Interesting how it can be spun. Over 6 games there are 3 in-form teams, City, Spurs and United (4 wins, 2 losses)
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
The 2023-2024 Football Thread
- Thread starter Scepticalscribe
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Kompany really needs to take a step back and accept that he has to earn the right to play his style.
The EPL is too ruthless for total football with championship level players. You'll be dismantled week in, week out.
I fear for him and Burnley now
Dyche has gotten Everton playing again
O'Neil doing a magnificent job with Wolves.
The EPL is too ruthless for total football with championship level players. You'll be dismantled week in, week out.
I fear for him and Burnley now
Dyche has gotten Everton playing again
O'Neil doing a magnificent job with Wolves.
Makes you wonder whether we’d be calling Guardiola the best manager in the world if he had a Championship-level squad to work with. Would he have the tactical pragmatism to play radically different systems to get results with his squad? Or would he nail his colors to the mast and go down in flames playing ‘his’ system?
I think we often don’t give managers at lower levels enough credit. When bringing a promoted team into a new league you generally have to substantially adapt your tactics. That’s not easy to do. Good managers at that level have to be very flexible and able to learn quickly.
Last edited:
@Apple fanboy: Read today's piece in the Observer/Guardian by Séamas O'Reilly entitled "Welcome to the glorious agony of football". I think that you may well enjoy it.
An excellent and thougt-provoking point.
Has Pep Guardiola ever managed a team that wasn't equipped with, or furnished with, the very best - in terms of money, resources, support, supplies, players, people - that was available in that league at that time?
I would like to see how he would cope as a manger in a less than ideal world, - such as the Championship - or, one of the clubs where ambition has to be constantly tempered to be compatible wth available resources and where excellent players have to be sold as soon as their development and gifts have become obvious to others because player sales are what finances the very existence of the club - in a place and space where meeting his needs was neither possible nor a priority on the part of thse who have employed him.
Agreed.
Thanks. I’ll take a look later.
Currently 1-1 against Forrest. A win would be very welcome.
Vale till i die ! i'm Vale till i die, i know i am , i'm sure i am , i'm Vale till i die !
It's injury and suspension season in the Premier League. Liverpool have a few starters out so Tsimikas continues at left back and Wataru Endo started in midfield against the Bees today. He did OK but rode the line a bit on fouls, I wonder if he was perhaps a step slow due to lack of playing time. I noticed MacAllister's absence.
Darwin had good match against Brentford, striking twice but narrowly (correctly) ruled offside both times. Great assist for Salah on the goal though. Nunez is a fabulous instinctive player. You just can't give him time to think or he'll make a hash of things. Salah's header for the second goal has to be one of the most casual-looking headers you'll ever see. He barely moved from where he stood when Tsimikas struck the cross. Brentford thought the ball went out and everyone just stopped, but Tsmikas had put it on a plate perfectly for Mo. Play to the whistle etc etc...
On paper a routine win with a Jota bullet making it 3-0, but Allison did have a pretty busy day, as Brentford put a lot of dangerous balls into the area and looked quite threatening from set pieces. He saved a certain goal at 0-0 and was forced into one of his trademark one v one dribbling duels with an opponent in his own box in the second half. Virgil had to punt one off the line. Maupay whiffed on a loose ball when he might have had a pretty good shooting opportunity.
The most encouraging thing from a Liverpool perspective is that Brentford defended deep and effectively, but Liverpool were able to break them down. It's always a relief to go into a break with a win.
You only really see this come back to bite him against the best clubs. But if you are managing a lesser club those kinds of mistakes will be punished much more often.
Darwin had good match against Brentford, striking twice but narrowly (correctly) ruled offside both times. Great assist for Salah on the goal though. Nunez is a fabulous instinctive player. You just can't give him time to think or he'll make a hash of things. Salah's header for the second goal has to be one of the most casual-looking headers you'll ever see. He barely moved from where he stood when Tsimikas struck the cross. Brentford thought the ball went out and everyone just stopped, but Tsmikas had put it on a plate perfectly for Mo. Play to the whistle etc etc...
On paper a routine win with a Jota bullet making it 3-0, but Allison did have a pretty busy day, as Brentford put a lot of dangerous balls into the area and looked quite threatening from set pieces. He saved a certain goal at 0-0 and was forced into one of his trademark one v one dribbling duels with an opponent in his own box in the second half. Virgil had to punt one off the line. Maupay whiffed on a loose ball when he might have had a pretty good shooting opportunity.
The most encouraging thing from a Liverpool perspective is that Brentford defended deep and effectively, but Liverpool were able to break them down. It's always a relief to go into a break with a win.
The idea comes to mind primarily because Pep has a history of occasionally making weird tactical tweaks and overthinking things. With Man City the individual quality of the players, and the squad depth, is so good that even if he sets his team up wrong for a given opponent, the players are often good enough to simply get the job done and there is always an elite group on the bench to call on.
