Citys 'run to the byline and cut back' tactic

[Paolo Di Canio]

It seems for years now, under Mancini, Pellegrini & Guardiola, game after game, City score the same goal, sometimes two or three times in the same game.

If you could see a highlight reel of Aguero/ Sterlings goals for City, 75% of them will be a winger/full back run to the (usually right sided) byline, a low cut back across the box, and a tap in for said forward.

My question is why do so many defenders/ goalkeepers follow the ball each time in this instance? We all know where its going, on the toe of whoevers standing in the middle of the 6 yard box.

Easier said then done, but when you see a City player at the byline, 85% of the time its going square to striker standing in the middle of the 6 yard box, why not stand infront of Aguero / Sterling and cut out the majority of their goals.

Warning: All statistics in this thread may or may not be accurate

 

[Snow]

You don't always know 100% where it's going when Mahrez/Sterling/B. Silva have the ball and they all do it very quickly. That's the thing about tricky wingers like that, it's a nightmare to defend against. We've got fast players but James isn't tricky and Rashford is direct but often predictable and not with the same passing options as City players so easier to defend against.

The key here like in any thread about "why is our attack so bad" threads is movement. Movement of the players and movement of the ball. We're quick when teams aren't in shape because we've got direct players. Give them a runway and you won't stop them. They and our midfielders just aren't as good at passing the ball. Their short passing is worse, first touch is worse and everything is slower.

At the basic level City and Liverpool have the same setup as SAF. It's not the same tactics but it's the same basic principles. Overlapping full backs, wingers that are quick and hard to defend against 1v1. A good striker and a midfield that does the basic things really well. It's a simplistic view of it since it doesn't go into tactics and specific team setup.

 

[Tarrou]

why not just stand in front of the attacker before he receives the ball?

city = solved

 

[Skills]

They're creating mismatches and there's more than one credible option available to the player making the pass.

Defending is easy when you don't have to think. As soon, as a defender is asked to make a decision it becomes a lot harder - especially when your decision can throw off the rest of your teams shape.

 

[Paolo Di Canio]

You don't always know 100% where it's going when Mahrez/Sterling/B. Silva have the ball and they all do it very quickly. That's the thing about tricky wingers like that, it's a nightmare to defend against. We've got fast players but James isn't tricky and Rashford is direct but often predictable and not with the same passing options as City players so easier to defend against.

The key here like in any thread about "why is our attack so bad" threads is movement. Movement of the players and movement of the ball. We're quick when teams aren't in shape because we've got direct players. Give them a runway and you won't stop them. They and our midfielders just aren't as good at passing the ball. Their short passing is worse, first touch is worse and everything is slower.

At the basic level City and Liverpool have the same setup as SAF. It's not the same tactics but it's the same basic principles. Overlapping full backs, wingers that are quick and hard to defend against 1v1. A good striker and a midfield that does the basic things really well. It's a simplistic view of it since it doesn't go into tactics and specific team setup.

Most of City goals start off around the centre circle, couple of triangles, out to the winger, overlapping fullback, squared across the box low and an attacker either sliding between the area between defence and goalkeeper or a striker standing unmarked in the 6 yard box.

Like when teams sit deep against us, neutralising our best chance of scoring, like the poster above you said, prepare for the cut back across the box 5 seconds before hand, keeper doesnt need to be scarpering across the goalline like hes never seen whats coming

Aguero specifically scores this goal 20-25 times a season. Yet teams still line up like they are preparing like they dont know where its going nearly all the time.

 

[meamth]

I know a couple of spiderlegs to neutralize Sterling.

And a "fat" cnut who had Bernardo Silva frustrated on the right side of City's.

 

[pacifictheme]

It seems for years now, under Mancini, Pellegrini & Guardiola, game after game, City score the same goal, sometimes two or three times in the same game.

If you could see a highlight reel of Aguero/ Sterlings goals for City, 75% of them will be a winger/full back run to the (usually right sided) byline, a low cut back across the box, and a tap in for said forward.

