Fit for purpose

[Paddy]

Is Pep fit for the epl ?. Answers on a postage stamp along with your name and address and the details of all City supporters

[gavin]

Top manager. He has a fantastic record even with this season. There's a lot of bollocks talked about the Prem. But there is one big truth in football. If you don't take your chances then you will win nothing. We've played the football to win but haven't finished it off. IF we weren't dominating games and creating chances then I could see your point but that is plainly not the case.

[Rowley Birkin QC]

Thank you Gavin.

[Ludo]

There certainly is a lot of bollix talked about the Premier League, but although the top teams aren't at the same consistent standard of Real, Barca or Bayern, the top six or seven teams are fairly similar in strength.

Pep is possibly 3 or 4 players (injuries permitting) from a fantastic squad so reports of his demise from the media are greatly exaggerated.

[Victoria]

PEP is more than 3-4 players short of a fantastic squad, i'd say about 8-10, get rid of the old guard who remain so inconsistent. What ever Pep does, he has to get rid of Bravo, that buy (Bravo) in my view cost City the league the minute he played. He has to be the worst City player I have ever seen in my time of supporting City.

[Ludo]

You haven't been supporting City very long then....

[goat]

to be fair i doubt the yank has been breathing without gills for long

[Lekos]

to be fair i doubt the yank has been breathing without gills for long

Second funniest thing on Citymancs for years.

[bbk]

to be fair i doubt the yank has been breathing without gills for long

Exceptional.

[Victoria]

At least I have climbed out of the pond, which is more that can be said for the 3 previous posters on this board

[Lekos]

That's a real stinger.

[goat]

to be fair it only had 2 days to come up with that

[Neil Mcnab]

I very much doubt its all been a big shock to Pep. He seems to live and breathe the game, a real thinker. He is an innovator, will play players in positions no one else would dream of playing them, do things that even seasoned ex pros cannot fathom out.

But until he has a run of success in our league, there are going to be big doubts. There are three other teams with massive spending power in the league, he has never had that to deal with that before in Spain and Uber alles. Spurs dont spend big, but have a great scouting system. Liverpool have the history. For now, there are five other teams in the race for honours, who have some great players to match up with ours. Compare to Spain, two horse race, Germany, a walkover. In Germany, managing Bayern is like managing Celtic, its difficult to think a decent manager wouldnt win the league. 

Also, he comes across as a right tulip in an interview after a game where we have not played well. Just aint good enough. We are all disappointed, but he needs to get a grip. Pfffft or callate, el burro sabe mas que tu, isnt right.  He needs to give Pellegrini a call on how to behave.   

[gavin]

Not sure why you think he comes across badly in interviews after we have been beaten. He always seems very honourable, gracious and honest to me. His assessments are mostly spot on too. We create but don't score, the final ball not good enough, we concede to nearly every attack. Problem for me is that nothing seems to improve match after match. Though hopefully next season it will as he seems to recognise the issues - though they are bleeding obvious.

[Swiss]

How would you improve with the current personal?

[gavin]

I'd have them all doing a lot more finishing practice until they finish at least nearly as well as Chelsea. If we finished nearly as well as them this season we would be challenging for the title now. For a start we would have won the game with them at the Etihad and got a point at least at Stamford Bridge. But the number of games we have drawn at home that we should have won is what has cost us. Yes, we have been bad at the back but we had the chances to have won nearly all of those games.

[KunDB]

I think part of the problem with finishing is the way Pep uses players. They are expected to play in multiple position and stick to Pep play rules rigidly. So when they get the rare chance to score they feel pressured and snap at the chance.

We also allow teams too much time to get back and organise their defence. When we break clear we more often than not have to check back as we have no players in the opponents box (Aguero always out on wings?) so no cross option just square or back pass.

We far too often try to walk the ball into the net or create the perfect pass, possession being all means no putting opponents under pressure inside their box. Consequentially, we too often sit back rather than push players into opponents box. It is all too easy for opponents to park the bus and watch us try to thread 'tippy tap' pretty balls through their solid brick wall.

Hopefully, that said we are not too far of getting the right formula and all this will be sorted out for next year. I have faith in Pep, and lets face it who else could we get who is better?

[gavin]

Yes, we definitely fail to break quickly too often when given the chance. We need to be braver in those situations because we are definitely at our most dangerous then. Sometimes you get the impression we are not happy unless we are trying to break down a wall of ten men. When we do get confronted by packed defence we need to move the ball more quickly around too. But hopefully that will come with confidence. You can't break teams down when they always have chance to get back into position.

[gavin]

Pep says you cannot coach finishing in his latest interview and that you have to buy finishers. I don't agree with that at all. A decent coach should be able to work with players and improve any aspect of their game. Very disappointing attitude.

[Hesperus]

Yes. Very strange comment on coaching. Not
What fans or players want to hear and like you Gav. I don't agree with him either.

Personally. I don't think we create enough clear cut chances. Our build up play is slow and sometimes lacking invention. We look like a team devoid of ideas when Silva isn't playing.

My main frustration when watching the current side is that I'm screaming at the team to get more players in the box when we attack. W have no players that bust a gut to get in the box to support the attack. The amount of times we spend 2 or 3 mins building up an attack outside the box. When finally a cross comes in there is only Aguero in the box who is totally outnumbered by the opposition defence. Sterling, Sane and one of the midfielders should be in the box when that cross or pass finally comes in, but that rarely happens.