Agreed. And Eriksen being knackered gave them more space.
Erik ten Hag | 2022/23 & 2023/24
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The man is a genius.
New owners, we finally have a proper quality manager and Liverpool turning to garbage. This is turning out to be an amazing season.
Which face it they didn't really do much with TBH
Sure you have, it’s Robbie Savage.
Well that was a huge contrast from the same fixture last season where City came into our back yard and took the piss out of us in a 2-0 win. And that came on the back off a 5-0 thrashing at home to Liverpool who could've scored more.
They’ll still be keeping an eye on the club and probably hoping we fail so they can laugh and say it wasn’t because we was there. Ain’t happening though.
Seen a few interviews from him recently and I’m now 100% convinced he is the guy.
He was talking today and said that one of the targets was to connect the fans with the players on the pitch. I know today is a big game but it felt like everyone was in it together and it hasn’t felt like that in ages.
He went on to speak about “the pillars” of success and went in to quite a bit of detail of what he demands and it’s everything many have been saying for seasons. The team is no where near the finished article yet but it looks like a team, it plays like a team and you can just see the massive improvements happening.
He was talking today and said that one of the targets was to connect the fans with the players on the pitch. I know today is a big game but it felt like everyone was in it together and it hasn’t felt like that in ages.
He went on to speak about “the pillars” of success and went in to quite a bit of detail of what he demands and it’s everything many have been saying for seasons. The team is no where near the finished article yet but it looks like a team, it plays like a team and you can just see the massive improvements happening.
Guarantee a lot of the pundits will ignore the fact we’ve been on a great run and ETH is doing wonders. They’ll all put it down to the fall of liverpool, Chelsea, city not being at their best. It’s never about how good we’re doing, it’s always about how bad others are doing that makes us look good. It’s so annoying but when it’s Liverpool they get all the praise and stuff in the world.
I agree that's something that is very heartening to hear. But a few days ago he also mentioned in a interview that he wanted to connect the structure at the club and wanted to work together with all the football departments, so there's a togetherness and cooperation going forward.
And that's how a football club can thrive by having a head coach who connects the dots and helps align the whole process.
No, but it was stressful all the same, especially when they scored in a period when we weren’t getting a kick!
Was all the sweeter that we managed to turn it around. ETH has got the players believing they can do it. He gets the right blend of know-how and adventure. For example Garnacho was just what was needed at the time he came on. The new signings have been important and the side looks really well balanced.
Good shout
I have never seen Pep's side being in a deadlock like that with 0 shots on goal like in the first half while they looked completely out of idea.
TBH I've seen it so many times now it's no longer stressful, though if I'd actually been there I'd have probably been shitting bricks!
It was a great 1st half from us. Perfectly executed. Should have gone up 1-0.
Martial was a huge miss in the 2nd half.
If it ain't him it's his sister LilyGood shout
You didn't see their last game then, I take it.
He kept on attacking and we started taking more risks going forward, which exposed their flanks because his fullbacks were out of position and we took advantage in transition due to the space that was there to exploit.
Guardiola is obviously a great coach, but he's always been at clubs with strong teams from Barca, Bayern and now at Man City. And his ego it seems won't allow him to cede a bit of control.
Granted I didn't watch a lot of shitty taka
Yeah he sees the whole picture on multiple levels; identifies the issues and gets on with solving them.
He is an inspiring guy to listen to. He doesn’t over-project or beat his chest but he has a quiet confidence and a steeliness. Although his English isn’t perfect he’s very articulate - eloquent in his own way; he’s understated but simultaneously a very striking character.
And it’s clear now that the job is not too big for him (which might be the single most important thing).
To be fair, different for it to happen in the league Cup with a rotated squad and lesser motivation than a Manchester derby in the league.
We're still a work in progress and it's going to take a bit more time to go toe to toe with the likes of Man City.
But in the last few weeks I've noticed our pressing and counter pressing game has improved but it's still not as aggressive as what I think ten Hag is working towards. Before the game today, I noticed we were pressing high in a hybrid manner with 3 players closing the space but leaving a out-ball for the fullback. I think that's intentional because otherwise you'd expect both of our fullbacks to push up high and close off the space to the opposing fullbacks who are free in space. So it's pretty clear that ten Hag is allowing the opposition a out ball out wide but is wanting the team to press aggressively in midfield so they can't play through us.