My question is why do so many defenders/ goalkeepers follow the ball each time in this instance? We all know where its going, on the toe of whoevers standing in the middle of the 6 yard box.

Easier said then done, but when you see a City player at the byline, 85% of the time its going square to striker standing in the middle of the 6 yard box, why not stand infront of Aguero / Sterling and cut out the majority of their goals.

Warning: All statistics in this thread may or may not be accurate

For about 15 years my mum (a city fan) would shout at the tv for someone to mark scholes. No one ever did. He always ran in and scored from the edge of the box.

 

[RUCK4444]

A cut back imo is far more dangerous than a cross.

The defender can not adjust his body and make the movements to get a block in as easily as they can with a cross where you can track the ball.

I shout ‘cut back’ at the tv when watching United at least a few times a game Dan James has been pretty good at these.

 

[Kostur]

'This man found ONE simple trick to beat the Pep Guardiola is my idol. Experts HATE him. See how.'

 

[Cloud7]

Just because something is a regular tactic that doesn't mean it's easy to stop. This is the exact same logic people always used with Robben. "Everyone knows he's gonna cut inside on his left and shoot, why not just defend against that tactic" and yet very rarely was anyone able to stop him.

 

[Jam]

Football is such a simple sport. No nuance at all.

Mark the striker.
Attack the space.
Score the goal.

Badabing badaboom.

 

[robinamicrowave]

"Why don't defenders just force Robben onto his right foot?"

 

[Okey]

It's all about drilling, alloyed with quality. It takes similar quality to stop. We did stop them after all, playing out of our skins as it were. Guardiola repeatedly talks about playing 'simple'. He means it. It's really simple, but if you do it better than your opponent, you come out on top. In a team where more than 2 touches is frowned upon, it really is the fact that it's simple football, just done to a very high level by the highest quality players. You want a very good example, just think of an Arjen Robben goal. Year after year after year. You could see it before the game starts, and yet...

 

[Okey]

"Why don't defenders just force Robben onto his right foot?"

Aah! Saw your comment right after typing mine. You know your football...

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Aguero is probably the most fantastic player at timing his runs.

 

[Okey]

Just because something is a regular tactic that doesn't mean it's easy to stop. This is the exact same logic people always used with Robben. "Everyone knows he's gonna cut inside on his left and shoot, why not just defend against that tactic" and yet very rarely was anyone able to stop him.

You too!

 

[Okey]

Slight deviation, seeing as we don't have anyone who can cross to save their lives, I wonder why we aren't honing the cut back skills. Could probably reap similar dividends to Citeh if coached properly.

 

[redshaw]

It's a good tactic. Arsenal for many years used it great effect by having someone running onto a cut back. You see it in Spain a lot.

In our Everton game we had one cut back, it got one of our players into a dangerous position inside the box, the crowd lifted we'd finally got through, think the shot ended up being a tame effort. We should do it a lot more when facing lower teams, it's difficult to read the ball when cut back. We play facing the defenders who just block everything and we end up go side ways all the time looking for an opening that never comes.

 

[adexkola]

City does the cutback so well because they have excellent playmakers/wingers who can either create a mismatch (see De Bruyne for 3rd goal) or catch the run of a Sterling or Sane. Suddenly you have a City player running towards the goal. The defense and keeper will naturally pivot towards said player to prevent the shot or easy roll across goal. Boom, cutback.

It takes a lot of discipline for the defense to trust their keeper and hold off collapsing towards the player with the ball. But at that point it's picking your poison. Once the cutback is made possible, it's too late. You're better off preventing balls from getting through to the runners. Easier said than done

 

[hungrywing]

I remember reading an article/watching a video that explained how they use coordinated timing to turn defenders' sightlines to maximize the chances that those runs into the six-yard box and towards the penalty spot get unmarked. AKA those runs toward the byline happen in concert with primary and secondary feints from the striker and the opposite wide players not just to draw/move defenders but also to turn them looking towards their own goal AKA not looking towards the penalty spot.

