Saturday 26 August 2017

How do you outplay a team like Man City?

Taking on Man City at their own game is a bit like running into a brick wall. AFCB have tried to match them by playing their own game, but City's players have always been quicker and stronger at moving the ball. Thinking of a plan to change the dynamics of that is going to have kept Eddie Howe busy this week and more, but the players will determine if they can get on the front foot or not and they'll probably make up their minds very early on.

Man City are unbeaten in four matches against the Cherries
– can AFCB get a win against one of the league's best sides?
The opening minutes of Premier League contests are great spectacles to watch as both teams usually hold little back, but the small errors get magnified when play is at 100 miles an hour. AFCB often use the pace to their advantage. Yet, to beat a top side like Man City they will need more than that. AFCB have to be able to show their strengths in all aspects of the game, and beating Man City to the breakdowns is where they can establish their hold on the game.

Man City are not invincible. Everton did well to go to the Etihad, in the week, and to get a draw, and they could have won. The lesson is that hey achieved what they did by not sitting back. Eddie Howe is likely to want his side to play as much as they can in the opponents half, even though the counter-attack from Man City will be devastatingly quick and more than likely, they'll be very accurate in their passing. Everton challenged Man City and kept asking questions and AFCB have to do the same.

Advertisement
It's surprising how a team can find it hard to turn on the style at any given moment when they don't see a game unfolding in they way they had expected. Eddie Howe needs a surprise of two up his sleeve for Guardiola's side. Special moves practised for corners, a flexible system to defend and attack and careful positioning at set plays will enter Howe's thoughts, but at the end of the day the one aspect he can't do much to control on the day is AFCB's accuracy on shooting. If AFCB are to get something against Man City it is vital that we see better shooting from the Cherries.

In other news, three club directors have stepped down - Mikhail Ponomarev, Oleg Tikhturov and Igor Tikhturov.

1 comment:

  1. Why have three russian directors resigned...where is Jeff Mostyn....whats going on

    ReplyDelete

tag: