We need goals much more than we need clean sheets.

I for one think we need to start keeping clean sheets in order to win things. Title winners invariably have mean defences, certainly not ones which get breeched every game. That puts undue pressure on the forwards. It's obviously much easier to just have to score one to win a game with a clean sheet than two or three.

Scoring goals in most games hasn't been our issue. Three 1-1s at home tells it's own story. All of those games we dominated possession and limited the number of chances for the away side, yet we still conceded in each game. I know we should have scored more in all of the games but we did score in all of them so clean sheets would've resulted in six more points. In both our title winning seasons we had a tight defence, especially at home. We have already dropped more points at home than in either of our two title seasons and it won't be long before we have dropped as many as in both put together.

Tomorrow would be a good starting point, but I have my doubts as to whether we will keep one.

City Typical City are the team you want when on a goal drought. If we do not take our chances, Teams have a moment or a period and we look like the dog and duck at the back. A 60 yard ball causes us mayhem, Chelsea were also clinical that was the difference.saints, Everton missed chances the cockneys took.

[patrickblue]

We need goals much more than we need clean sheets.

I for one think we need to start keeping clean sheets in order to win things. Title winners invariably have mean defences, certainly not ones which get breeched every game. That puts undue pressure on the forwards. It's obviously much easier to just have to score one to win a game with a clean sheet than two or three.

Scoring goals in most games hasn't been our issue. Three 1-1s at home tells it's own story. All of those games we dominated possession and limited the number of chances for the away side, yet we still conceded in each game. I know we should have scored more in all of the games but we did score in all of them so clean sheets would've resulted in six more points. In both our title winning seasons we had a tight defence, especially at home. We have already dropped more points at home than in either of our two title seasons and it won't be long before we have dropped as many as in both put together.

Tomorrow would be a good starting point, but I have my doubts as to whether we will keep one.

I couldn't disagree more
You say that scoring goals in most games hasn't been our issue, then illustrate that with "Three 1-1s at home tells it's own story.".
The story that tells me is that we're not closing games down, by scoring again and putting the game to bed.
Even with the best defence in the world, sitting on a 1-0 is a chancy business, and we shouldn't be attempting it.
Plus, if the centre backs are camped on the edge of the opposition box, as they are obviously instructed to, they are going to get caught out, and with Bravo seemingly incapable of dealing with one on ones, we are always going to be susceptible to leaking goals.
This is obviously the way Pep wants to play, and that's not going to change, so the only way we're going to get it to work is by putting our chances away, and start turning those 1-1's into 4 and 5-1's.

[nottsblue]

We need goals much more than we need clean sheets.

I for one think we need to start keeping clean sheets in order to win things. Title winners invariably have mean defences, certainly not ones which get breeched every game. That puts undue pressure on the forwards. It's obviously much easier to just have to score one to win a game with a clean sheet than two or three.

Scoring goals in most games hasn't been our issue. Three 1-1s at home tells it's own story. All of those games we dominated possession and limited the number of chances for the away side, yet we still conceded in each game. I know we should have scored more in all of the games but we did score in all of them so clean sheets would've resulted in six more points. In both our title winning seasons we had a tight defence, especially at home. We have already dropped more points at home than in either of our two title seasons and it won't be long before we have dropped as many as in both put together.

Tomorrow would be a good starting point, but I have my doubts as to whether we will keep one.

I couldn't disagree more
You say that scoring goals in most games hasn't been our issue, then illustrate that with "Three 1-1s at home tells it's own story.".
The story that tells me is that we're not closing games down, by scoring again and putting the game to bed.
Even with the best defence in the world, sitting on a 1-0 is a chancy business, and we shouldn't be attempting it.
Plus, if the centre backs are camped on the edge of the opposition box, as they are obviously instructed to, they are going to get caught out, and with Bravo seemingly incapable of dealing with one on ones, we are always going to be susceptible to leaking goals.
This is obviously the way Pep wants to play, and that's not going to change, so the only way we're going to get it to work is by putting our chances away, and start turning those 1-1's into 4 and 5-1's.

I fully agree we need to score more. I also fully agree it would be a dangerous game to get a goal in front and sit on it and I am not advocating that in the slightest. My point is that you cannot lose a game with a clean sheet and it's easier to nick one goal to win a tight game 1-0 than it is to score twice if we concede. I also accept we are not going to keep clean sheets every week so we also need to work on our finishing, but this is a thread regarding defence.

[Saul Goodman]

We won't keep clean sheets until we have a settled defence,Pep makes more changes than Pellers ever did.

Well this weekend will be interesting. Back 4 with Aleks partnering Stones or a back 3 with Aleks and Sagna flanking Stones and wingbacks?

[City64]

Kolarov nuff said that's a goal start for the oppo .

[aaron bond]

Kolarov nuff said that's a goal start for the oppo .

The sad thing is you could replace Kolarov in your sentence with Otamendi, Stones, Clichy or Zab and it would still be correct.

We are really in a defensive mess.

[Hazy2]

Kolarov nuff said that's a goal start for the oppo .

The sad thing is you could replace Kolarov in your sentence with Otamendi, Stones, Clichy or Zab and it would still be correct.

We are really in a defensive mess.

We don't have a Busquettes or an Alonso/Martinez/Vidal, so we have a back door wide open with access to ropy defenders and keeper who looks like he should have stayed at Barca, where he had an easy life. I know he is new, he just does not look like he is keeper for this league, he has time and Pep is loyal.

I hope for today is the foxes in decline, who do not have a one ball option of over the top for Vardy, which could cause us all sort of problems, No Ferna1 very little pressure on the ball and zero pace at the back.

[South Stand Balti]

Kolarov nuff said that's a goal start for the oppo .

The sad thing is you could replace Kolarov in your sentence with Otamendi, Stones, Clichy or Zab and it would still be correct.

We are really in a defensive mess.

Or Bravo.

[Mikhail Chigorin]

Genuine question as I don't watch much Spanish football, but how do Barca cope with the ball over the top, of the type which we have concerns about ??

Granted, defender for defender, they probably have players who are faster, more mobile, more athletic and of a better technical quality than we have but do they not press as high as Pep requires ourselves to do, or do Spanish teams not play the long ball as much as here in this country.

Similarly, what happened to Bayern when Pep was there and were they caught out by such a simple tactic, or did they cope with it in some way ??

[Moonchesteri]

Mangala is being sent back so maybe it will happen then. I think having Willy in goal will help but I really can't see us getting a clean sheet soon. The stats are not terrible but if you consider how much possession we have then we are easy to cut through. I'm more worried about having 4 wins in our last 14. The more we get familiar with what Pep wants the worse we seem to get. When Pep gets players in that can successfully play his system we will get more clean sheets then

Give me Mangala over Otamendi any day of the week

Deffo.