spurs played man city in the premier league . day by day i think that the gaurdiola bubble is flattening and unless and untill he reinvents himself he may become untouchable since he kind of budget he works with cant be financed by many a teams in europe . i think that this season he has the worst team that gaurdiola coached in a good league . what he thinks on paper is not been able to put it into frutition . its like he had been theorotical than practical . he has a good plan but to bring that plan to reality and most importantly tweaking it real time in the real matches rather than in practice is very important . planning is one thing and executing is another one .also while making plan he should think about the flaws and the shortcoming that he has and the way that the opponent can exploit his system and the way that he can cover them up . while gaurdiola is struggling mouriniho is flying high and i think that he has done a very good business in the transfer window . i think this is the team that can deliver mouriniho the title .
man city started the game with 4-3-3 formation but he would bring cancelo in the midfield to make up numbers in the midfield so that he can send silva upfield to join attack . while mouriniho's team started with 4-4-2 . both the managers have a preffered playing style while gaurdiola like to dominate possession and play with width . mouriniho likes to sit back and play counter attack . gaurdiola likes to stretch the opposition and try to explore those spaces that he thinks the opposition will leave . the most intriguing thing that i found about gaurdiola is that he just believes in his own plan and just doesnt tries to see as to whethere there is flaw in opposition's formation and how he can exploit that flaw . there was certainly a flaw in spurs formation and i think that gaurdiola didnt do enough to exploit it even though he had a player to exploit it . he has de bruyne who he could had told that there was a space between hoiberg and sissoko and he could had told him to take position over there and exploit that space that was there to offer . there were certain things that gaurdiola team did correct . where on after losing possession they pressed a bit which is necessary because what it does is that it stops that immediate counter attack . the opposition has to pass the ball back and when pressured enough the opposition has to go for a long ball or a punt and you can win the ball back . if after losing possession you back track instead of pressing then you had left spaces which the opposition will explore and you have trouble . the other thing is that he was playing torres and mahrez in the wide position . garudiola wants to stretch the opposition so that de bruyne and silva can explore those spaces but i think his team lacks the cohesion that is needed to explore these spaces . one more important thing that i think is that they are playing way too wide because whoever plays football knows this that 10 yard pass comes quickly than a 15 yard pass . for me the space between his players is way too wide and it is more than 15 yards . by playing this wide i think he is trying to get space for his players so that they can run on opposition but while doing so he is not taking in consideration the oppositions formation and players . the other thing about being too wide is that when the ball is passed the opposition player who is marking can close you down quickly and at time force into going on the wrong side . the other thing is that the opposition can close down spaces and you can loose possession . the other thing that had been missing from gaurdiola's team is the intricate one touch tiki taka play that had made him famous . instead his team look like the argentinian team where on everybody with the ball looks to drive on the opposition and do the job single handedly . i think he need to look at his tapes as to what he is doing wrong and how the opposition are milking him and when and what he needs to do as to improve his team .
i take in to account the two games that city had played . now michael owen was analysing the tactical side at what led to the spurs goal in the first half . before i cross michael owen and try to put my own opinion in both the matches gaurdiola 's team played a high line for the first 20 min and then they dropped back . in the both the matches the opposition was able to that space that was left between the back line and goalkeeper . i really dont understand the logic of playing the high line when the opposition is playing on a counter since they have obviosuly prepared for counter attack . secondly man city dont do a high and tight pressing no more then what is the use of playing a high line . atleast they can start dropping back as soon as the ball is in their half .
now to analyse the goal which was explained by michael owen . first off laporte is correct in coming out of the defense and trying to close down kane since he is in laporte zone and it has to somebody from either dias or laporte has to close him down . consider this that either laporte or dias dont come out of their position and hold their position and allow kane time and space on the ball . he can run these defenders and in process he can release either bergwin or son or can even shoot himself . the thing is that laporte is not wrong in coming out of defense but it is cancelo who is sleeping and not reading the situation . when laporte came out of defense at time cancello should had moved inside and closed that gap between him and dias . atleast he should had stopped son's direct central run . fine he would had given him space on the right but then the angle on right is much acute than the central one and the goal keeper has a better chance of it . it is not laporte's fault it is cancello's fault .
mouriniho has set his team up very nicely and this is the team with whom he has the chance to win another title .
