2021/2022 Premier League Discussion

Man we need a new Molecastle.

I used to assume Mole was simply in the hiding of his love for NUFC just to spring out when they aren't shit just to avoid the GL roast but he's become a total passive shithouse of a fan ffs

Here's hoping some uneducated lout of a Sheikh can buy them so we can see the fire lit in him or a new breed.

Something tells me that Mole's interest will return within the next decade, when the Castle becomes immaculate

oh Mole loves the don't let him fool you
you should see how happy he is in the NBA thread after his Pelicans splashed on a scorer who is in the plateau stage of his career.

El Gunner wrote:oh Mole loves the don't let him fool you
you should see how happy he is in the NBA thread after his Pelicans splashed on a scorer who is in the plateau stage of his career.

Difference is i watched every Pelicans game when we were 1-12 and CJ represents us turning the corner. I wasn't posting about it because i doubt any of you wanted to listen about a 1-12 team lol.

I haven't watched a Newcastle game since early Rafa days.

It amazes me how a club bank rolled by a country is incapable of finding a goalkeeper coach who can tell Ederson that the way he approaches long range 1v1s is completely retarded. It further amazes me how one of the GOAT coaches hasn't ironed this out of his game when it's been 4 years.

Pep taking a big risk attacking in a 3-6-1 after the Spurs goal. You need numerical superiority against Conte's bus, but going man for man against Spurs' front line was really risky. Spurs had some dangerous counters.

great match, both coaches and teams playing to their best styles

Casciavit wrote:Pep taking a big risk attacking in a 3-6-1 after the Spurs goal. You need numerical superiority against Conte's bus, but going man for man against Spurs' front line was really risky. Spurs had some dangerous counters.

Pep has huuge balls.

Kane makes it 2-1. He's been the best player today. His final passes and through balls have torched City.

Conte is an outstanding coach. Far better than Pep. Just a difficult personality for players but his coaching ability is unreal

This is what happens when you don't have a striker. Spurs have 10 players in the box and all City can do is cross the ball to 5'6 Bernardo and Foden.

Penalty kick shot fantastically

KANEEEEEEEEEE

UNREAL

What a match ffs

City vs Spurs and late game drama

City's ability to break down deep blocks .......
Not as good as lauded
Struggled vs 10 men Arsenal
Vs Southampton
And now here

WELL DESERVED WIN FOR SPURS

RealGunner wrote:Conte is an outstanding coach. Far better than Pep. Just a difficult personality for players but his coaching ability is unreal

he's the best counter attacking coach in the past 10 years

Sina wrote:City's ability to break down deep blocks .......
Not as good as lauded
Struggled vs 10 men Arsenal
Vs Southampton
And now here

WELL DESERVED WIN FOR SPURS

Their issue is when they go down. They lack a natural scoring threat. This City compared to the 18/19 one runs less and passes more. It's all about control. They went from a front line of Sané, Aguero, Sterling to Foden, KDB, Mahrez.

So they control the games better now and when they go up its hard to beat them because they'll pass you to death. They've won all 18 games that they've gone 1-0 up in.

The lack of scoring threat comes into play when they go down. The players naturally become more aggressive and the game opens up more. When you don't have a reference up front other players need to fill that void which can lead to loose positioning. They've only won 1/5 of the games they've gone 1-0 down in.

It makes sense why they wanted Kane so bad last summer. He can do the dropping and link up Pep wants from his F9, but he's a world class 6'2 CF at the same time.

PSG are currently 0-3 down to Nantes and are looking quite lethargic out there. Must've blown their load of energy in their last match

PSG are fielding their seemingly best team, but they didn't seem to account for the presence of the legendary magician, Merlin.

You're absolutely in the correct thread my freund

nobody mentioned Luis Diaz yet... seems like Liverpool got themselves another legit attacking option

Neve been that impressed by City tbh. People saying they’re the best team in PL history are way off the mark. Shortcomings repeatedly exposed in the champions league.
The reason they’re dominating the PL is because they’ve bought the best bench. Squad depth helps a lot over 9 months

Casciavit wrote:Their issue is when they go down. They lack a natural scoring threat. This City compared to the 18/19 one runs less and passes more. It's all about control. They went from a front line of Sané, Aguero, Sterling to Foden, KDB, Mahrez.

So they control the games better now and when they go up its hard to beat them because they'll pass you to death. They've won all 18 games that they've gone 1-0 up in.

The lack of scoring threat comes into play when they go down. The players naturally become more aggressive and the game opens up more. When you don't have a reference up front other players need to fill that void which can lead to loose positioning. They've only won 1/5 of the games they've gone 1-0 down in.

It makes sense why they wanted Kane so bad last summer. He can do the dropping and link up Pep wants from his F9, but he's a world class 6'2 CF at the same time.

It makes no sense how they never went for a striker/goal scorer in the summer, perhaps they're limited to what may fit Pep style, but Kane was an obvious choice, 150m is a steep price, but for City it's nothing forking out 100m for Grealish was stupid, they should've just went all in for Kane. This season can come down to them losing it all due not having a goalscorer.

What you think about Gundo-KdB midfield? I don't like it whenever I see it. They don't have the same impact Bernardo brings. City best midfield has been Gundo-Bernardo, the run against Pool which they won by a point, there last season CL run consisted of this. KdB is better as a false 9 imo, also don't like Foden false 9 role either he's much better on the wings for them.

