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The Devils rain on City's parade in derby day defeat
11 Plays4 days ago
Episode 59, Daily Manchester City - Jools and Jack try to break down the calamity that was City's derby day defeat to our noisy red neighbours
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Every club. Every day. The Global Sports Podcast Network.
Post-Match Analysis of Manchester Derby
00:00:08
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to the Daily Manchester City Podcast on the Global Sports Podcast Network. And today we are conducting what we'll be labelling as a post-match post-mortem on the Manchester Derby. Jack Ward, who joins me today. Hi Jack. How are you doing Jules? It's good to be back. I've had a nice week off and I thought, you know, maybe I'd enjoy my time off away from City, but I went into my week off with, I think it was a Palace draw.
Missed Opportunities and Late-Game Collapse
00:00:32
Speaker
and i come away from that with the result which we'll no doubt talk about so they've just given me no rest by it they've given me no rest they don't like to see me and enjoy my time off city don't want any any of us to have a good christmas it seems like they don't and speaking of which um there It was the 195th Manchester Derby and I'm sure you all know how it went. City missed yet another opportunity to pull themselves up from the ever-growing quicksand they currently find themselves in with Manchester United pushing City further under to escape their own pet. Courtesy of an almost unbelievable last few minutes of the game. Almost it would be unbelievable had we not seen City capitulate in exactly the same manner multiple times over the past a couple couple weeks or so.
00:01:20
Speaker
The game was seemingly in and the control courtesy of a Jusco Vardiol header from a deflected Kevin De Bruyne across until the 88th minute when Ahmad Diallo decided to make this derby his own. Equally, Mateus Nunez thought the same thing, trying to make a significant impact, um albeit he did it in the complete opposite way to how it was desired.
00:01:40
Speaker
He gave a
Lazy Play and Aging Squad Issues
00:01:41
Speaker
week back pass that was easily anticipated by Ahmad, who took his time, waited for the contact from the desperately rushing back. Nunez um won a penalty in the process. Bruno tucked away the pen. Then two minutes later, Ahmad's run through the heart of the defense is found perfectly before the young winner exquisitely controls the ball ah over Ederson before rolling it into the empty net.
00:02:06
Speaker
so Jack, just sum up how devastating that defeat was and the way it happened for you. I mean, where do you even start with a game like this? I think the most devastating thing for me wasn't even the capitulation in the last five minutes. It was that you could see it coming from minute one. The way that we played football during the entire game was just so lax. It was so lazy, lethargic, there is nothing in that team that is inspiring any of the players to want to continuously pepper and degrade teams and break them down like we used to. The first half, although we dominated it stats-wise, it was so poor from Man City, it was just worse from Man United.
00:02:52
Speaker
but going into the break one nil up and then heading towards the 85th minute sort of still one nil up but we had shown nothing during the entire 85 minutes so far that we were going to beat this united team you could you could see it coming it's like the scripts don't come any easier to write and i just there was a little part of me that believed okay Maybe we can see it out and and get this across the line. It is a Derby after all. You'd like to think that these players that have been around the block for a while know the experience of this type of game. And
Comparing Current Form to Past Success
00:03:24
Speaker
it just happened again. What what more do you say? what's What's there to be said that hasn't been said already? We we just capitulate time and time again. And I think the this result and the final odd result a few weeks ago
00:03:38
Speaker
are more embarrassing than any of the other whitewashes that we've had in recent weeks because we've been in a a you know a game state of somewhat control. um This game maybe be not so much because we were just awful throughout but we had it there and with three minutes to go we let it slip. What do you think has happened to this group of
00:04:02
Speaker
definitely world-class talented players. People are trying to retcon the abilities of cities players, you know, doing this as as as always happens in football. Recency bias will be king. But up until two months ago, no one could argue this is a ah group of insanely talented, decorated and experienced I mean big on the experienced but players so and I mean not not even perhaps being able to answer this question but what do you put that down to? I mean you completely hit the nail on the head there because it's not even just about the talented world-class players it's not about their ability it's like you said they're professionals they're experienced professionals they've been in this type of situation before they've been in difficult leagues and they've been
00:04:50
Speaker
times where we've had our backs a little bit against the wall but they're not coping with it this season the way that we have done in the past and granted there's been nothing and in Pep's tenure like what we're going through right now with injuries and with a smaller squad and with a kind of aging squad we've got the fourth highest uh fourth oldest average Premier League squad in the league which is something that we've not seen since Pep took over this squad when we had a back four consisting of Zabeleta, Gail Cliche, Alexander Kolorov, Bakari Sanya, we've got an old
Injuries and Squad Planning Errors
00:05:22
Speaker
squad and that old squad is filled with injuries and it's just a capitulation it's a culmination of errors that's what it is because it's a lot of things piling up on on top of each other it's not just one thing
00:05:34
Speaker
And people were saying point to, okay, the Rodger injury, it's huge. Okay. Phil's not come back the same player he was last season. Okay. That's big. It's not just those. It's not just that Kevin De Bruyne, his hamstrings are made out of cheese string. It's all of them culminating into one point. Look at Nathan. Okay. And John stones, two of our greatest players in the last three, four seasons, experienced defenders. We've seen about 20% of the games that they've featured in.
