By Ediale Kingsley
It was Man City playing Shaktar Donetsk at home yesterday at the Champions League fixture. After a dominating EPL feet, it was another clean sheet, another multi goals, no more injuries, minutes for Gundogan and Man City is top of the group with 6 points.
Fans of Man City coach, Pep Guardiola, are starting to think this Pep guy does know something.
“I went to the game last night, and the atmosphere was subdued, the game bitty and frustrating and they don’t serve booze at half time but it was actually not a bad game to be at” a fan voiced.
“I didn’t really get the feeling SD were going to equalise, and we seemed in fairly strong control”.
Ottamendi tried a couple of times to add a bit of excitement for the crowd by heading the ball back towards the goal straight to an opposition player but apart from that it was a professional job.
That’s what’s always been missing from the modern City team. They’ve always had excitement, recently had great players but never the cold calmness to quietly go about their European business winning games without a lot of fuss.
Guardiola needs to do a lot, as despite not claiming it about himself, is titled one of the world’s best managers. He’s had a big budget and has his team, so it’s all about making it better and better by coaching. Sterling is definitely someone who has benefited from Guardiola’s coaching and a large part of this is Pep’s comments about him playing through the middle. I’m not sure if Pep’s eventual plan is to actually play Sterling through the middle, but what it has led to is Sterling cropping up between the posts for several tap ins. When Aguero is in the team it would seem less important for a winger to keep getting in these positions, but what has been happening recently is that the World Class Aguero is in the centre and pulls out to a wide position. Any movement from Aguero is a trigger for panic in defenders and they overcompensate to cover him. With his pace and quick feet he can evade the extra attention and has been looking to roll the ball in/along the 6 yard box. The problem with this has been that Aguero is obviously the focal point of the attack as a striker, so without his instincts to be in these positions the ball keeps rolling. Pep has used the focus on Aguero and obviously told Sterling to delay his run slightly and he will get a free run into the box and the ball will end up on his toe. Happened twice in the Watford game and a couple of times last night. Contrast this to Sane who seems to be told to stay tight to the touchline and look to make penetrating overlapping runs through the corner of the box, usually with a quick one-two with D Silva and Mendy. Add in the general fluid nature of all the other attacking players and De Bruyne’s free roaming central midfield role it creates gaps and hesitation in defenders, and now Pep has the players in every position in his first 11 (and most of the bench) to hurt teams.
1 minute after Gundogan came on, he managed to break up play then ran 2/3’s of the pitch, finally passing the ball to Aguero in the box. I know it’s dangerous to believe he will have an injury free period and have been burned thinking the same about Kompany (those two between them have had more false dawns than the Truman Show) but he adds real dynamism and drive from CM, in the way Toure used to. Someone to run with the ball from within our half and really push back the opposition midfield and defence.
And the last word goes to the heir apparent B. Silva. City’s fans must be desperate to see him play more, and he made a huge impact in the final ten last night. D. Silva is in my opinion the best player to ever wear the Man City shirt, and despite slowing down considerably is still one of the best playmakers in the league. However, it is always better to have the replacement ready before you need him, that way he can learn from Slaphead Dave and won’t have the immediate pressure of holding the keys to the attack and having to dictate the play. City fans love D Silva and it’s good to know that some games he can actually have a rest and Prince Silva can keep watch.