El Gunner wrote:nobody mentioned Luis Diaz yet... seems like Liverpool got themselves another legit attacking option

They have great depth now there. Diaz will be massive for there very impressive in his time at Porto. I think Casc spoke highly of him a year back or so.

Winter is Coming wrote:What you think about Gundo-KdB midfield? I don't like it whenever I see it. They don't have the same impact Bernardo brings. City best midfield has been Gundo-Bernardo, the run against Pool which they won by a point, there last season CL run consisted of this. KdB is better as a false 9 imo, also don't like Foden false 9 role either he's much better on the wings for them.

agree with everything you say here... those are their best complementary fits. Foden on the left, Mahrez on the right. Although i think Foden's best position is on the right, but you have to make room for Mahrez too the way he has been playing lately.

Winter is Coming wrote:

Casciavit wrote:Their issue is when they go down. They lack a natural scoring threat. This City compared to the 18/19 one runs less and passes more. It's all about control. They went from a front line of Sané, Aguero, Sterling to Foden, KDB, Mahrez.

So they control the games better now and when they go up its hard to beat them because they'll pass you to death. They've won all 18 games that they've gone 1-0 up in.

The lack of scoring threat comes into play when they go down. The players naturally become more aggressive and the game opens up more. When you don't have a reference up front other players need to fill that void which can lead to loose positioning. They've only won 1/5 of the games they've gone 1-0 down in.

It makes sense why they wanted Kane so bad last summer. He can do the dropping and link up Pep wants from his F9, but he's a world class 6'2 CF at the same time.

It makes no sense how they never went for a striker/goal scorer in the summer, perhaps they're limited to what may fit Pep style, but Kane was an obvious choice, 150m is a steep price, but for City it's nothing forking out 100m for Grealish was stupid, they should've just went all in for Kane. This season can come down to them losing it all due not having a goalscorer.

What you think about Gundo-KdB midfield? I don't like it whenever I see it. They don't have the same impact Bernardo brings. City best midfield has been Gundo-Bernardo, the run against Pool which they won by a point, there last season CL run consisted of this. KdB is better as a false 9 imo, also don't like Foden false 9 role either he's much better on the wings for them.

Seems to me like they weren't willing to make an investment for a CF unless it was a world-class one. They had two options. Invest in a player who could give them a few world-class years and fit their system like a glove in Kane, or wait a year and push for Haaland. Haaland will take longer to adapt, but he could be their CF for the next decade. I honestly think that was the right approach. If I was a director and I needed to sign a CF, I'd either sign one in their prime or sign a sure-bet who can perform for a decade. After all, leading the line for a top team is the outfield position with the highest pressure. Once it was clear Spurs weren't going to let Kane go, City probably thought it wasn't worth spending that same amount on Haaland, and waiting for an extra year to get him for 70M was the better choice.

Now it's not clear where Haaland will go. That's the problem. I honestly think he'll end up in Spain. So the question is who becomes City's third choice if Kane and Haaland were their first and second?

As for KDB, I think it's a funny situation because he's City's best player, but City's best lineup doesn't have him in midfield. They're technically more secure with Bernardo and Gundogan in midfield.



I've been saying it for a few years, but their biggest issue in the CL was they struggle to deal with the chaotic nature of the games. City isn't a team who's good in end-to-end matches, because they don't really have natural finishers upfront. KDB in midfield exacerbates that because he's always looking to create a chance when he has the ball, while Bernardo and Gundogan are much more patient in their approach. It's absolutely no surprise that City made their first CL finals with KDB playing as a false 9. When the game becomes end to end, Bernardo and Gundogan hold on to the ball those extra few seconds which kills the tempo and lets City build-up slower. That results in better positional play and a better counter-press and it lets them play more to their strengths.

Now against smaller teams or teams who park the bus KDB in midfield is helpful because he's one of the best creators in the world. If he doesn't get subbed off against Chelsea in the CL final, City would've looked more dangerous in those last 30 minutes. He's arguably City's best finisher so you want him on the pitch, especially against parked buses.

As for Gundo-KDB I think it depends on who the players surrounding them are. When Sterling and Mahrez play as wingers they're coming inside which narrows the pitch and can clog up the middle lessening Gundo and KDB's influence. Also when KDB plays, Gundogan is primarily responsible for deeper rotations, unlike when Bernardo is playing who rotates in deeper areas more than KDB. That allows Gundogan to play higher up the pitch influencing the final third more increasing his presence on the pitch.

Though generally, it's who plays around them that impacts them the most IMO. Pep has a rule that he needs at least one left-footed player on the left side (LCB, LB, LCM, LW). Last season the left side was Dias, Zinchenko, Gundogan, Foden. Having two-left footed players in Zinchenko and Foden opened up more space in the middle for Gundogan. This season it's Laporte, Cancelo, LCM, Sterling/Grealish. Cancelo and Sterling are coming inside which clogs up space in the middle. That's why in a lot of games you'll see Bernardo switch to the LCM position so he can at least underlap the LW as it lets City attack the byline with better crossing angles.

So yeah, in chaotic games I'd go with Bernardo and Gundogan in midfield. Against smaller teams, KDB is fine in midfield or if City is facing a parked bus you want his chance creation.