00:05:59
Speaker
They're both made of glass. It's their unreliability in culmination with two massive injuries. We've had Oscar, Bob, you know, have a nasty leg break in preseason almost. And and how, um how much were we touting him to have an absolutely unbelievable breakout season?
00:06:16
Speaker
I think that's a massive loss because we've been forced to play i ah options that we would have normally had on the left. I think Pep would probably have looked to play Sevigno a little bit more on the left this season, but because of that Oscar Bob injury, because of the players that we've had out, we've been forced to utilize our personnel in positions that maybe he didn't want to play in. and so What the answer is, Jules, it's a culmination of everything. And I can't really blame the players at the moment, to be honest with you. We've won four on the bounce. We've won everything there is to win. It was going to come at some point. I just didn't realize or think or anticipate that it would come in a manner which it has so far, which is an absolute cacophony of just unbelievable errors game after game. I mean, one win in 11 games, it's not good on enough.
00:07:05
Speaker
Yeah, i totally I totally see your point about it being a culmination of things. It feels like...
00:07:12
Speaker
the higher that someone climbs, the the further they fall, right? And Pep squeezed every last drop out of this team, this exact same team, Bar Savino, pretty much, ah to get that
Ongoing Struggles and Transfer Window Hopes
00:07:25
Speaker
four in a row in the Premier League. And it seems that the lack of foresight and potentially the charges overhanging have really and prohibited City's squad planning, which has then in turn led to the injuries, which has then led to The players being out of position led to the lack of confidence, led to the capitulations. And this had been a domino effect, really. But the scary thing is, it doesn't seem like the dominoes are stopping to fall at the moment. It felt like Nottingham Forest was that was the stopping point. It really did feel like that was a turning point. Seeing Kev back, Doku on fire. Doku is exactly what City of Need did during this whole period. A good Doku, a consistent Doku. That still hasn't happened.
00:08:11
Speaker
Kev has not fit, basically, right? And then if you got Foden, it just isn't clicking for him. Obviously, written the world's best player as well. Defenders injured and in and out of the team all season long.
Haaland's Performance and Tactical Issues
00:08:25
Speaker
All of these things are going to have a huge impact on any team on the planet. I don't care who you are.
00:08:31
Speaker
But the way and the amount of impact it's had, yeah, it's unprecedented. I can't remember such a poor run of form by defending champions since Chelsea, you know, like eight odd years ago when Mourinho got sacked the second time. So it is worrying because I kept i keep backing the players before before every game that we do, saying this group of players is too good to keep losing like this.
00:09:00
Speaker
do you agree you know what i think i think if you'd looked at the start we're up there in terms of worse defending champions definitely and think that it I don't have the answers. and And you look at how frustrated and and upset Pep's getting over the fact that he hasn't got the answers. On the news before, a couple of hours ago, there was a sports psychologist breaking down what Pep's feeling and why he might be feeling that. This is headline news. I mean, this is the the effect that but Manchester City football, club the players on the pitch are having on the people, the media. I mean, it's brilliant. Pray in on the downfall. Pray in on the downfall.
00:09:40
Speaker
I will get into it, I'm sure in the next part, a little bit more about the effect that this is having on other teams and the fans and and what they're thinking, particularly Arsenal versus Liverpool. But I just think, you know what, he's a little bit of respite and I think that you can't always be winning. You can't win every season, you can't win every game and you've got to have the peaks with the troughs or else the peaks don't feel as as good as they did. and And we've got to remember where we've been.
