Cybereagles

[1] A lot has been written about Manchester City this season but one thing everyone appears to have missed is how hard they work to prevent the opposition from playing

[2] I have been watching them very closely and maybe it is just me but their biggest strength is that they do not allow the opposition to keep possession of the ball

[3] Whenever they lose the ball, they make sure they retrieve it within a minute, stopping the opposition from getting any rythmn

[4] For me, it is this, more than their attacking prowess that actually makes Manchester City such a hard team to play against

[5] Even their creative players like de Bryne, Sane, Aguero, Silva, Sterling and Jesus, all work exceptionally hard to win the ball when they lose it

[6] When the opposition does not have the ball, they cannot harm you. This is clearly one of Pep Guardiola's principles and he drills it into his boys

[7] Your traditional English player already works very hard on wining the ball back but when you have a team that had flair and creativity going forward combined with this work ethic, it is no surprise that Man City are virtually unbeatable

[8] I remember that Marcelo Lippi had a similar philosophy at Juventus, which is why he was so successful there. Simply put, the combination of flair and hardwork is unstoppable

[9] This is where African teams fall short big time. How many of our players are prepared to work tirelessly for the cause? For me, it is no surprise that Wilfred Ndidi is currently the most celebrated Nigerian player out there. he never stops running for his team!

[10] How do we inculcate this work ethic into our flair players? Back when we used to play "set", your Okocha and Kanu type players never used to do any work for the team. We need to start coaching these boys early before they develop bad habits, so they do not fall by the wayside.

no...we don't notice NADA

We have noticed how hard you work to say something when you have nothing to say.

cic old boy wrote:We have noticed how hard you work to say something when you have nothing to say.

metalalloy wrote:

cic old boy wrote:We have noticed how hard you work to say something when you have nothing to say.

Kajifu the guy has a point

Is Ozil or Sanchez working hard enough to win the ball back at Arsenal ?

I know for sure people like Mkhitaryan and Mata are not doing enough, the only people i see working hard is Lingard and Rashford.

It was very wonderful for me to see De Bruyne working so hard vs Bristol, am sure our Antony Martial would sniff at that and sulk because he is an attacking player.

kajifu wrote:

metalalloy wrote:

cic old boy wrote:We have noticed how hard you work to say something when you have nothing to say.

Kai...

benteke wrote:Kajifu the guy has a point

Is Ozil or Sanchez working hard enough to win the ball back at Arsenal ?

I know for sure people like Mkhitaryan and Mata are not doing enough, the only people i see working hard is Lingard and Rashford.

It was very wonderful for me to see De Bruyne working so hard vs Bristol, am sure our Antony Martial would sniff at that and sulk because he is an attacking player.

I did not say anything oooh bro Benteke.
Bringing beloved to this thread make no sense.You question should be is Wenger telling his boys to work hard to recover the ball like Pep boys does?
Sanchez used to do that more than any City player will dream but why waste energy doing that when the others relax and the team is not serious?
The is a reason Sanchez wanted to leave Arsenal.Lets see how Sanchez will play if he move to City.

Pep is replicating the style he developed at Barca, which is where you can, play high limiting the opposition to their half, cram your players into their half if possible, press and dominate the ball. Squeeze the opposition space so tight that when it gets possession, it loses it quicky. With this system, the opposition panicks either with the ball or without the ball. When with the ball, they boot the ball aimlessly because the pressure is too much. Like Ayo said, City players now work much more harder than under Mancini and Pellegrini. It probably has not helped the fragile Vincent Kompany's injuries.

I do not believe this style will work against Liverpool this Sunday because of the speed of Liverpool's attack and pass interchange.

AyoAkinfe sounds like Trump. When he didn't notice Something. He'd claim "Nobody knew"

Chief,

OMG!

Thank goodness we have Ayo to use his mouth to tell us wetin our eyes been see for Barca and Mancity!

I know say despite "60 Minutes" Barca profile revealing how quickly they get the ball back, we no hear, we no notice.

Despite almost every commentator on TV talking about how Mancity gets the ball back and dominates the ball, we no hear, we no notice!

Thank baba God for Ayo - the ultimate Ewu noisemaker!

Cmoke

Chief Ogbunigwe wrote:no...we don't notice NADA

That was actually why Kele failed, he stated in one interview that he wants strikers that can press the ball. Even when Aguero scored a hat trick one time, I remember him saying he has to do more for the team. If you watch these days, Aguero is pressing far better...

If Kelechi adds workrate to his game, learns to control the ball better and stops giving the ball away so easily, he will get into the Leicester team. Claude Puel cannot afford to carry anyone and neither can any other team in England, Spain, Italy, Holland or Germany for that matter!

Ayo Akinfe wrote:If Kelechi adds workrate to his game, learns to control the ball better and stops giving the ball away so easily, he will get into the Leicester team. Claude Puel cannot afford to carry anyone and neither can any other team in England, Spain, Italy, Holland or Germany for that matter!

Ayo, what you fail to understand these are fundamentals you learn from Academies. Our academies are ok, but not great. Kele will come good, he is a better finisher than anyone on Liecster, just needs time.

okidoki wrote:

Ayo Akinfe wrote:If Kelechi adds workrate to his game, learns to control the ball better and stops giving the ball away so easily, he will get into the Leicester team. Claude Puel cannot afford to carry anyone and neither can any other team in England, Spain, Italy, Holland or Germany for that matter!

Ayo, what you fail to understand these are fundamentals you learn from Academies. Our academies are ok, but not great. Kele will come good, he is a better finisher than anyone on Liecster, just needs time.

Unfortunately, managers cannot afford to be patient with players these days. When you see how quick clubs are to fire managers, it is understandable as to why they are not prepared to sticks their necks out for players. Only coaches like Wenger who are not sackable can afford to take that risk.

kajifu wrote:

metalalloy wrote:

cic old boy wrote:We have noticed how hard you work to say something when you have nothing to say.

[10] How do we inculcate this work ethic into our flair players? Back when we used to play "set", your Okocha and Kanu type players never used to do any work for the team. We need to start coaching these boys early before they develop bad habits, so they do not fall by the wayside.

In truth, the Super Eagles have improved immeasurably in this regard. It was very evident in our games against Cameroon, and also the friendly with Argentina (albeit after going 2 down). I think it's something Rohr is drilling solidly into the team and that flair game will not be a part of our Russia 2018 campaign. Fast breaks, yes, flair, no!

Did you all see how easily Chelsea surrendered possession to Leicester in midfield yesterday? They made it an equal contest. Man City would never have allowed that.

Ayo Akinfe wrote:Did you all see how easily Chelsea surrendered possession to Leicester in midfield yesterday? They made it an equal contest. Man City would never have allowed that.

How can you be so naive about footie after a decade plus, of spewing 10 pointers about the game?

@Ayo, curious, does Liverpool try to recover the ball back quickly too or not?

I hope you answer this question before the game.