I don't think they coast as such, they just seem to lose their way, maybe partly because we're still not quite effective enough in front of goal, a funny thing to say after a 2-0 win maybe, but after a load of missed chances.yesterday at 1-0, the game began to driftOriginally Posted by Niall_Quinn
This idea that teams don’t coast in games is also for the birds, we are dealing with human beings not robots. City coast in games, I can name a lot of games last season when they were almost punished and in fact were punished for it (2-0 up at home at Crystal Palace, ended up drawing 2-2)
The difference is as good as our players are, City are just a little bit better in terms of being clinical. It’s not about complacency it’s about having that little bit of extra quality to take on a shot first time rather than wait or make a pass to someone else and it gets cut out.
Whilst I think we need to strengthen I’m not sure our squad will be at City’s level from one transfer window.
We’ve narrowed the gap massively but it takes time. It’s also about not making panic signings. I hope for instance we are not just signing Merino because he’s cheaper than Zubimendi
So over the past two seasons we’ve given away 17 points from winning positions, City have given away 21.
Our main issue is less coasting, and more struggling to establish a lead and then getting punished on the break if we push up too much (this has tended to happen a lot at home)
I heard an interesting theory that some lower table teams don't even bother really trying to beat Citeh, they just try to keep the score down and move on, so Citeh sometimes can get an easier ride, I can see some logic in that tbh, why knock yourself out against Citeh when you've got Ipswich in the following game and all you're trying to do is avoid relegation?
How hard did certain teams play against us last season - Sheffield United who city scored four against and we got 11. Basically the main difference is we are slightly easier to defend against than City, and therefore once City get the first goal the other team has to chase an equaliser and City is relentless in attack. There are times we can be like that as well, just like there are games where City can make heavy weather of a game (1-0 at home to Brentford for example)
It really depends with certain teams, when you’re playing them as to what they have to play for. Sometimes there’s a psychological factor, beaten before they’ve even take their place on the field of play
I think this theory is punctured by the stat HCZ just posted i.e. if teams are not trying hard against Citeh (compared to us) they shouldn't be coming back more when Citeh takes the lead.
Anyway, I think what you said was true of the EPL in the era Man U dominated and IIRC there is a popular quote from Roy Keane on this. However, IMO Chelsea ended that era and its never been the same since then.
I think HCZ's stats supports the notion that Citeh are braver than us, which I think most unbiased fans will agree to. IMO we need to end our fixation with not losing and change that fixation to wins, wins and more wins ...... FFS Arteta buy strikers!!!
For anyone who followed Leverkusen's remarkable season, they were behind in games so many times (I know because I won a lot of money on these games) but kept coming back with late goal after late goal. I have tried to find the exact stat but yet to (again thumbs up to how useless AI is).
I wonder how that particular stat would compare with ours last season..... or maybe even compare our own invincible season to what we did last season.
Hard to compare because most of the time we weren’t in position where we had to come from behind
So whilst fair play to Leverkusen for their resilience I’d personally rather not have to be chasing the game constantly
But in the 13 games we won on the road, every single one of them we scored the first goal (12 of those were leads we never surrendered at any point during the match)
The three away games we drew, Liverpool we took the lead and were pegged back, Chelsea we recovered from 2-0 down and city was a nil nil.
Three defeats? Villa game I would say probably did raise question marks for how we conceded early and despite absolutely dominating in terms of chances created couldn’t get back into the game. Newcastle? Didn’t play well but ridiculous that the goal wasn’t scrubbed off. Fulham? Well that and the home game against Fulham were the shittest performances of the season.
At home we went behind in four games (won 1, drew 1, lost 2)
So yep arguably can improve on that, but at the same time for the most part we get leads and maintain leads
I would say though, it’s not just about mental toughness it’s about being able to piss through the eye of a needle. Defences don’t tire as much in the premier league. And teams are more likely to sit with 11 men behind the ball to defend a lead. From what I saw of Leverkusen they were a good counter attacking team and they often got teams trying to push up to kill them off. Plus I find the Bundesliga a much more open league
Neverton are after Eddie on loan apparently, boy does that club have a deathwish...
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