00:10:08
Speaker
ah over the past few years, four in a row has never been done before, not by anyone in the Premier League. So, you know, is it due? I think it's strange to say it's due. I don't think that we'll turn it round dramatically this season. I would not be surprised. I would not put it past Pep Guardiola to come away with a piece of silverware at the end of the season. Maybe he puts his all into the FA Cup. I don't think we'll get anywhere in the Champions League.
00:10:35
Speaker
Um, but it wouldn't surprise me because it's Pep Guardiola and he will find a solution to this at some point, but I don't think that's going to come before the January transfer window. And like you, like mentioned, I don't know when the turning point is going to be now because it should have been forest. It, it all you know, everything said it should have been forest. I was at that game and we played really good football.
00:10:57
Speaker
but it wasn't the turning point because we went to Juventus and lost and now we've lost the in the Manchester Derby. We've got Villa at the weekend. That's not an easy game. I mean, they're one of, luckily, one of the only other teams in the league with as bad form as others, but even they seem to have turned it around ah very recently in the last couple of games. So that's not a guaranteed anything. And then maybe we'll pick something up against Everton on Boxing Day, but I highly doubt that we'll see a drastic turnaround before the January transfer window.
00:11:27
Speaker
I imagine a lot of fans are going to love hearing City saying maybe they'll get something against Everton. It's crazy. But I agree with you, right? The football and sport is cyclical. Dynasties all end, otherwise that otherwise they wouldnt there wouldn't be
Foden's Form and Health Challenges
00:11:45
Speaker
new ones. that No team in in Premier League history, in English in english football history has won four top-flight leagues in a row.
00:11:54
Speaker
City he did it. So if this is where that run ends, then fair play. Pepper still won six Premier Leagues. There's only one man that's ever won more. um And if he if Pepper's in this job as long as Fergie was, I bet he would win that many too. So people calling him a fraud, people saying he's a checkbook manager, this is crazy. Listen to any coach, any player that's ever played under him, and they will tell you day to day what makes him so great.
00:12:22
Speaker
It's easy for us to say and defend him like this, but we've seen it firsthand. We've seen it firsthand for a number of years. He didn't win the prem in his first year. He found a solution. and He can adapt. He hasn't been zapped in with this group of players over the last two months. And that's why I said to keep losing, because they've been figured out. But if anyone can do it, give the man at least enough grace to do it. Because by God, there's not many more successful managers in the history of the game.
00:12:48
Speaker
so Short memories, Jules. People have got very short memories. And I'm not having any City fans say this time. I'm not having that at all. And on that on on a nice laughing note, ah we'll ah end segment one there. When we come back, we'll get into some specific performances from the Derby.
00:13:06
Speaker
Here at the Global Sports Podcast Network, we've spent a lot of time selecting our delivery platform and let me tell you, Zencaster came out the clear winner. With 4K video recording from your phone and AI editing that automatically removes all those ums and ahs, it's super easy to start a podcast that sounds great and is delivered efficiently. If you're ready to tell your story, then check out the link in the show description to learn more about Zencaster.
00:13:32
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to the Daily Manchester City Podcast on the Global Sports Podcast Network.
Defensive Vulnerabilities and Tactical Challenges
00:13:38
Speaker
Let's get into some of the specific performances from the players from the Derby then. Inevitably, everyone will always want to talk about Erwin Harland. He is the main goal getter. He gets all applauded when City win and all of the grief when City don't. A lot of it is always made of his game. Whenever City lose, it's understandable because he's used like a lone poacher for most most of the games. Pep's dominance has always come from the midfield, but when City aren't flowing, as they obviously haven't been for some time, he looks so isolated and his touch and ability to get into the game can come into question. But like any striker, he needs service. And I'm not having any of this, and he's not world-class business. Literally just look at his record, it beats any of your favourite strikers.
00:14:23
Speaker
There of course should be and is nuance to the situation though. So firstly, how do you feel he fared, especially often positioning himself up against Martinez? And secondly, how do you think he's fared during this whole streak? um To be honest with you, I think that the problem with Erwin Harland during this streak is he will be the focal point of all criticism because they look at that Manchester City attack. They see the two wide players on the ball quite a lot and they think the middle man isn't doing enough.
