Analysing why City are not claiming victory in the matches where they dominate possession and control the ball - ByJordan Blackwell

[jim5000]

I think the reason we concede late goals is Calamity Amartey

[sacreblueits442]

3 minutes ago, jim5000 said:

I think the reason we concede late goals is Calamity Amartey

...suddenly, every thing has now become Amartey to blame!!!

Since the Newcastle game and the pass to get JJ in, he is getting all the stick even when it has little to do with him.

 The pass to JJ was fine, there was little space for him to control it and create something but the ball was now at the other end of the pitch and JJ just had to compete better at the moment. What happened after had two phases where we could have prevented the ball from coming across, and we managed neither. 

  It wasn’t so long ago he was saving our season in the backline!!!

[turlo]

We've struggled to find that balance between attack and defence all season. Around December to February time we were creating more and score more but leaking goals for fun. Since then Rodgers tweaked the system to play a 3 man midfield without a number 10 to "control games,"  which has made us more solid defensively (although still conceding silly goals when players switch off!) but has reduced our creativity in the final third. 

[HighPeakFox]

Is it reasonable to suggest that there are many small factors that mean we concede late, rather than saying it's one player, one manager, one single factor?

[Paninistickers]

Another example worth bringing up was Rennes away. 

 

.the 15 min period we had after scoring was a masterclass of our preferred style. Possession, killing time, carrying a threat and keeping them at arms length 40 odd yards from goal. Amartey and lil Wes had everything under control. Then they scored out of absolutely nothing  (quelle  surprise).....

 

The only conclusion I can draw is that, as at Rennes, we need a 2 goal cushion. 1 is simply too dangerous. In fairness, 1 is probably too close for comfort for every team. 

[fox_up_north]

What it maybe needs is a couple of dummy runs to break lines. With Vardy, there's always an anxiousness from defenders as they don't know where he'll pop up.

 

Watching the likes of certain players run forward then cut inside over and over is infuriating. 

 

Instead, when we've got the ball in a good position, provide options. How many times have we not provided that 2nd or 3rd pass to move into a different space? 

[Blanchflower78]

It's the magic ingredient moving from possession based to include end product ala City, Liverpool...

 

We aren't going to get there clearly but equally this shows possession really doesn't count for a huge amount without end product. 2015/2016 highlighting that.

 

I'm all for the vision and it's clearly a winning strategy of Europe's finest teams but we need to see a transition in to impacting this on to final third. It probably means 3-4 new additions and right skill set.

[SafewayFox]

Really liked this article but surely it could be condensed to a much more basic one stating that we’re static and offer very few positive runners off the ball.

 

When we play(ed) free flowing football under Rodgers previously it involved a lot of one touch/triangle passing to take opposition players out of the game but now it’s all about allowing them to reset their formation and practically “park the bus” hence us offering very little as xG or more importantly for me much to cheer about as a fan.

 

Move Madders centrally, drop Tielemans for a few games and instruct whoever the wide players are to be no further than 5/10 yards off Daka/Iheanacho so they can actually link up play with runners off the ball to create a bit of panic in the opposition defence please Brendan.

 

 

[Jattdogg]

End of the day score more goals in your oppositions net then they (or you) score in your own net.

 

Whether you do this with majority possession or not who gives a fook.

 

I am not a fan of parking the bus, taking the foot off the pedal when it's working.  Keep doing what works!

 

[MarriedaLeicesterGirl]

6 hours ago, mod hero said:

I think we would go back to 4231 Iheanacho and in particular Daka are being hung out to dry up top, this formation will allow Maddison to play in his preferred position and play closer to the strikers.

 

great article that by Jordan Blackwell btw

The problem we don't have a CDM for the European games, and I guess (???) Rodgers doesn't want to change shape too much for league games, given how important our European run is right now -- There is also the problem of fitting both Youri and KDH in the side.

[Mike Oxlong]

Our playing style derives from the Brendan’s management DNA. I was recalling his Swansea side from earlier in his care which kept non penetrating possession for fun with similar results and goal difference to ours this season 

 

[David Hankey]

You can analyse this until the cows come home but football really is a very simple game.

 

It doesn't matter how much possession you have, it's what you do with it.

 

Secondly, goals win matches and as we appear good at creating chances we don't take anywhere near enough of them.

