Roberto Mancini has demanded more fight from his Manchester city team following their disappointing display in the 1-1 draw against Borussia Dortmund. What can City do better off the ball?
Organisation
One of the reasons that Dortmund looked so effective against City is because the team was disorganised out of possession. The key players in the City team need to get their sections defensively organised so that it’s harder for the opposition to break through. Dortmund were allowed to feed the ball into their attacking players on the edge of the box because not one of the city defenders could take the risk of trying to intercept which would have left a huge hole in behind.
Pressing
City did not press well enough when they did not have the ball. They need to press high up the pitch to try and win the ball back in progressive areas. It’s much easier to take advantage of a disorganised team when your side is high up the pitch in attacking areas. This is something that Dortmund did well and it should have seen them score at least two or three more goals in the game.
Aggression
There wasn’t the aggression from key players in the City midfield and defence which we are used to seeing. The likes of Yaya Toure and Vincent Kompany did not make their presence known and this allowed Dortmund to dictate the play when they did have the ball. All it takes is a couple of physical challenges when a side first gets the ball to let the opposition know that they are in for a rough ride and will not be allowed to dictate the pace of their own play and attacks.
Sprints
This is a point which ties in with organisation but not enough city players were sprinting around the pitch to try and get into position to help out their teammates. The full backs needed to sprint back to form the defensive line after attacks and this did not happen. There was also a lack of sprint back from attacking players in the midfield which left a lot of space in the middle of the pitch for Dortmund to exploit on the counter attack. If city players just sprint back when they don’t have the ball then defensively they will be harder to break down.
Movement
City have a lot of touch players in their team and they were not available enough when the side did have the ball. Movement is everything for an attacking side trying to get into good positions to score. City players almost expected the ball to just find them, expecting a teammate to play a simple pass. The only way for players, off the ball, to cause havoc in an organised opposition is to produce plenty of movement waiting for passes because this forces the opposition to break that organisation.
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