You only really see this come back to bite him against the best clubs. But if you are managing a lesser club those kinds of mistakes will be punished much more often.
Well, West Ham have claimed all three points, defeating Forest by three goals to two.
Elsewhere, Liverpool - courtesy of a three nil victory over Brentford - ease to second place, edging us off that spot.
While we all - for now, - currently tie on 27 points - City, Arsenal and Liverpool - I do not expect that state of affairs to remain as it is, for, City have a game in hand (which will start soon), against Chelsea.
And very happy I was with the win. Keeps us in the right half of the table.
A very good win for West Ham; now, I suggest that you read Séamas O'Reilly, as I imagine that you will enjoy the piece.
Keeps it tight at the top. But I would have preferred to see Chelsea lose as they are nipping at our toes.
An absolutely extraordinary game.
Delighted to see someone - anyone - succeed in putting four goals past Manchester City.
Good on Chelsea for somewhat building on the Spurs win. Look to be on course with injuries abating.
The only way we see a new champion this season, is if the other teams keep taking points off City during this period of tough fixtures. Liverpool next.
City still haven't got going. And still look to be in a transition with Gundogan, KDB and Mahrez missing
Cole Palmer has arguably been Chelsea's most valuable signing and is another one that City have let go and returned to haunt them
But i guess thats what happens when you have a squad bursting at the seams with talent
The only way we see a new champion this season, is if the other teams keep taking points off City during this period of tough fixtures. Liverpool next.
City still haven't got going. And still look to be in a transition with Gundogan, KDB and Mahrez missing
Cole Palmer has arguably been Chelsea's most valuable signing and is another one that City have let go and returned to haunt them
But i guess thats what happens when you have a squad bursting at the seams with talent
Excellent game between Chelsea and City. Chelsea seem to have discovered how to score goals again. If Poch can keep their heads up, they could well be in the mix for a top 4 place, they certainly have the quality. City played well, but were exposed at the back too often. I hope they're that generous for the next PL match...
Not so much "exposed at the back", as that someone, somewhere, has offered a potential blueprint for how to put goals past that exposed rear that City deployed.
Yes....and no. From my perspective, Man City have never been a really defensively solid side. And I think that comes down to a combination of transfer policy, coaching and the tactical system. Pep is not really interested in defending per se. He doesn't want 'defenders' in his squad. He believes his system will holistically take care of both attack and defense and he doesn't want his team in a position where they are 'defending' in the traditional sense.
Like Klopp, it is the deliberate acceptance of risk in exchange for what Pep believes is a winning formula when you have access to elite players. In other words, at this level, defending as such is a waste of resources, or indicative of a lack of imagination or ambition. If you control the ball and your attack terrifies opponents, you don't really need to defend - your opponents will be doing all the defending. You'll allow counterattacking breakaways from time to time, but with a world-class keeper between the posts you'll save some of those anyway.
The flip side of this is that Man City can be got at - and always have had this 'weakness.' But few sides have the mental and physical discipline and skill to really put pressure on them. When you do, they crack. But can you outscore them?
Note, also, that while Chelsea put four goals past them, they leaked an equal amount. That's only good for a point. A good result for Chelsea, but no manager is happy to get scored on four times.
And, finally, there are a few teams out there (Atelico Madrid under Simeone comes to mind) who are philosophically opposite - and have had success as well. That's one great thing about football, in spite of what pundits may say there isn't a 'right' way to play football.
I'd say it's a very valid perspective. But then, I tend to have an open mind.
I would assume the worry for Pep is not that they drew with Chelsea but the fact that a underperforming team and yes Chelsea is underperforming at the moment, was able to score 4 goals against them. This will undoubtedly get every PL coach and manager going over the game inch by inch to see just how Chelsea were able to manage it and then try and apply something similar.
An underperforming team being able to score 4 goals past City shows that City has a weakness that can be exploited.
An underperforming team being able to score 4 goals past City shows that City has a weakness that can be exploited.
The stats don't support the opinion. I too have an open mind; it means I compel myself to find out the facts first before I posit an opinion. According to Wiki stats, Pep has an average of 2.46gpm across his managerial career, versus 0.77 goals against. That does not suggest defensive frailty. Pep's overall win percentage across his managerial career is 72%, over Diego Simeone's 59%. Whilst there is some truth in the claim that attacking teams can concede more often too, this is just the nature of that style of play. Truth is that it's very rare that City concede more than 2 goals, say, the Chelsea game was an aberration. Go and look at City's goals for and against figures over the last 5 years or so; they are consistently amongst the lowest conceding teams. Fact. The bottom line is, City are not 'frail' defensively.
Last edited: