Post by eaststand on Mar 27, 2012 0:03:03 GMT 1
If we don't win the title this season it will be somewhat of a let down in terms of realistic expectations. We've played the best football in the league 24-25 games and the viewing figures of our first televised game this season, to those before Christmas, are up 15.7% globally. We were starting, and still in some cases, to get the attention of the world and ultimately that is where we need to build, expand and grow the most. Having said that I'm not saying for a second that that would be devastating for the club; it would be a blow and a hard one to swallow but we can come back next year even stronger and we should expect to be able to compete with the likes of a rejuvenated Chelsea and maybe a strengthened Arsenal side as well as the Tourists.
(Although it may have a defeatist undertone; for the record i do still think we can win this title and i do think that a point was a reasonable enough result. However IMO, some things have got to change and quick time)
On the field; Have we peaked too early? Maybe. Have we been largely effected by Internationals? Definitely. Is our form of late down to the fact the players look fatigued and leggy? Yes. IMO it's the biggest problem. I think these are the problems at the moment:
1. Fatigue; I mean I'm not privy to the stats but our work output off of the ball seems to have significantly decreased and gone with it, i think, our ability to wear teams down and tier them into mistakes. Furthermore i think the fatigue is effecting the fluency of our play; in the last 7 games the man on the ball is looking up and he's got one forward pass on and 4/5 static players offering very little movement. I think a huge amount of the blame for the drop in form has been placed on the strikers (Aguero, last away goal was the derby 6-1, Dzeko has 1 in his last 17 appearances, Balotelli's levels have dropped significantly (however I'd say thats more to do with being unlucky/slightly off form)) but for me they are getting scraps to feed on.
2. David Silva isn't fit; IMO Silva looks like he's playing at 75% every game. We already know that he has problems with one of his ankles and that it is never 100%, but IMO the focus of the rough treatment and the demand of the ground he covers (2nd highest average distance covered in our team this season) has taken it's tole. For me, and its probably easier for me because my head isn't on the block, I'd start Silva from the bench in the next 3/4 games. I think if we can regain our ability to keep the ball and tier opposition out, he's could then be allowed, even if he is only 75%, to be on the field against tiering players and not be at a disadvantage. I wouldn't go as far as saying we're carrying him at the moment and i am not for one second questioning, arguably, the most gifted footballer we've ever had. But he's not right and when he plays, everything goes through him and Yaya and he just hasn't been at his best (IMO due to fatigue). Give him credit, it hasnt effected his confidence, he's still playing passes, taking the ball and carrying on playing his own game, even when passes he'd be completing with his eyes shut 10 games ago, are starting to fall short or go too long. Unfortunately i think that has effected our ability to create chances for the strikers to feed off of. I think the rest would help him see us over the line and i think in terms of results, if not performances, it will help to give us more of a chance to win games.
3. James Milner; Up there with the above is that i am concerned with the disappearance of James Milner and i can't quite figure out whether he's been dropped/played a LOT less is because Mancini has been made more cautious by goals conceded this season when we've been searching for a winner and ended up losing at the last as a result. Or whether he's got an injury problem. For me, if he's fit, he needs more game time on the pitch because he's been fantastic and i think he's the one that could add a little more urgency and forward drive to our play. But most importantly, for me, is the engine he provides next to Yaya. Even though i said everything goes through Silva above, it goes to him through yaya and i think his ability to seemingly be everywhere on the pitch has been effected by the fact he's been to the ACN and he hasn't got an awful lot left in him. I think if you but Milners engine around Yaya that can enable Yaya to start making those huge runs in the right directions instead of extending those long legs getting back and making covering runs from wayward passes or Gareth Barry being walked past.
