As I write, City have played 22 league games out of 46. A fair point for a half-time review.
Others have given well-deserved praise to individual players, and to Daniel Farke and his coaching staff. I’ll take a slightly more statistical slant.
But first, a question to ponder while you read. Who is the only player to score at least two league goals for us both this season and last?
The answer will be towards the end. Being the smart MFW readers that you are, many of you will have got it by then (if not by now).
Let’s dwell on goalscoring to start our review. Last season City’s defensive record wasn’t far off top-six, but we only scored 49 goals in 46 league games – nothing like enough to meet our aspirations.
No-one denied that was our challenge, least of all Daniel Farke and Stuart Webber. The question was, could they do anything about it? Many fans had concluded by the end of last season that Daniel might be a good defensive coach, but didn’t have the nous to produce sufficient attacking.
Farke himself talked about his focus during the summer to address the problem, both in personnel and approach.
Actually, I’m not sure the two can be completely separated. In his first transfer window, Farke had to focus on the more pressing challenge of defending. In effect, summer 2017 saw a new defence assembled, culminating in the signing of Grant Hanley.
Stuart Webber had warned us it would take four windows to properly re-shape the squad. Reflecting that, almost all the main arrivals of summer 2018 turned out to be attacking players: Pukki, Rhodes, Buendia, McLean etc.
In addition, Onel Hernandez felt like a new signing; had he been fit from January when he was signed, we might have seen more indication of the team’s direction.
Of course, the play looks more positive this year. Undoubtedly, we move the ball forward with more purpose; the slightly changed role of Moritz Leitner is part of that.
I wonder, though, if it’s just as much a case of Farke having the kind of attacking players that understand and suit his philosophy. Last season he worked with what he inherited – notably Cameron Jerome, Nelson Oliveira and Josh Murphy. This year he has his own choices.
Webber told this forum last year about his approach to recruitment: it’s not the quality of the player in isolation, it’s whether he’s the right player for the particular role under the particular Head Coach.
Some of the greater coherence and belief in this season’s team, I suspect, reflects our progress towards that.
I said I’d share some stats. Everyone’s aware that we’re much better off than at this stage last season – our 44 points from 22 games compares to 27 points at the equivalent stage last time.
Perhaps the most striking figures relate to goals, though. Our defensive record is barely different from last year: 26 conceded at this stage, compared to 28 last time. In contrast, our scoring has virtually doubled: from 21 last season to 40 this time.
The sceptics about Farke’s attacking ability (I was in the wait-and-see camp) have been confounded.
Is it all Teemu Pukki? He’s caught the eye, of course; with 12 league goals already, he could be our first 20-goal striker for quite a while.
However, just as striking (no pun intended) is the spread of goals around the team. Watching the Premier League at the weekend, and hearing the pundits praise West Ham for having five players with more than one goal, prompted me to check the equivalent for City.
Last season six of our players scored more than one league goal: Maddison, Oliveira, Murphy, Klose, Trybull and Pinto.
This season we already have…nine. Pukki leads the way ahead of Rhodes, but seven other players have scored more than once: Stiepermann, Vrancic, Buendia, Klose, Aarons, Hernandez and Leitner.
So the answer to my question at the top of the article is: Timm Klose. Congratulations to those who came up with our central defender.
Our form will have dips, of course, and there’s no telling where we’ll finish. For now, though, the ride is fun – with some reasons to believe it may carry on that way.
It’s nice to be able to say we’re the positive antithesis of Manchester United. After their defeat at Liverpool, one of the newspapers described United as “without a plan, identity or soul”. Well, we have all of those.
The stats back up the evidence of our eyes. City are playing total football, and it’s a joy.
Happy Christmas!
We’re averaging 2 points a game despite the poor return from the fist 6 games. I always say it’s the hope that kills, but…
Hi Stewart
A very good read on a very wet day up here in Blackpool.
The vagaries of being a football manager and you will always have a percentage of the supporters believing there is some one out there that can do a better job than the one in the job just ask the not so special one who is now the sacked one.
Last season was avery up and down season on the pitch but at times you could see what team farke were trying to do and like you I want the club to give them time to prove their methods wouls work and so far they are doing a brilliant job of rebuilding the club.
Not sure but isn’t it 3 seasons the Klose has scored more than 2 goals for city????