00:14:51
Speaker
but I don't see that as the problem. I see one of the problems which is pointing out to me in something that I watched a couple of days ago. but If you look at this kind of run of games that we've had recently, we've almost completely abandoned playing down the right hand side. I think 10% of our play during the game goes down that right hand side, which makes Bernardo Silva look like an absolute no, it it it looks like he's in no man's land half the time because it's just like he's not getting on the ball enough and he's not really doing enough when he's with the ball. It's all going down docu side.
00:15:22
Speaker
And when you've got a player like Jeremy Docu, he gets on the ball a lot. He will beat his man and he's really good at doing that. But when you look at what Jeremy Docu likes to do in the final third, it's either he cuts in on his right on the edge of the box, tries to flash one into the far post, usually goes over the bar, or he gets to the byline and he flashes it across the front post. He flashes it back to the six yard box. Whereas you look at what Erwin Haaland is doing,
00:15:48
Speaker
and he's used to Jack Grealish playing on the left-hand side he's gonna float one in to the back stick and you know other players that he's kind of do that so there's more synergy there right now that is more synergy there so a player like Jeremy Dockett you can just tell if you watch any Manchester City games that Those two, they're great players individually, they must hate playing with each other because they have no synergy. Because every time Jeremy Ducky picks the ball, he drives it to the byline,
Tactical Failings and Needed Adaptations
00:16:15
Speaker
he flashes it across the front post, Harlan's waiting in the back stick to have something floated up to the top so he can nod it home. Whereas, either he needs to be running across the front post more, beating two, three men, which if you look against a defense like United, when they've got so many players in that box and they're playing that five back three,
00:16:32
Speaker
at three back going into a five in defense, then there's no point in trying to get into positions where you're going to come across the defenders because he's six foot five. He's so much taller than those players. He's probably asking for a cross to be lifted over to that back stick where he can nod at home. So they just have no synergy. So I think that It's going to be a case of Harlan looks isolated and he's going to be the focal point of criticism ah because people will watch the game and think Doki's trying to make something happen, but it's just not really clicking together. So that's what I think that when those two are on the pitch, particularly, it's a little bit less with Savio on the right hand side, but they just don't look like they're synergized at all. To um
Transfer Strategy Critique and Future Changes
00:17:19
Speaker
give some credence to a lot of the criticism,
00:17:22
Speaker
and Do you think and ah someone as high profile as and as world-class, let's say, should should be doing more, should have more ability on the ball, should be able to make things happen single-handedly? Because that's probably where he is ah less effective compared to some of the other elite strikers in world football, is that self-creation of chances, let's say.
00:17:45
Speaker
Yeah, I think he should be doing more, but I also think he's being asked to not do more. I think you look at, you know, what Erwin Holland is good at, even at Dortmund, you know, he's capable of dropping deep and linking up the play. We've seen it at times during his city career, but at Dortmund, he was that running behind striker at cities, that poacher in the box. He's obviously being given a specific set of instructions to to not drop duty and get involved in the play because you want him, the most dangerous man in the world in the six yard box,
00:18:15
Speaker
in the six-yard box. And if the chances aren't coming to him that way, then it's just going to look like he's a lone kind of man in the middle and and and just a completely... And it does. It does feel that way. So I think that, yes, the criticism is going to fall on Harlan's shoulders, sometimes rightly so. But I also think this is a bigger picture that people aren't seeing when it comes to Ellen Harlan.
00:18:39
Speaker
Yeah. He is definitely an easy scapegoat as the biggest names in any, any team in World Football isn't doing well. art Like look at him. He's actually having a pretty good season and people are still crucifying him every week, every week. So yeah. And, and, uh, until the situation at city changes, I don't think that's going to go anywhere and he could still end up with a golden boot. So, um, Foden and Kevin De Bruyne started together for the first time this season, Foden, um, out wide. How did that work for you?
00:19:10
Speaker
I mean, what's what's been going on with folding this season? I don't think anyone knows. I think it's a case of people having short memories again, i trying to say that, you know, revise what they saw last season. Let's not make make no mistake about it. He was the Premier League's best player last season.