4. Edin Dzeko; He is THE most frustrating footballer I've ever seen play for City. We could all tell he'd gone away over the summer, after a very poor start and worked hard on his fitness. He wanted to command a place in the team and he did. At the start of the season he was running his CB's out of position, he was bringing the ball down, bringing people into the play and he was giving something for Aguero, Balotelli, Silva and Nasri to play off and unlike he does now, he was laying the ball off and busting a gut to get back on the end of things, get into the right positions in the box. He was sharper, fitter, stronger and a friggin handful to defend against. You could say Mancini made the mistake in 'rotating' him, that he rested him while he was on fire and it kicked him out of his stride. My opinion is that he got complacent because he no longer saw himself as 4th choice striker once Tevez was off on holiday, he got lazy, he got complacent and as a result, he looks exactly the player he did when he signed last January - a duck out of water. I thought when he got the chance against Stoke that he'd grasp it, he'd put a shift in and cover some ground to try and make the Stoke CB pairing work hard because he should know that he is fighting for his future right now, IMO Mancini's made up his mind on him - not good enough because he's not fit enough. There's still the games left for him to turn it around, but i just cannot see him doing enough to get himself picked in any more than 2/3 of them.
5. Adam Johnson; Got to play, GOT to start. It's been obvious to every man and their dogs that we've lacked width BIGTIME in the last 3-4 games especially. Yes that has been due to Richards having to play CB. Yes, it is our game plan to gain width from the full backs. But it's been so obvious that that has not been happening/working of late. IMO our wide two on both sides have been sent running the wrong way by their opposing two, too many times in the last 5-6 games and i think Johnson could change that. He might have no consistency, but we need to start doing something different because unfortunately the blue print is there for teams hosting us in the prem - don't let them inside, force them wide and they'll gift you the ball back from wide positions or come inside to the area where 10 man have their shape set to allow no room for passes.
Overall i think it is do or die for us now. I think a massive responsibility for the results to come will come down to Mancini picking the right selection of players to play based on the team we are playing against, as fergie does. We need positive, attacking line-ups and we need to go after games. The only game on the calendar i would urge caution in is the Arsenal Away game, i think that is the only game where we should consider playing a holding mid from the start.
And finally and my biggest gripe at the moment. CAN WE START CROSSING THE F*CKING BALL LOW AND DRIVEN!!!! WE WILL NOT WIN A SINGLE HEADER IN THE BOX WITH SERGIO F*CKING AGUERO GETTING ON THE END OF THEM IF THE ARE PUT IN FLIGHTED AT 6/7 FT!!!
(Although it may have a defeatist undertone; for the record i do still think we can win this title and i do think that a point was a reasonable enough result. However IMO, some things have got to change and quick time)
On the field; Have we peaked too early? Maybe. Have we been largely effected by Internationals? Definitely. Is our form of late down to the fact the players look fatigued and leggy? Yes. IMO it's the biggest problem. I think these are the problems at the moment:
1. Fatigue; I mean I'm not privy to the stats but our work output off of the ball seems to have significantly decreased and gone with it, i think, our ability to wear teams down and tier them into mistakes. Furthermore i think the fatigue is effecting the fluency of our play; in the last 7 games the man on the ball is looking up and he's got one forward pass on and 4/5 static players offering very little movement. I think a huge amount of the blame for the drop in form has been placed on the strikers (Aguero, last away goal was the derby 6-1, Dzeko has 1 in his last 17 appearances, Balotelli's levels have dropped significantly (however I'd say thats more to do with being unlucky/slightly off form)) but for me they are getting scraps to feed on.
2. David Silva isn't fit; IMO Silva looks like he's playing at 75% every game. We already know that he has problems with one of his ankles and that it is never 100%, but IMO the focus of the rough treatment and the demand of the ground he covers (2nd highest average distance covered in our team this season) has taken it's tole. For me, and its probably easier for me because my head isn't on the block, I'd start Silva from the bench in the next 3/4 games. I think if we can regain our ability to keep the ball and tier opposition out, he's could then be allowed, even if he is only 75%, to be on the field against tiering players and not be at a disadvantage. I wouldn't go as far as saying we're carrying him at the moment and i am not for one second questioning, arguably, the most gifted footballer we've ever had. But he's not right and when he plays, everything goes through him and Yaya and he just hasn't been at his best (IMO due to fatigue). Give him credit, it hasnt effected his confidence, he's still playing passes, taking the ball and carrying on playing his own game, even when passes he'd be completing with his eyes shut 10 games ago, are starting to fall short or go too long. Unfortunately i think that has effected our ability to create chances for the strikers to feed off of. I think the rest would help him see us over the line and i think in terms of results, if not performances, it will help to give us more of a chance to win games.