The big problem Farke will have come the end of January if he isable to kerp the squad in tack and add a couple more is a selection one rumours so far today
OUT
1 Oliveria too Turkey or Brighton
2 Marshall to Ispwich or Millwall
3 Klose to Hamburg or another German club
IN
1 Striker from Leyton O
2 Midfielder from Rotherham
3 Left back from Germany
All interesting reading yes we might need backup for Lewis and if Klose leave we will need a new CB or recall Raggett/Franks would we need another midfielder not sure but I would like theclub to announce that Team Farke have agreed to extend their contracts but that is in the hands of the gods.
There’s another concern now – can we keep Daniel Farke, given that Bayer Leverkusen have their sights on him? Not to mention Man United, of course!!
I read that Farke isn’t their first choice it is a Dutch man ex Ajax
Hi Stew – a funny old day to incorporate Man Utd into your article:-)
I honestly had no idea Timm Klose was the answer to your posed question; I really didn’t.
The salient point you make is that this current squad is truly of Daniel Farke and Stuart Webber’s making as SW foretold it would be if we were only patient..
Even if we don’t make it this season I’m happier than I’ve been in a long while.
It’s fun again.
Thanks for a very good read.
I submitted the article an hour before Mourinho was sacked! The perils of being a journalist….
It’d certainly have helped if the Ed had been rather more switched on, Stew!
No problem!
Ha!
I was embarrassed by not realising Max Aarons was our fourth declared “flu victim” when I wrote early on Sunday. Everyone and his dog knew that to be the case before my piece was published.
C’est la vie.
With the possible exception of Jordan Roades none of our players are really known by footy fans of other clubs. No ‘journeyman pros’. The reason for our emergence is down to Team Webber/Farke. they identify what we need and go and get it or train and mold our youngsters to do the job required of them.
Simple but clever, Lewis, Aarons, Cantwell, Godfrey, Steiperman, would not be achieving what they are were they at other clubs. Players who look good elsewhere under Farke will struggle unless they are prepared to adapt to his ways. Tettey & Klose are the exceptions but Wildschut, Naismith, Murphy, Oliveira, Husband, Franke could not. They were established players but have been replaced by young, talented and hungry guys.
The club took a different view when they recruited DF. What is being put in place is fantastic not only for now but also the future.
As for promotion we will have to wait and see but I for one are loving it and look forward to the onward journey bumps and twists and turns along the way included.
Isn’t it lovely not to be a Man Utd fan – poor ole Jose, such a ‘Shining Whit’
Best and most incisive MFW comment I can recall.
Merry Christmas Colin.
I appreciate that everyone is dreaming and that the PL is the promised land, but the Championship is always so much more entertaining.
Getting promoted this season would be both wonderful and a disaster at the same time. We would have no hope of competing at the top or middle, and tense games with the likes of Brighton and Watford where 3 points is everything is not really my idea of fun.
From here though, I guess not going up automatically would be a disappointment to most. I know everyone is saying that we’re not counting chickens etc and we’ll enjoy the ride but finishing 3rd now would be horrible, let alone 6th.
I’m still not sure whether this team is really very good, or just a bit lucky! Whatever, it’s great fun – until we start losing, of course, then the moaners will be back out again.
Interesting for me is that Stuart Webber clearly sees getting promoted as securing City’s finances for the next decade as much as it is about playing in the Premier League. I suspect we shall see a very different approach this time if we are promoted – care being taken not to break up the spirit and togetherness of the current squad, whilst supplementing the squad with further moneyball recruiting of players at a slightly higher level.
Wolves have done pretty well this year, and they’ve retained the nucleus of their squad from last season, whilst adding a few additional quality players. Of course it will be tough and attritional, but I suspect our strategy will be more deeply thought through and prepared for than it was the last time round under the rather naive leadership of Alex Neil. I have no doubt that we have parallel lists of players being scouted now for one.
Good comment Michael, but I do believe that Wolves are playing within a rather different financial situation than NCFC are (possibly) ever likely to have in the future.
However, with SW and DF in charge, I cannot see any Premiership “riches” being wasted in the way they were under the current Preston boss.
O T B C
An excellent read Stewart, and (smug I know), I DID get the question right.
I think he got a very late equaliser against some team from Suffolk last season………
What a difference a season can make, and from Mr Webber’s earlier claims, we still have one transfer window to go.
Other than a back-up left back, do we really need anyone else, given that there are now a number of those we thought would be definite starters populating the bench or returning from injury??
the football is truly great to watch, but given the late, late shows, possibly not for those of a nervous disposition – but are they those who always leave at 85 minutes??
What a great time to be an NCFC fan; Man Utd – who they???
O T B C