00:19:25
Speaker
this isn't the same folding that we're seeing. I mean, in the Champions League, he started off really, really well. But it's just not been clicking for him in the Premier League. He is the player with the most shots in the Premier League not to score a goal yet. I think he's had 29 shots without putting it in the back of the net once. He was unbelievably clinical last season. So I don't know what's going on. Maybe the volume of shots that he's taking aren't of a high enough chance. So I don't really know. but it started ah it' starting to be a bit less obvious of of what's going on with Foden because you know at the start of the season, he was looking like his his chance creation volume was up to it to a pretty positive degree. And you thought, maybe he can mold himself into that Kevin De Bruyne archetype. He was going to create loads of chances for Harland. But his shot volume and his assists just aren't there. The numbers aren't there yet. I've no doubt it will probably click, but he's not stepped up so far this season. That's that's the end of it.
00:20:24
Speaker
Do you think it's a case of,
Future Transfers and Hugo Viana's Role
00:20:26
Speaker
um, this is the first time he's played, uh, in a club a club level in a team that's performing poorly. Some players find that difficult to adjust to, especially when he's seen as one of the main men, he clearly wasn't fit at the start of the season, probably got rushed back as a lot of city players did. And then he got thrown in, started one of the champions league, like you said, three goals in the first three games, but.
00:20:46
Speaker
Yeah, Premier League has just gone completely off the boil. So do you think that's this is ah a lot for him to take at this stage of his career? He's still quite young. Yeah, I think so. I think he's also had a lot of family issues as well. And obviously he seems to have a period every season where he's got an illness and he's he's out for a long time with illness. I don't know if his immune system is particularly weak, but he's just coming back from bronchitis now. I know he had something and maybe I think he had his tonsils taken out or his appendix taken out last season and but it's just weird things with him where he'll miss a big portion of time due to maybe non-sports related injuries so I think that's a bit of a mental struggle to deal with sometimes for him possibly and but you know he also made it to
00:21:30
Speaker
you know, a euros final and some players have, have come back from that and and gone straight back into the season. Like soccer on fire. Some players, you know, probably could have done with the the extra six week break in the middle. Um, and he didn't have that. So maybe it's a case of, you know, he's been playing a lot of games recently, but I think it's a bit of a poor excuse that to be fair. Um, I think he should be playing better. I don't know why he's not playing better. I've just got to hope that he clicks soon. Yeah, we all do.
00:22:00
Speaker
and that'll do for part two and when we come back we'll get a bit more into the Derby This podcast is part of the Global Sports Podcast Network, the only network bringing you exclusive daily news and views on your Premier League team, the Premier League, women's football and fantasy football.
Podcast Outro and Listener Engagement
00:22:18
Speaker
A unique listening experience that puts fans first, bringing you the very latest breaking news from your team. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and make us your first listen every day. Global Sports Podcast Network, every club, every day.
00:22:34
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to the daily Manchester city podcast and the global sports podcast network. I normally, um, in the first segment, uh, real off some stats and they've all been negative recently for city. I've ah tried to rejig it a bit today. So we don't lead with that much despair, although it seems inevitable at this point, but some of the stats are. That's eight losses in 11 games. As you mentioned, it's one win in seven in the premier league, losing in five of those. Um, no team since November has got less points per game, a level with Southampton. No team in Europe's top five leagues has conceded more goals since November as well, which I never thought I'd ever say. And on, on the topic of the defense.
00:23:23
Speaker
What is going wrong, not just defensively as a unit? I think we've analyzed the lack of midfield destroyer to death at this point, but in the individual defender's performances too.
00:23:34
Speaker
To be honest with you, I think the individual defender's performances, apart from the the couple of usual suspects, i.e. Kyle Walker, we see Mateus Nunez playing ah a kind of inverted left-wing back roll, two massive mistakes from from both of them at the game at the weekend, and it's been ah you know a load of mistakes from you know players like Kyle Walker, Josh Kugvadi, all. I think what's really made that obvious and exposed that more, though, is the lack of physicality in the pressing system that we've got. And if you look at the lineup that started against United, we had a midfield three of Ilkay Gundogan, Mateus Nunez, if you want to count him in from that left wing back,
00:24:17
Speaker
position, folding the broiler in the midfield, that pressing structure just looks off on the team sheet. You can tell that those type of players are just going to get run through physically. We saw it, particularly what stood out to me was the game against Spurs when we got absolutely ran off the park, 4-0. Papé, Saab, Asuma, the physicality of those players, not just in terms of the the the height, the build, the structure, the strength, but the fact that they were running.
00:24:43
Speaker
the entire game and we've not got runners anymore so when we're out of possession which we are a lot because we've not got the you know the players that are comfortable and capable of running about and creating space anymore when we're out of possession a lot and on the transition we have no pressing structure anymore and we just get completely ran through our midfield three might as well be pretty non-existent at the moment because there's there's a huge gap that teams can play through and that massively exposes the defenders. You know, players like Josco Guardiola, he's an experienced player, he's young but he's a fantastically talented player. He's been exposed loads and loads of times in this running.
00:25:20
Speaker
Reuben Diaz is is probably been one of the only ones who's not really made any obvious glaring mistakes because he's that kind of rock at the back and he's that old school defender who can kind of play in situations like this when the game states in chaos but someone like Kyle Walker has been massively exposed and he's been past it for a couple of seasons now but he's looked really really out of place and I think that the problems individually with the defenders this season i' come down to the fact that we've got no physicality in that midfield. And that's not just to be attributed to Roger because I think if he was still in this team, we'd be having some of the similar issues. There needs to be some legs there and there isn't. ah Funnily enough, it kind of reminds me of a United under 10 hard, right? You know, pressing so high. Well, in some ways, but then the midfield in transition, like the rest defense or when any team is, you know, going back in the ball with pace. so
00:26:14
Speaker
It just seems like, yeah, like the the back four has been exposed one one-on-one nearly nearly every time the opposition has the ball. And yeah, when when players aren't at their best and confidence is low, the Premier League's so stacked with quality that any any any team has got players that can hurt you. And City are finding out very, very harshly that they all do and want to do it against City as well. And why wouldn't you? You know, when you come for the king, you go for the head.
00:26:45
Speaker
to um but you've got to put You've got to put a lot of this on pack then, right? Because if we've been saying the same things tactically for what feels like months now, what is months now at this point? Because even when City were winning games at the start of the season, it was only just, and it wasn't fluidly, you know?
00:27:03
Speaker
So we we have faith that Pep will turn it around, but what does he need to do tactically? Because he he hasn't changed his tactics at all during this run, I'd say. And I'm just an onlooker. But yeah, what's your feeling on that?
00:27:16
Speaker
To be honest with you, it's one of them where I feel like it's a mistake that he'd made already, and it's him and Tiki's mistake. We know that he likes a small squad, we know that he likes a close-knit squad, but the lack of preparation. You look at our summer transfer window, we've brought in two players, Savinio and Ilkay Gundogan.
00:27:36
Speaker
We've seen a lot of players come out and leave and we've not replaced them adequately. We've got no one coming in and and obviously he likes that time at squad, but we're paying the price for that because we've had a load of injuries this season. I think if Pep Guardiola had his first choice 11,
00:27:52
Speaker
we wouldn't really be having these issues and and talking about- But he doesn't and he hasn't. So at this point he needs to adapt tactically, right? To accommodate the midfield being overrun every single game. ah Yeah, but but my my point is, what what do you do tactically with the the the arsenal that you've got? We've seen him make tactical changes. He's putting Mateus Nunez left wing back, inverting into the midfield. So we've got width out wide and legs in the midfield, but that's clearly not works. We've seen him deploy John stones back there in that Roger roll, but he's gone back out injured. That's not worked. There comes a time where I think, okay, you might've exhausted all your tactical options because the personnel issues override anything that you're capable of doing. And I think he's just caught between a rock and a hard place right now between the pressure of what to do next. I need to find a solution and there is nothing I can do with what I've got.
00:28:47
Speaker
i i I find it hard to believe that someone as successful as him believes there's nothing he could do, but ah he he suppose he's he's adapted over his tenure as as city manager, right? He adapted from his first season to his second, from his second to his third. Doing the four in a row, I don't think too much has changed. Bar personnel, like you say, and I do agree that personnel is the biggest issue. Of course it is. The better the better players you have on the pitch, the more chance you have of winning.
00:29:14
Speaker
but Like even how high the defense's line is, right? When you're seeing in Walker being caught in behind like so half a dozen times a game, like even little tweaks, you know, maybe stop being so patient and risk averse in possession because you don't have the quality of players to be able to step up that high and dominate the game any anymore.
00:29:39
Speaker
um I don't know. I just feel like more could be done, but I suppose it's easy to say that from here. Obviously we're, we're not tough and we, we don't know the team as well as he does. It's made in his image at this point, but it is frustrating to see the same mistakes happening game after game as well. Why I'm getting that. Yeah. and And I think as well is you can try and look to to fix and tweak the defensive issues that we've got going, but in this 11 game running, we've scored.
