₦airaland Forum

Gyokeres should be ready to sit on the bench for some time because Jesus is looking very sharp...

Eze looks lost in this Arsenal setup. He doesn't seem to understand his role.

Roland17, have you noticed it?

CAPdan21:
That's what I'm talking about...instead of 6 matches you now play 8 and if your club is unlucky to finish outside top 8 you have 2 more round of 32 matches to stat pad if you're paired Against bums

That's true.

CAPdan21:
With the expanded group stage matches which means more matches against bums that record will go...

I am referring to the number of goals scored in a single UCL campaign...I also think Mbappe or Haaland will break that record...

Mbappe is already on 11 goals after 6 games. He might even score more tonight.

That CR7 record might be broken this season.

This Alleyne is a very poor footballer...

AirBere:
If he's the best CB from the famed City academy, then wahala dey. Pep may actually be truly finished or may be he's bored.

Cherki has shouted more times than I have ever seen him do. Playing with these brainless English boys can be so annoying...

Too many dull English boys in the City starting 11...Foden, Alleyne, O'Riley, Lewis...All brainless players.

Lewis runs around for 90 mins doing nothing.

Pep is an idiot for not taking Foden off since.

Jamiuokolaa:
City seem to be very poor currently..

Hopefully, this factor didnt contribute too much when we dominated and beat them a few days ago

I this game, they're lacking width. Doku and Marmoush need to come in for Foden who is simply not good enough and Ait-Nouri/Lewis...

Pep has a way of messing things up, what exactly is Lewis doing on the pitch? and why is Ait-Nouri at RB/RW? The man is crazy.

AirBere:
Tinker man must learn. I remember when he started a younger Jushua Kimmich at CB in an important UCL game. I think they were knocked out.

He's my goat manager though but I'm growing increasingly tired of his tinkering.

Blodo should add more goals pls

WITH Foden and Cherki, they do not have with, Doku and Marmoush should come in for Foden and Ait-Nouri. Lewis can play RB...

Pep might leave at the end of the season. I have never seen City look so ordinary, regardless of their injury concerns.

Why is Ake on the bench? Pep is an idiot.

eph12:
Thanks for this. Because it looks like we're trying to blame the rubbish we have experienced in the past on the 343 we started last year.

If Carrick is able to motivate the players to play every match like they're playing against City or the big teams, he would have done very well.

Whatever made Bruno so disciplined in maintaining his position on the pitch is not motivation, it is down to the set up and instructions from Carrick. We have had Bruno here under other managers, but I can't remember the last time he stuck to his task, he always tries to do it all.

With 3 in the middle, we stopped City from playing through the midfield and in the process, the CBs were more protected.

With 4-3-3, Shaw and Dalot were not tasked with providing width up front, thus focused more on their primary responsibility, which was shutting out the City wingers, and they did just that. In a 3-4-3 setup, we will have Dalot out of position with Yoro or any of the CBs trying to cover for him, and it was always a disaster.

All of the above is not just motivation...

Danhumprey:
Out of everything wey you read from that reply by Ephesus chapter 1, verse 2, this na the only thing you could come up with?

Haba!

Ephraim made solid points about mentality of the players and keeping tempo in every matches sha.

He completely dismissed the change in formation and set-up, which is not true. Go back to when we beat City at the Etihad. Didn't they outplay us? It took a late goal from Amad, against the run of play, for us to win that game. You can't compare how we played yesterday with that.

Eph12 first tried to credit our solid performance to Martinez and Maguire, but that point was dismissed, so he returned with this. How will any fan watch that game and not appreciate that we are much better playing 4-3-3 than 3-4-3?

When was the last time we saw Bruno stick to his position for most of the game?

Mainoo, whose quality fans had begun to question, was brought on and did a solid job...

Dorgu on the LW took everyone by surprise and had one of his best games there...

Of course, we all hope that performance is not a flash in the pan, but you can't say it is a one-off because of the bounce that characterises the first game of a new manager. At least we didn't even enjoy a new manager bounce with Amorim Bin Laden, so that argument should not even suffice...

eph12:
That's good. But this sounds like something we have heard before, then the players go back to default settings immediately we play against smaller teams. The urge to be more physical, run extra, cover more ground, attack games with extra passion, suddenly disappears. Carrick greatest contribution will be his ability to make the players do these things every game, from the start, not some formation nonsense. Because these guys have shown to lose that discipline easily, whether under Amorim, ETH, Ole, or anyone you want to mention. If Carrick can get them to attack every game like their lives depend on it, that will be the game changer. Fingers crossed

If you don't believe that the 3-4-3 formation was not suitable for us then I can't help you.

eph12:
Read this many times, still confused. What are you comparing with Amorim's set up exactly?

We started playing 343 last season. What was it like playing against the likes of LFC and City in the last couple of years when we didn't play 343? Do you remember the formation we played when we were thoroughly beaten in recent years?

I am seriously hoping it's not the case of the players being extra pumped for the game based on the opponent, and that they will approach all games same way.

If you can, watch the game again, you'd notice that Bruno was very disciplined in terms of his positioning on the pitch, it was not the Bruno that we used to see everywhere on the pitch. This alone is a big tactical approach.