3. James Milner; Up there with the above is that i am concerned with the disappearance of James Milner and i can't quite figure out whether he's been dropped/played a LOT less is because Mancini has been made more cautious by goals conceded this season when we've been searching for a winner and ended up losing at the last as a result. Or whether he's got an injury problem. For me, if he's fit, he needs more game time on the pitch because he's been fantastic and i think he's the one that could add a little more urgency and forward drive to our play. But most importantly, for me, is the engine he provides next to Yaya. Even though i said everything goes through Silva above, it goes to him through yaya and i think his ability to seemingly be everywhere on the pitch has been effected by the fact he's been to the ACN and he hasn't got an awful lot left in him. I think if you but Milners engine around Yaya that can enable Yaya to start making those huge runs in the right directions instead of extending those long legs getting back and making covering runs from wayward passes or Gareth Barry being walked past.
4. Edin Dzeko; He is THE most frustrating footballer I've ever seen play for City. We could all tell he'd gone away over the summer, after a very poor start and worked hard on his fitness. He wanted to command a place in the team and he did. At the start of the season he was running his CB's out of position, he was bringing the ball down, bringing people into the play and he was giving something for Aguero, Balotelli, Silva and Nasri to play off and unlike he does now, he was laying the ball off and busting a gut to get back on the end of things, get into the right positions in the box. He was sharper, fitter, stronger and a friggin handful to defend against. You could say Mancini made the mistake in 'rotating' him, that he rested him while he was on fire and it kicked him out of his stride. My opinion is that he got complacent because he no longer saw himself as 4th choice striker once Tevez was off on holiday, he got lazy, he got complacent and as a result, he looks exactly the player he did when he signed last January - a duck out of water. I thought when he got the chance against Stoke that he'd grasp it, he'd put a shift in and cover some ground to try and make the Stoke CB pairing work hard because he should know that he is fighting for his future right now, IMO Mancini's made up his mind on him - not good enough because he's not fit enough. There's still the games left for him to turn it around, but i just cannot see him doing enough to get himself picked in any more than 2/3 of them.
5. Adam Johnson; Got to play, GOT to start. It's been obvious to every man and their dogs that we've lacked width BIGTIME in the last 3-4 games especially. Yes that has been due to Richards having to play CB. Yes, it is our game plan to gain width from the full backs. But it's been so obvious that that has not been happening/working of late. IMO our wide two on both sides have been sent running the wrong way by their opposing two, too many times in the last 5-6 games and i think Johnson could change that. He might have no consistency, but we need to start doing something different because unfortunately the blue print is there for teams hosting us in the prem - don't let them inside, force them wide and they'll gift you the ball back from wide positions or come inside to the area where 10 man have their shape set to allow no room for passes.
Overall i think it is do or die for us now. I think a massive responsibility for the results to come will come down to Mancini picking the right selection of players to play based on the team we are playing against, as fergie does. We need positive, attacking line-ups and we need to go after games. The only game on the calendar i would urge caution in is the Arsenal Away game, i think that is the only game where we should consider playing a holding mid from the start.
And finally and my biggest gripe at the moment. CAN WE START CROSSING THE F*CKING BALL LOW AND DRIVEN!!!! WE WILL NOT WIN A SINGLE HEADER IN THE BOX WITH SERGIO F*CKING AGUERO GETTING ON THE END OF THEM IF THE ARE PUT IN FLIGHTED AT 6/7 FT!!!