00:30:10
Speaker
You know, in in the last 13 games, I think it is, we've scored 11 goals or 13 goals in 11 games with six of them coming in two games, that being a draw against fine order and our one winning that running against forest. Fixing the defensive issues, fine. Then you're looking at those eight losses and saying, maybe we've got, you know, six or seven draws. so What is going wrong with the attack? That's what I want to know. and and And the players that should be scoring goals aren't scoring goals. And the players that should be creating chances aren't creating chances. And I do think it has a ripple effect. I do think that, you know, when the defense is playing bad, the attack's playing bad and vice versa because we defend and attack as a team. And that's why you're seeing issues with this high line because we're trying to get all the defenders involved in the attack so we can blow teams away. So we don't have to rely on our defending.
00:30:59
Speaker
but it's a ripple effect. When there's mistakes somewhere, there's mistakes everywhere. And when you've not got the cushion of four goals up at half time, like we used to do to teams under Pep Guardiola, then the mistakes are bound to happen. And those are are the ones that you're going to pay for. Yeah. Yeah, I agree.
00:31:16
Speaker
to throw it over to Man United. and I don't think they necessarily earned the win, but you know they were still in there. They still had the moments of quality when when it counted, and Ahmad in particular obviously did. Bruno, the composure to put away the pen. They'll have every right to be delighted with that win at the Etihad. They don't get many of them, of course. um But now you've seen Ruben Ammerim at United. We obviously got a look at him as sporting manager where he very convincingly come out on top. What did you see from United and do did you see enough to be worried about them closing the gap over the next year or so? I mean, look, in the past month we've been beaten twice by Ruben Amorim in two different teams.
00:32:04
Speaker
So, for me to to turn around any criticism on him now would be completely unjust. What he's done with this United team since coming in and hasn't been magnificent. He had you know some of the worst record of a new manager coming into United, but he's beat us at Man City, he's beat us with sporting, and now you know he's just won his debut derby, the first manager since Alex Ferguson.
00:32:28
Speaker
at United to do that. So I think that what he's going to have to do now is grind these results out while trying to figure out his best team and his best squad. And he's been making some really, really cutthroat decisions, which I do admire. And and I think that I've been impressed with him as a person. I'm yet to to be impressed with United. that They're still, I think, 13th in the table or something.
00:32:53
Speaker
and You know, they've not blown me away, particularly since Amorim's come in, but he's still tweaking things out game by game. You've still not seen him play kind of the entire exact 11 twice in a row. He's made some bold decisions, leaving Garnaccio and Rashford completely out of the match day squad. um And I think he's going to have to kind of assert his spot on this team and and hopefully it figures, well, hopefully not, but I'm sure he will figure some stuff out and oh in the meantime.
00:33:22
Speaker
One thing I will say is that Ahmad Diallo in that right wing back position for United so far has been magnificent. He's a terrific, terrific technical player, um enjoyed him at Sunderland. I thought he's always been a bright spark and I've always, always confused why he didn't get more games. Clearly underused, right? Why have United not been using him? Exactly.
00:33:46
Speaker
Yeah, he, yeah, he was excellent and he has been, well, he's been United's best player doing ah quite a lot of losses this, this season as well. And, and yeah, I just want to follow up on ah leaving Rashford and gone out show, but mainly Rashford, like, uh, with got actual courses, a young player, a lot of rumors that he's, he was leaking the, leaking the lineups as well. Don't know whether that's true or not. So don't want to spend too much time on it.
00:34:11
Speaker
But leaving Rashford out of the matchday squad, you know, the highest profile player in in the in the team, the the guy that normally turns up against City, Manchester lad, surely it means more to him than others. Is that the type of, I know you said you were impressed with him as a person, but it feels like that's exactly the type of head over heart decision that needs to be made at City in the coming months, right?
00:34:38
Speaker
Well exactly and what what we need to avoid is romanticism in the squad, in the players, in in the decisions that he makes. Pep has obviously got his favourites, you know, Ilkay Gundogan, Kyle Walker. If we're being completely 100% honest, those players need a long spell on the sidelines.
