FireWire Review | Disappointed Arsenal! Fulham had the intention to block but was "stolen" by Manchester City

Shepherd who writes balls

2024-05-12 12:14Posted in Inner Mongolia Sports Creators

The title race is at its most tense moment, as there are less than 10 points left in the season to fight for.

Given this situation, there are not many teams that Arsenal can use to entrust with the task of "stopping Manchester City", but if City make a mistake, there is not much room for them to make mistakes.

So it's not just the Arsenal players who are nervous, the Manchester City players as well.

Away to Fulham, this is not an easy game to win, Guardiola and the players still need to deal with it seriously, because there will be no relegation downward, and Fulham, who have no pursuit of upward, do intend to stop Manchester City.

After the opening, Fulham's position was clear:

In order to get a good result, Fulham set up 532 at home, and the rationale was that right-back Bobby Reid allowed his team to form a wider front by marking Foden.

If one player in midfield is burdened with a heavier defensive responsibility, the remaining frontcourt players will naturally have to share more attacking responsibilities and the players will need to perform better.

At least in the early stages of the game, Fulham managed to do just that:

Whether it's the centre-forward working up front, sending in a cross from the wing, or finding the right time to get between the two lines of Manchester City, it's a sign of intensity.

In addition to the attacking aspect, the defensive aspect has benefited from the personnel and responsibilities that Fulham can also combine and invisibly combine De Bruyne and Haaland in a tight area in the middle:

But in the 12th minute of the game, Fulham's goal was lost:

In this goal, it is of course Gvardiol's performance that deserves praise, as a player who has played in an unfamiliar full-back position this season, Gvardiol has clearly shown his flexibility and versatility in his footwork, which is the key to his ability to play at full-back and gradually provide a role in attack.

As for the skill of his backfoot goal, not to mention that it is much easier to score in front of Real Madrid than against Fulham.

Being tall and strong does not significantly lead to heaviness and slowness in the footwork, which is a common advantage of Eastern European players.

And in this goal, Fulham's right central defender Diop just exposed his footwork problems, Gvardiol was left behind when he dunked inside, and he couldn't even stop and start again:

That's the level of a Fulham centre-back, so in this game, it makes sense for Marco Silva to ask Reid to take on his defensive responsibilities and thus compress the lateral space on the back line, and in this ball, it was Reid who did not make up for it, but pounced up, which led to Palinha being flanked by Foden, giving De Bruyne space to handle the ball:

The deliberately designed defensive system was broken early in the game, and Fulham had no additional options at home, increasing the intensity and starting the attack was the only way forward.

So during this time, led by center forward Muniz, Fulham still played some attacks:

Of course, Muniz's ceiling is limited, so he can only take on more tactical responsibilities in front of Manchester City's opponents, and leave the ball to his teammates, expecting him to do more on his own is difficult for a strong man, and there are still some mistakes caused by him:

He did this, Pereira and Iwobi as well, and Willian was a veteran, and it was easy to lose energy quickly in a game of this intensity, so the attack that played relatively well was in the 36th minute:

With no significant improvement in attacking efficiency, City can use this to counter-attack:

So Red's defensive responsibilities were gradually relieved, and he pressed upwards more and more, so behind him, Foden came into play:

As a result, the game gradually developed into a confrontation towards the end of the first half, with Fulham forming attacking chances with more input:

Manchester City, on the other hand, could use more space to speed up their attack:

This kind of game scene, you say that Manchester City is not panicked at all, it is impossible.

Playing away from home, Ake was replaced in the first half due to injury, and a slight mistake will significantly improve Fulham's attacking efficiency, just like this attack of Fulham in the second half:

Adama Traore replaced Reid, leaving Fulham's right side in the driver's direction, and Marco Silva must be hoping to turn the gun around to stifle the performance of Gvardiol and Foden.

However, this side cannot attack directly, and City can use this side to fall to the other side and form an attack from the right side:

So the game was still deadlocked, and Fulham couldn't make enough substitutions to regain enough advantage, so after Muniz brought out this attack:

City not only moved from the left flank again, but also threatened in the other direction:

also scored the second goal in the 59th minute:

This goal fully reflects Fulham's eagerness, Robinson chose to grab when his teammates on his side were not ready, and failed, Kellney's defensive options in the ribs were also quite conservative, failed to block Bernardo Silva's internal lane, and needed Palhinha to wipe his ass, but Palhinha rubbed him, and no one wiped Palhinha.

After all, you can't expect Pereira to defend like a midfielder.

Of course, the biggest contributor to this goal was Phil Foden.

This season, Foden has scored a number of key goals like this, and the trend towards taking on more responsibilities in the middle can no longer be overshadowed.

So, next season, Pep Guardiola will no longer be able to use Foden as a role player, and the narrower central areas, including the right side that is more conducive to attacking, should be where Foden can play.

Today's left side was not for Foden, but he still reassured City.

With the score at 0-2, Fulham struggled to play at home, not to mention that they were not in a situation where they particularly needed those points, nor did they have to stop Manchester City.

So when this attack was played:

Fulham's space at the back is getting bigger:

And as Marco Silva gradually replaced the likes of Muniz, Fulham's intensity gradually decreased, and finally ate this counterattack in the 71st minute:

Conceded the third goal in a corner shootout:

This is the end of the game.

Diop also conceded a late penalty as City won 4-0 on the road:

In this game, Manchester City still played well, and in the face of Fulham's deliberately arranged defensive arrangement, Manchester City still seized a gap and used the skills between the players and the characteristics of Gvardiol to complete the goal.

As Pep Guardiola praised Gvardiol after the game, the latter has not only shown his outstanding athleticism over time, but also showed his hidden characteristics of solid technique, but we still have to say that the player is still suitable to play in the central defender position, and the back and forth in the full-back position will increase his consumption and thus affect the height of his career.

As for Foden, who scored the second goal, needless to say, he needs and should take over next season.

On Fulham's side, the shortcomings are still in the central defense line.

Whether it is Diop or Adarabioyu in this game, they are essentially lacking in ability, including Bassi, who has obvious advantages and disadvantages, and cannot support the team in a back four system in a game of this intensity.

So, Marco Silva does need to form a back five, but if he doesn't stand in a back five for just one round, there will still be problems in the back line, which is a clear shortcoming.

Therefore, they will need to improve here next season in order to return to the top half of the table and to take on a similar role of "stopping Manchester City".

They can't do that this season.

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