Vitality Stadium
Predicted line-up, subs and outcome:
(Number correct from the starting line-up in the last game: 9/11).
A very fluid 4-1-4-1 / 4-2-3-1 / 4-3-3:
____________________Haaland____________________
Doku______________________________________Silva
_________De Bruyne___________Foden____________
_____________________Rodri_____________________
Ake______________________________________Walker
_____________Dias_____________Akanji____________
____________________Ederson_____________________
Subs: Ortega, Gomez, Lewis, Stones, Susoho, Kovacic, Nunes, Bobb & Alvarez.
Ederson in goal.
A small amount of rest & rotation in defence, I think, which will result in a back-4 of Nathan, Ruben, Akanji & Kyle.
Rodders, of course, to ‘go again’ in front of those.
With some question marks surrounding Kevin having his recent comeback from long-term injury monitored; I’m still going for the Belgium international to start this one. If I’m right, then joining the 32-year-old I’m going for Jeremy, Phil & Bernardo.
Erling ‘up top’.
Stefan to provide keeper cover; Sergio, Rico & John are the defenders on the side. Mahamadou, Mateo & Matheus are the central midfielder on the bench, while Oscar & Julian, who could do with some respite I think, are the wingers / forwards in ‘the 9’.
Notable absences:
- Josko Gvardiol – Making progress but still out with an ankle injury for about another 10 days, going off the initial assessment.
- Jack Grealish – Similarly, making progress but still missing with a minor groin / hip injury and is expected to return in around about a week’s time.
Do I agree with Pep’s (predicted) line-up?
Result? You have to go back as far as Boxing Day to find a Bournemouth win in the league, which was a 3-0 home victory against Fulham. While they’ve marched on in the F.A. Cup to reach the 5th round by dispatching two lower league sides, scoring 8 and conceding just 2; that still leaves The Cherries winless in 2024 in the Premier League…and we’re not far off March!
In addition - and bringing it closer to home - you might not want to mention this within earshot of a Bournemouth fan but the south-coast-side’s record against us is woeful to say the very least.
So…that all bodes well for us then, doesn’t it? On the face of it, most definitely yes.
However, don’t be fooled by their last six league-game-results, which reads: L L D D L D. Commentators / pundits have been reporting that our host’s results haven’t quite been mirroring their performances; with some saying that only late slip-ups have snatched a draw or a win away from our Saturday evening opponents. They may sit 13th and just 8-points above the relegation zone as I prep this piece on Thursday 22nd February but had they landed on the right side of some of those fine margins; they’d be closer to a Europa Conference League place for sure.
However, once the Spanish boss had come to grips with his first ever job in English football, they really did start to produce performances and results to make a few people sit up and take note.
There’s also the ‘Solanke factor’ against our defence. The 1-cap, England international striker is the league’s 3rd-top scorer so far this season and only 3 goals behind our own Erling Haaland; although I don’t believe the Bournemouth forward has been out through injury as long as Erling.
As for us? Well…we’re doing okay, aren’t we? 2nd in the league; just 4 points off the leaders with a game in hand and 13 games to go is a position most other sides would LOVE to be in! So why doesn’t it feel quite like that to some; me included on the odd, very brief, wavering occasion?
I think the answer to that lies somewhere between the actual watching of performances and some ‘hard facts’.
As for the watching, we don’t quite look as fluid as we’ve seen our City sides under Pep. Final balls, misfired shots and losing our defensive shape to leave us exposed have all been evident for large parts of this season. I think only ‘possession dominance’ has saved us in many cases – something which is, apparently, now boring dear ol’ Gary Neville.
I even watched online a Manchester City fan having a RIGHT good rant at the Etihad immediately after our disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea; blaming our style of play being forced on us by us-accommodating Erling Haaland in attack. Another season ticket holder that I know has since told me that they didn’t bother going to the Brentford game, adding, “…I’m glad I didn’t go as I’ve heard it was boring”. 😲
There’s that word again…
So what is it? Have we turned into a, boring-boring Arsenal of old? The answer to that is quite simply, “No”; didn’t that boring-boring Arsenal side keep clean sheets most games? Ouch…
I don’t fully know the reason(s) why we appear to be plodding our way through games some of the time, rather than seeing the swashbuckling City of seasons gone by, but there is one thing that I have noticed for sure and it’s regarding the opposition.
Whenever it may have started, it became apparent, at some stage, that a side had to defend like CRAZY in order to avoid a right-good thumping by us. At first, a lot of teams started to play with ‘1 up top’ and then pack the midfield; largely in their own half. Then, “their half”, slowly became the 18-yard box.
Now? I seem to spend a large part of my City-watching shaking my head in utter disbelief at just how many of the opposition players are camped at the edge of their 6-yard box!
I’ve seen smaller walls defending free kicks, for flip’s sake!
Of course, it’s their prerogative AND it’s up to us, then of course, to find ways to get around or through that compact, human wall. In fact, Pep said in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Chelsea game that he had to find different ways to try ‘n’ beat sides. Gary Neville calls those methods & efforts boring, apparently.
As for hard facts?
- We are rarely in a position at this time of the season where we don’t have the highest goal difference; often by a country mile too. We’re currently 3rd on that score.
- We’re also usually top scorers. We’re joint 2nd at the moment.
- I don’t think we’ve ever conceded more goals in the league than ‘games played’ under Pep but we’ve played 25 and conceded 26 up to now.
If you didn’t read them and want to; in my last few posts I’ve written about our shots to ‘on target’ ratio as well as our defensive lapses and I think both stats are hurting us a little bit at the moment.
HOWEVER…Worzel Gummidge positive head now screwed on!
In ALL competitions, both domestic and otherwise, we look like this in our last 16 matches: W W D W W W W W W W W W W W D W. “Boring”…but I-personally will take that all day long, I don’t know about you.
This season, we’ve also won the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup; we’re still in F.A. Cup, we’re through to the knock-out stages of the Champions League and our league status I’ve already covered. Again…boring, hey? 😂
Our last defeat was way back on 6th December away at Aston Villa, in case you were wondering, and we just about edged the possession stat that night; shooting just twice but getting both on target without scoring, sadly.
We’re in good shape in terms of having just two players sidelined due to slight niggles; with perhaps just 2 or 3 players that need to be wrapped in cotton wool (De Bruyne) and / or given some minutes off if possible because they’ve played so much football so far this season – I’m thinking of the likes of Rodri & Alvarez at the very least there.
What may go in our favour is what Pep said in the first half of his pre-match press conference, which is that we are apparently about to face a side at their home ground who are aggressive in their forward play. So…perhaps we might not see, quite so often, a 6-yard box crammed with opposing defenders & midfielders plus a keeper. We’ll see.
Whatever [boring] method our manager chooses to deploy this evening in order to try ‘n’ obtain another victory; a victory is what I think we’ll achieve. It’s a City win for me.
Last season’s, corresponding pre-match prediction and result:
Prediction: Win
Result: Won
(There was no pre-match blog-posting for that game due to a holiday break)
Solidarity
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