00:34:57
Speaker
I think we're forced into a hand that we have to play those players because we haven't got the adequate replacements for him. But this is something that we now have to take and look towards the transfer windows, maybe not so much in January because it's a little bit soon. But particularly if we're planning a squad rebuilding in the summer, we need to look on to moving in some of those players on. Kyle Walker can maybe get a small fee to a newly promoted Sheffield United if they come up, for example.
00:35:25
Speaker
Ilkay Gundogan's not going to leave, but he needs to admit that he's going to have to play a bit part role next season, and which I think he probably expected to play this season. and But yeah, we need to avoid those romantic decisions and and and be a little bit more cutthroat because that's what he did in his first season. His first big transfer window that he got off and when we went on to win 100 points, he made some ruthless decisions.
00:35:49
Speaker
If I um obviously don't expect you to be able to predict exactly, but roughly how big a turnover and ah in the squad do you expect? Probably not in January, right? I don't i don't think City are going to do too much in January. Maybe one or two quality players if they if they're available. But in the summer, how much do you think will change?
00:36:09
Speaker
Yeah, I think maybe two quality additions in January and then you look towards the summer at some some players who are going to come out. Maybe I think not as many as you'd might think. I think that to to have a massive turnover in squad will will have um ah you know a massively detrimental effect in terms of taking out too many experienced quality players. I think we'll see three players leave. I think three you know you start getting a bit more than that and it it just becomes an entirely new different squad and in you're dealing with a whole different set of problems then. So I think maybe three players might go and and then we'll have to get, I'd say five five or six quality players um coming in, maybe a couple who will happily play a bit part role, but we need the personnel. Pep's come out in interviews recently and said that he's he's going to have to rethink that.
00:37:00
Speaker
you know, his decisions and his likeability to have a smaller squad going forward if we're going to stay in all all these competitions. Yeah, and City um built this dynasty with fantastic transfer dealings. Season after season, picking either the best players that were available or the best value that you could get below that. you know And they built this team of 20 players. A lot of money was being spent, yes. But until recently, there wasn't many wasn't much money being wasted.
00:37:37
Speaker
You know, you can say Kyle Walker cost a lot of money. Look what he gave the club. Kevin De Bruyne at the time cost a lot of money. Look what he gave to the club. Harland cost a lot of money on a lot of wages. Look what he gives to the club. There hasn't been many misses, but there has been over the last maybe 18 months or so. So Hugo Vian has got his work cut out. and how How much of the excellent transfer business do you put down to Cheeky or ah How much do you put it down to the club itself? And what I'm getting at kind of is how successful do you think Hugo Viana will be? Or is it too too early to tell?
00:38:15
Speaker
Well, let's just say he's got some massive shoes to fill. you know Say what you like about Tiki, whether you've been frustrated with him in recent seasons or not, he has got some massive shoes to fill. you know He is without a doubt our greatest sporting director, and and and if not for anything else of the players he brought in, but for the fact that he's brought Pep Guardiola in. But I think that you can put 100% of the success down to the relationship that those two had, because Tiki and Pep know exactly what each other wanted,
00:38:44
Speaker
There has been a few misses, like we've mentioned loads and loads of times on this podcast, but I think that Tiki will happily go and look at a player knowing what Pep wants, what Pep likes, whether he's got a say in that transfer or not.
00:38:57
Speaker
so I think, yeah, you know, TQ has been a phenom for us over the past few years. and He's come out and admitted his mistake in not bolstering the squad in recent transfer windows, but what he has done for City leaves Hugo Viana with a massive, massive part to to play in City's revival next season, which will hopefully, we'll we'll see him making some some bold decisions. I'd like to see him come out and start his City career.
00:39:27
Speaker
on the front foot. I'd like to see him take some risks. That was the time. Yeah, exactly. We've got nothing to lose. We're not going to come out of this season, you know, particularly glowing in any respect. So go at it. Why not? Make some brass decisions. Yeah, absolutely.
00:39:42
Speaker
And come January, we will have an episode where we decide, ah we'll go through the entire squad and we will act as sporting director as we all love to do very much. But that'll do for the post-match review. um Stay tuned for all the coverage we'll give to every City Game coming up. We will be here even if the wins are not. Hopefully that will change soon. and Thanks again to Jack and thanks to you all for listening. I've been Jules Jordan-Probat.
00:40:13
Speaker
And we've been daily Manchester city podcast on the global sports podcast network. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.
00:40:25
Speaker
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