 

[RedDevilCanuck]

works in fifa too.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

There was a period where Mata would be trying to score goals like this a lot. Usually it would be Martial in the byline cutting it back but suddenly this stopped happening.

 

[Freak]

It’s the same with Liverpool. All their attacks come from their attacking fullbacks. So why don’t teams just neutralise them?

 

[SteveW]

CROSSING.

When we do it people on the cafe say we are clueless and might as well be back in the Moyes days.

City do it very well to be fair.

 

[manc4red]

Its a great and obviously a proven tactic. City however is so skilled that crosses can come from anywhere so the defense in the heat of the game dont exactly know where ball is going to go. Quick transitions left to right also creates disorganization in defense

 

[momo83]

It seems for years now, under Mancini, Pellegrini & Guardiola, game after game, City score the same goal, sometimes two or three times in the same game.

If you could see a highlight reel of Aguero/ Sterlings goals for City, 75% of them will be a winger/full back run to the (usually right sided) byline, a low cut back across the box, and a tap in for said forward.

My question is why do so many defenders/ goalkeepers follow the ball each time in this instance? We all know where its going, on the toe of whoevers standing in the middle of the 6 yard box.

Easier said then done, but when you see a City player at the byline, 85% of the time its going square to striker standing in the middle of the 6 yard box, why not stand infront of Aguero / Sterling and cut out the majority of their goals.

Warning: All statistics in this thread may or may not be accurate

It’s a great tactic. Always frustrates me when we have Young or (in the past) Valencia run to the byline and just throw in crosses without even looking up. Part of me also wonders, is the reason our forwards are rarely in the 6 yard box because they want to receive cut backs or low passes.

 

[WR10]

Ffs I've been blasting that for a whole year asking why Ole and coaching team don't utilize our rapid wingers to play a similar game. You see Mata always trying to make those byline/edge of the box triangles happen every time he's in the game.

There are 10s of goals missing from this team simply because they haven't automated that process yet.

It's a must in games we dominate possession. Instead of passing sideways in the final 1/3 hoping for a gap to open - set up a triangle on the edge of the box where you play a 1-2 (LB with #10) with a 3rd runner (LW - rashford) making a run into the byline. Do that over and over again and you'll score many goals.

Usually what we see in a possession dominating game

1. Shaw gets the ball in that area, Rashford starts making an awkward run either to the sideline or towards the corner flag trying to drag the CB out of position. It does feck all. Because that just gives Shaw a lazy option to dump into and takes you further away from goal for no reason.
2. Shaw gets the ball in that area, passes it into Rashford who takes a touch and passes it back to fred/#10 - and then just stands there. If rashford has space he either takes a shot (good, not bad) or tries to dribble in tight spaces (bad, he's got amateur level ball control in tight spaces).
3. Shaw lazily slaps the ball against defenders' shins and half-ass runs back thinking he's done a good job.

When you automate a triangle game on the edge of the box it's hard for teams to defend against and it's also psychologically draining. When you're having to defend from your byline you're pretty much fighting for your life. When you do eventually get the ball more often than not you'll just boot it up the field for a mental and physical breather to reorganize the defense. It drains teams to death. It's the main reason City broke an EPL points record slapping teams because they fully automated this triangle (sprinkle in some quality from players too..)

​

 

[Canagel]

A cut back imo is far more dangerous than a cross.

The defender can not adjust his body and make the movements to get a block in as easily as they can with a cross where you can track the ball.

I shout ‘cut back’ at the tv when watching United at least a few times a game Dan James has been pretty good at these.

He is? Whenever I watched he always crosses into the box (even without anyone inside), and even if a couple players have dropped to make themselves available for the cutback.

 

[Florida Man]

Slight deviation, seeing as we don't have anyone who can cross to save their lives, I wonder why we aren't honing the cut back skills. Could probably reap similar dividends to Citeh if coached properly.

I have been begging for this for ages. I wish we could ban crossing until we get the next David Beckham or Ryan Giggs.

 

[Gio]

The simplest explanation is that the defender now has to defend in 360° whereas at all other times - due to the offside rule - it’s 180°.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

They call it an overload, when the attackers out number the defenders. It’s also why they are so easy to counter on. It’s a balance and why Pep’s tactics only work when he has much better players than the opposition.

 

[RUCK4444]

He is? Whenever I watched he always crosses into the box (even without anyone inside), and even if a couple players have dropped to make themselves available for the cutback.

Not so much in recent games but earlier in the season he was playing some dangerous cut backs.

I remember Martial scoring from one.

Obviously you need to be in the right position to play the cut back, ie on the byline but near enough to the goal mouth to make it effective, I agree James has crossed more often than not but usually when he's passing from a wider position.

Triangles, high press and cut backs is basically Pep’s philosophy in a nutshell.
It’s simplistic to describe it like that but that’s what you see in their patterns of play.
Very effective if done well and easy on the eye, would love Ole to keep persisting with the high press after another summer window.

 

[_00_deathscar]

It's not as easy as "stop them getting to the byline to cut back" because you have De Bryune who sits at the edges of the box able to whip in very quick first time/unexpected crosses.

 

[Nevilles.Wear.Prada]

Football is such a simple sport. No nuance at all.

Mark the striker.
Attack the space.
Score the goal.

Badabing badaboom.

That holy phrase shouldn't be mentioned with other common sentences in here mate.

 

[Nevilles.Wear.Prada]

It exposes their back line because they get really stretched on the wings during that move and when that happens they had to resort to tactical fouling during counters on the wing. If refrees are more consistent they get more cards actually.

 

[berbatrick]

1st and 5th goal today. There were chances in both moves to play the difficult ball into feet at the edge of the box, or play an early cross - ignore that, stick to the plan. Get it slightly wide, cut it back, tap it in. A relentless machine.

 

[Chief123]

1st and 5th goal today. There were chances in both moves to play the difficult ball into feet at the edge of the box, or play an early cross - ignore that, stick to the plan. Get it slightly wide, cut it back, tap it in. A relentless machine.

It’s like every game the opponent knows what they want to do, but you just can’t stop it.

They’ve been doing underlapping runs for years in between the full back and centre back. It constantly works a treat for them.

I think under Pep the biggest reason they are able to do it is because of the inverted full backs they constantly use. Every time their two number 8’s make those underlapping runs, the full backs always took in and make up the numbers in midfield. It allows them to make really effective use of their overwhelming greater possession.

It’s so hard to defend against because you can no longer see the play and the players around you unlike when the play is all in front of you.

 

[Red-17]

It’s like every game the opponent knows what they want to do, but you just can’t stop it.

They’ve been doing underlapping runs for years in between the full back and centre back. It constantly works a treat for them.

I think under Pep the biggest reason they are able to do it is because of the inverted full backs they constantly use. Every time their two number 8’s make those underlapping runs, the full backs always took in and make up the numbers in midfield. It allows them to make really effective use of their overwhelming greater possession.

It’s so hard to defend against because you can no longer see the play and the players around you unlike when the play is all in front of you.

It is miles harder as a defender to mark a striker on a cross from near the goal line compared to a cross from 20 yards out. You have to either look at the ball or look at your mark, it is very hard to do both. Additionally, you have to choose between marking for a cutback and covering the ball across goal. Meanwhile for an attacker, you have more options to get open and it is a much easier finish on a cutback than trying to flick the ball on from a cross from further out.

 

[Who's Kissing Cameras?]

They’ve been doing this since Nasri, David Silva and Yaya in 2012. It’s ingrained in their style.

 

[matherto]

Seem to remember the 6-1 had a few like this back in the day.