[Guest worth_the_wait]

As per the above post, most stats are pretty meaningless.   There's only one that matters.

 

 

Expected goals.
wtf?

 

Completed passes.
An aimless pass sidewards?  or a brilliant defence splitting pass?

 

Possession.
Meaningless.  In our title year, our last 2 home matches v Swansea (4-0) and Everton (3-1) we averaged 39% possession.
We utterly dominated and controlled both of those games.

 

Shots.
What about headers? A good shot flashing 1" past the post?  or a feeble shot that goes out for a throw-in?

 

Shots on target.
A shot that forces the goalie to make a great save?  or one that gently floats into his arms with no danger at all?

 

Corners.
A reasonable indication of having done some attacking, but sometimes you can have a quick 3-4 corners in succession which skews the stats.

 

[LestaAl]

Not sure Brendan will take much attention of these very sensible comments, sadly …..

[mod hero]

21 minutes ago, MarriedaLeicesterGirl said:

The problem we don't have a CDM for the European games, and I guess (???) Rodgers doesn't want to change shape too much for league games, given how important our European run is right now -- There is also the problem of fitting both Youri and KDH in the side.

Very good point, however.. if we carry on like we are then we will probably exit the ECL and slip down the league if he doesn’t do something. Leaving Mendy out the squad in Europe looks to be a disaster

[coolhandfox]

Drop Youri, play KDH in his role, Maddison back at 10 and someone at RW.

 

Back to 4-2-3-1 and all will be good.

 

 

[mucfox]

ball possession says nothing, but nothing at all, about the ability to score goals in the penalty area. And matches are decided in the box.

Without Jamie Vardy, however, we are unfortunately very toothless Foxes...     

[jerry]

34 minutes ago, David Hankey said:

You can analyse this until the cows come home but football really is a very simple game.

 

It doesn't matter how much possession you have, it's what you do with it.

 

Secondly, goals win matches and as we appear good at creating chances we don't take anywhere near enough of them.

Agree but basically it's down to the quality you can put on the pitch.  Not enough quality up front now Vardy is now coming to the end of his career and apart from Fofana and an ageing injury prone  Evans same applies to central defense.

[Jobyfox]

I really don’t think the title of this thread is long enough! 

[lcfcsnow]

Simpy not enough goals or chances created, averaging 1.2 goals per game in the league since the new year. We desperately need new attacking options but also to be let off the leash. The amount of times after a match he's complained we play the forward pass too soon, is it any wonder we spend most of the match passing sideways. It feels like he's striving for perfection but you're not going to get that without the best players in the world, just concentrate on making use of our players best qualities we showed when we won the league that's all it can take.

[jerry]

10 minutes ago, lcfcsnow said:

Simpy not enough goals or chances created, averaging 1.2 goals per game in the league since the new year. We desperately need new attacking options but also to be let off the leash. The amount of times after a match he's complained we play the forward pass too soon, is it any wonder we spend most of the match passing sideways. It feels like he's striving for perfection but you're not going to get that without the best players in the world, just concentrate on making use of our players best qualities we showed when we won the league that's all it can take.

As supporters are our expectations with the present squad overly optimistic or is it down to tactics / coaching. How many performances this season have we appeared to be a top 6 side ?

[sacreblueits442]

11 minutes ago, jerry said:

As supporters are our expectations with the present squad overly optimistic or is it down to tactics / coaching. How many performances this season have we appeared to be a top 6 side ?

....we do have a tendency to play for 45 minutes in a game, unable to play for a full 90 mins.!!!

[jerry]

1 minute ago, sacreblueits442 said:

....we do have a tendency to play for 45 minutes in a game, unable to play for a full 90 mins.!!!

Agreed. With City it is always ' a game of two halves ' 

[An Sionnach]

23 minutes ago, jerry said:

As supporters are our expectations with the present squad overly optimistic or is it down to tactics / coaching. How many performances this season have we appeared to be a top 6 side ?

As usual its a bit if both , we are a very patchy team and even during a single 45 mins we switch from excellence to mediocrity. This is not like the PL winning team, when we maintained a generally high level of consistency. I have said this before , we lack a strong captain on the field and as long as Kasper keeps the job that will remain the case.

[davieG]

1 hour ago, Jobyfox said:

I really don’t think the title of this thread is long enough! 

Probably but it was the writer's original title and I also wanted to include his name.