In the game today against City, we seemed to have employed a man orientated press which I think was the correct move because I don't believe we have the team to go toe to toe with a team like Man City, yet. So ceding space and allowing them to have the ball in their defensive third was probably the correct move.
Man City's second half performance where they quickened the tempo by moving the ball quickly along with having players who can carry the ball caused us alot of problems and ultimately resulted in them taking the lead. And players like De Bruyne once again showed why he's so important to City in the middle and attacking thirds due to his ability to execute passes and carry the ball between the two phases of play. And he wasn't the only one who could do that which which caused us a lot of problems.
I think we were quite fortunate to win this game but I do feel we're on our way to transitioning into a more proactive, attacking team who will hopefully impose their game on teams like Man City in the not too distant future.
We have a problem in the first phase of the build up against high calibre teams who close off the space and our central areas lack a creative player with dribbling/ball carrying ability, which is non existent imo. And if we can add and improve on those areas, we will then look a even more frightening prospect. Because right now Erik ten Hag is intentionally playing a lot more conservatively due to the players at his disposal imo.
We're improving, but we need about 3 more transfers and a bit more development on the training ground to close the gap as far as implementing a imposing style against even the best teams.
But in the last few weeks I've noticed our pressing and counter pressing game has improved but it's still not as aggressive as what I think ten Hag is working towards. Before the game today, I noticed we were pressing high in a hybrid manner with 3 players closing the space but leaving a out-ball for the fullback. I think that's intentional because otherwise you'd expect both of our fullbacks to push up high and close off the space to the opposing fullbacks who are free in space. So it's pretty clear that ten Hag is allowing the opposition a out ball out wide but is wanting the team to press aggressively in midfield so they can't play through us.
In the game today against City, we seemed to have employed a man orientated press which I think was the correct move because I don't believe we have the team to go toe to toe with a team like Man City, yet. So ceding space and allowing them to have the ball in their defensive third was probably the correct move.
Man City's second half performance where they quickened the tempo by moving the ball quickly along with having players who can carry the ball caused us alot of problems and ultimately resulted in them taking the lead. And players like De Bruyne once again showed why he's so important to City in the middle and attacking thirds due to his ability to execute passes and carry the ball between the two phases of play. And he wasn't the only one who could do that which which caused us a lot of problems.
I think we were quite fortunate to win this game but I do feel we're on our way to transitioning into a more proactive, attacking team who will hopefully impose their game on teams like Man City in the not too distant future.
We have a problem in the first phase of the build up against high calibre teams who close off the space and our central areas lack a creative player with dribbling/ball carrying ability, which is non existent imo. And if we can add and improve on those areas, we will then look a even more frightening prospect. Because right now Erik ten Hag is intentionally playing a lot more conservatively due to the players at his disposal imo.
We're improving, but we need about 3 more transfers and a bit more development on the training ground to close the gap as far as implementing a imposing style against even the best teams.
Actually our first phase build up has vastly improved and there were some beautiful moments in the first half today where we cut through their press on the ground prior to releasing runners. If anything, the team going away from this in the first 20 minutes of the second half is the reason City were able to dominate this period of the match. Furthermore it's odd to suggest we were lucky to win when they only created one shot on target (xG was massively in our favor). Agree with regards to the pressing though, our decision to employ a mid-block press today ceded a lot of possession and this was the key reason we didn't go toe to toe per se with them.
Exactly. He's literally said his ideal team is 11 midfielders, he'd rather get countered into oblivion than play a more even/direct game. So anyone complaining about us not dominating possession is shouting into the wind. I really thought the first half before Martial had to come off was telling, we looked miles better and should have been a goal or two ahead even while having little possession.
I'm with you on possession. Until we keep the ball better we won't be consistently winning trophies.
I know today we've won with very little of the ball and its brilliant, bit it doesn't work over the course of a season. You need the ball to win trophies.
ETH needs a couple of players who can move with the ball in tight areas. Those with the footwork to get out of tight spots.
Yeah I think his complaint basically comes down to DDG. He's awful with his distribution compared to the top keepers, and it means any time we have to play back to our keeper under a press will end in a hopeful hoof up the pitch that ends in possession loss, as opposed to watching Ederson effortlessly knock it about under pressure.
Ya DDG gets it right only about 50-60% of the time (which is better than the 30% we used to see from him) whereas Ederson gets it right 90% of the time, that makes a huge difference over the course of 90 minutes. In fact I would argue DDG has a bad pattern of his distribution being good at the start of a match and progressively getting worse over time. It's why undoubtedly we will purchase Diogo Costa this summer along with DDG agreeing to reduce his wages (seems to have already agreed to do this according to media reports).
What I mean is we can't control the deeper phases of play against the better teams. And that showed again today where we ceded possession to Man City who dominated the ball.
You're correct there was moments where we were good in possession and went through the phases beautifully in a very direct/vertical manner. And I think that will become more pronounced as time goes on and we add to the team and develop the team further.
The news of a sale or partial sale and Raine Groups involvement were floating about last Summer. We spent big.
I hope we get Kane, de Jong, a ball playing gk and possibly a rb next summer. Then we are cooking. I really think de Jong would do wonders to our midfield and would take it up a notch alongside Casemiro.
What I didn't like was that we stopped pressing in second half while still standing high on the pitch, thereby letting them cut right through us.
Ya that makes sense.
What positions are these 3 transfers? Carrying midfielder, goalkeeper and striker?
It's funny, I'm pretty sure ETH said the exact same thing post match in one of the pressers.
Enzo, Diogo Costa, and a striker like Osimhen/Kane etc. It's not a coincidence these players have been linked for a long time. I think in terms of ball carrying ability Bellingham would be ideal but we would probably have to perform well this season to even have a shot at him.
That's £250m+, never happening. Not that I disagree with the names. Especially Costa and Osimhen
The most impressive about ETH after this win is that he still mentioned how poorly we started the second half. Sign of a top manager. Other, lesser, managers would have got lost in the moment, thought only about the result. But ETH looked at the match as a whole and highlighted an issue he wasn’t happy with. That’s what he said in public now I’d imagine in the dressing his going to make sure he gets the point across and works on it.
Similar vibes to SAF, I remember some of his post match pressers. Thinking we’ve won he’s gonna be happy, only to hear him speak about what he didn’t like and needs improving. Granted this was a derby Vs a top team so ETH was more proportionate but deserves even more credit for expecting more despite beating City.
Similar vibes to SAF, I remember some of his post match pressers. Thinking we’ve won he’s gonna be happy, only to hear him speak about what he didn’t like and needs improving. Granted this was a derby Vs a top team so ETH was more proportionate but deserves even more credit for expecting more despite beating City.
Yeah we’re not the finished article and there’s some more recruitment to be done for sure. But I think even now we will mostly have the lion’s share. Not against City though.
Purely for fun (because the score is the only thing that really matters), it will be interesting to see what the split is when we play Arsenal.
ETH finally has made me believing once again. It's the first time since Fergie left, that it feels like we have the right man to take us forward.
He has built a winning mentality in this team and we have warriors like Bruno, Lisandro, Varane and Casemiro leading the way on the pitch. This is the best I've felt about the team/club post-Fergie, and so much credit has to go to the gaffer. He took over a shambles that had their egos massaged and a loser mentality, from the Ole days, and completely turned it around. The club has finally hired the right man, after some proper duds.
It's gonna take more time, and there'll be hiccups along the way, but the signs have been overwhelmingly positive.
He has built a winning mentality in this team and we have warriors like Bruno, Lisandro, Varane and Casemiro leading the way on the pitch. This is the best I've felt about the team/club post-Fergie, and so much credit has to go to the gaffer. He took over a shambles that had their egos massaged and a loser mentality, from the Ole days, and completely turned it around. The club has finally hired the right man, after some proper duds.
It's gonna take more time, and there'll be hiccups along the way, but the signs have been overwhelmingly positive.
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