- Mar 3, 2004
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OK I don't even think this was a defensive performance, and I think there is a real issue with how people understand modern football. Creating openings is hard, what Mason tried to do, is build from the back, this generally the main way that attacking teams create now, but essentially we couldn't break Man cities press, same with the CL final it's the same. It's not that it was defensive per se it's that we weren't good enough at the building, but no one is ever good at that against city tbf. What was defensive was the shape, we didn't try and press them but rather we played in a mid-block, probably because we were scared of city hitting those long diagonals into the channels.
The weird thing is we were 10 minutes away from extra time, and actually, we did manage to subdue city in the second half, had a lot more possession, got the ball higher up. The subs I think didn't help us, but even then, I think we were well in the game, and defended well. It goes to extra time and penalties and it's a success.
I think people are exaggerating the doom and gloom. Or are just delusional to the difference in level and what's required to reach that level. One of the issues is we are trying to play from the back now, in a Poch kind of way, Poch teams also could be pinned back in their own half a lot, but there has been no time whatsoever to work on it, so it's kind of what you expect. I thought odds were, we'd be beaten pretty comfortably today and I think that we managed to hold and actually a bit more than that in the second half, wasn't a bad show.
I get the gulf in class, 10 minutes away from extra time was being fortuitous in how we rode our luck. Yeah, beat City’s press, we decide to combat that with a midfield of Winks and Sissoko.