Wolves 1 v 3 Man City PL 21/3/20

First Half Observations & Goals Analysis

(A) The first noteworthy event was Sterling diving within 2 min of the game starting trying to win a pen against Coady. There was barely any condemnation from @SkyFootball

(B) Man City started the game with Mendy & Walker pushing back Traore & Marcal, and later Vinagre, thereby nullifying Wolves attacking threat. This is where Wolves, if they had a pacy forward could have used the channels to expose the space

(C) A theme quickly developed in this game, which lasted throughout. Both Rodrigo& Fernandinho dropped whenever Ederson had the ball. Ake & Stones went wide. Wolves forwards allowed easy passes in to them both & Moutinho & Neves were too slow to prevent them turning & dictating.

(D) Here is a classic example. De Bruyne is on the ball. Moutinho is ambling back to Foden in space & Neves isn’t doing enough to cover the passing lane & forcing the pass wide. This ends up resulting in a good chance for City.

(E) The first City goal was simply Saiss having a brain fart moment, diving in on De Bruyne when the ball would probably have gone out of play, and even if it didn’t & De Bruyne crossed, Wolves had cover in the middle. Some times the reputation provokes unnecessary reactions.

(F) The 2nd City goal was beautifully crafted. Not many did much wrong, but if we look at the 2 photos attached. In the build up, Neto has Foden. By the time Sterling crosses, Neto has left Foden.

Second Half Observations

(G) 48th min - City harassing high up the pitch continued as a theme; Saiss miscontrolling, Walker capitalising on the mistake & City almost scoring.

(H) Traore - Hype about him re: his physical attributes are undeniable. As for his football IQ, that’s a different matter. In the 49th min for example he’s facing his goal with City pressing. Instead of clearing, he tries to use his physicality. Dispossessed & City almost score.

(I) 53rd min - Traore tries a fancy turn in the City half when all he needs to do is hold the ball, lay off & keep possession. He’s dispossessed. De Bruyne releases Jesus who shoots straight at Patricio.

(J) 56th min - Traore has the ball in his own half. He has a pass wide to Neto but seems to want to draw the City players in and engage them in a battle, which is well & good if you’re going to win out & expose the space in behind.

(K) In the 2nd half the theme continued whereby Rodri and Fernandinho dropped deep. There was one example of this where once they are allowed to turn, you block of the passing lanes. Neither Neto, nor Neves did this & the ball was played through to De Bruyne between the lines.

(L) Podence chance (see photo). Stones is caught ball watching. As Moutinho plays the ball, you can see Stones is ball watching because he is moving forward & Podence is moving beyond him.

(M) Couple of instances in the 2nd half where De Bruyne merely skipped past Neves as if he were a school kid.

(N) 60th min - Jiminez chance. Traore skips past Mendy. Should Stones hold his position, or does he go out to Jiminez & trust that the runner in behind is tracked by the defender? Only place cross can go is the cut back, hence Stones should go to Jiminez.

Conclusion:

Wolves will be fine where they dominate possession & with technical players they will always be a threat against big sides. But the immobility and stature of that midfield (Neves & Moutinho) is worrying. Traore playing as wing back nullifies his threat.

Conclusion continued

There’s something strange about Mendy’s body positioning in 1 v 1s. But I can’t pin down what it is. There was a 1 v 1 that Ake faced & he was better balanced. If the player went outside he was ready. The player ended up coming inside & Ake controlled him.