Mainoo and Casemiro didn't push forward unnecessarily meaning that Foden and Bernado Silva had very little space to operate. Also, Dalot and Shaw did not allow Dorgu and Semenyo the space they needed to whip in crosses. All this meant Haaland was a passenger for the entirety of the game.

If you remember Carrick as a player, you'd know he was one of the most disciplined players when it came to positional discipline...In the whole, the setup brought out the best in our players...

afrodoc2:
But then you have to question the wisdom of the top guys who went for a strict 3-4-3 coach in the first place.

Fingers have been pointing at Berrada as the person who pushed for Amorim. Ashworth didn't want him because of the formation issue but that one wanted Southgate. Wilcox also didn't want Amorim because of the formation issue.

I think Amorim's sack is linked to Wilcox finally getting control over football matters above Berrada.

The formation is only part of the problem though. All our struggles pre-Amorim came in a back 4 formation. Wilcox and Vivell have to work hard at improving the squad and appointing a quality head coach.

Amorim has shown he is a terrible manager with the poor job he did at Leverkusen...One think I noted yesterday was the fact that Bruno was not all over the place like was the case in Erik Bin Laden's era, he was posionally disciplined, and it help us contain City in the middle of the park...Pep had to sub Foden after the first half for Cherki who was also subdued.

CrystalTiger:
Good football for the most part is very simple to the eyes.. Allow players do what they're good at and not these unnecessary tactical nonsense..

Every player on the pitch yesterday was for the most part in his comfort zone which helped them defend together and attack together..

As simple as ABC. Play to the strength of your PLAYERS, and do not overcomplicate things.

afrodoc2:
Of all the sins of Amorim his cardinal sin was playing his 3-4-3 which requires a 2-man midfield when NONE of our midfielders is suited to 2-man midfield. That was what made his set up dysfunctional and that was what led to our defence being under so much pressure.

Asking 2 men who can't do the job of 2 men to do the job of 3 men.

Exactly.

Now the dust has settled, let me drop my take on the performance yesterday.

1. The players were only 30% of the problem, the bulk of it was the dysfunctional setup deployed by Amorim. In a 4-3-3 formation, there are a lot of bodies in the middle, so it is difficult for the opposition to play through the middle. Yesterday, with Bruno (He surprisingly stuck to his position), Mainoo and Casemiro, we had control in the midfield and enough bodies to stop City from attacking us through the middle. This alone meant that the defence was not left exposed as was the case with Amorim's 3-4-2-1 (3-4-3) formation. In Amorim's setup, the 3 CBs were left exposed for the most part, which is suicidal at this level, but in the 4-3-3 setup, we were more proactive than reactive; we stopped a lot of attacks before they got to our box.

2. Bruno, as the most advanced of our midfielders, ensured that the ball kept moving with quick passes and constant movement. He showed us what we have been missing by playing him in a 2-man midfield.

3. We need a LWF. I admit Dorgu had an above-average game, but we need more at this level. Amad on the right ensured Ake and, later on, O'Riley were on their toes for the entirety of the game with his direct runs and dribbles.
When Cunha came on, he looked even more effective playing from the right even though he might prefer playing from the left. If Cunha were on the left, he would look to cut in and shoot rather than drive to the byline and cross. I hope we can get a LWF forward in the summer.

4. Casemiro is irreplaceable at the moment. Age might have caught up with the combative Brazilian, but his experience and passing are indispensable. For someone renowned for his tackling, Casemiro's ability to play a one-time pass is often not talked about as much as it should. He is a calming presence in our midfield, one that we must replace with a player of similar attributes come the summer.

5. Mainoo is not as bad as we thought he had become. I thought he complemented Casemiro very well yesterday with some very good movement and short passing. If Carrick can get the best out of Mainoo, it will do the club a lot of good...

I don't want to talk about Martinez and his ball-playing abilities, as I think it's already common knowledge.

In the whole, we looked much better in a 4-3-3 setup, which seems like the formation that's best suited for the majority of players in our setup.

eph12:
The return of Maguire and Martinez has helped a lot. We used to have Yoro and Heaven as our CBs.

No, we used to have a dysfunctional setup. How many times did Maguire and Martinez face the kind of pressure we used to face under Amorim's setup?

Moses Simon scores...

Marmoush misses.

Akor scores.

Salah miss.

You guys are now 3 pts behind us. It will stay this way if you guys manage to steal a point this evening.

afrodoc2:
Na marathon. Every point they lose will count at the end of the season. I would rather have them 4 points behind than 1 point behind.

Doc, you really believed what I said? 😂

Englishisamust:
;Initial gra gra!!! I no even dey surprised with the win because even when we no dey in form we dey spank city

You never begin hala...When we BEAT Arsenal, you can deactivate...

Even if Chelsea win 10 vs 0, e no concern me...They will remain behind us...

eph12:
Who is City buying next?

Meanwhile assnal is the biggest winner in this Manchester United win

Next week, we will beat Arsenal, so City can reduce the gap back to 6 pts...

main24:
We will revisit this quote after 10 to 20 games from Carrick. I might be wrong and he will be the messiah we've been waiting for. But it's too early too judge.
- Infact I am indeed worried he started with a win. I might be wrong, time will tell.

Baba we just beat our city rivals, allow people to celebrate na!

Suffer no dey tire you?

At least person go rest. After the game against Brighton e be like say we no get any quality player at all...