Don’t worry too much - We’ll be back

AdamMarrett said:
I wouldn't mind seeing Phil get more of a go through the middle. He's still learning the trade but his energy, pace and skill is needed there. At times we look pedestrian in midfield.

Yeah I noticed what the Rags were doing, cutting off the ball to Rodri and Kev forced Bernardo to pick it up, was clever tactically from them so you have to tip your hat there. It stifled a lot of our quick passing and took Foden completely out of the game. Grealish at 8 is a good shout, he seems to be finally settling in since the World Cup and there's a argument to be made he's looked our most threatening winger/player recently with Mahrez.

If we can just get a run with no defensive injuries as you say it will help. We always seem to have a injury or two there constantly. I thought Lewis may have started yesterday to play his inverted full back role again where he's shone, but that's hindsight now and I don't think Walker & Cancelo did much wrong yesterday and as mentioned earlier that was both of their best performances for some time.

We have the cattle it's just if we can pick ourselves up for the Spurs game and rediscover what makes us so good.
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Foden needs putting in his place and a major attitude change before he gets back in the 11, get him back to basics and enjoying playing the game with a smile on his face.

Cut out the drip, haircuts and hanging about like a scally, get back to work, your a million miles off the top level whatever you think and whatever crazy contract you were given.
 
HelloCity said:
A drop off was almost inevitable this season. Going full pelt for all trophies over the course of a year really takes it out of a team. Even just winning the league can lead to a drop off the following year, due to decreased motivation, which can make it feel like suddenly you’re miles off where you were.

It’s why the league has only be retained twice since 2009 - both by Pep’s City. Just look at the performances from our rivals the year after winning the league or even them going full pelt just to come second by a point. There’s a huge drop off across the board. I’ve got to admit, Liverpool looked great at times last season but this season they’re an absolute shambles.

Now imagine going for 3 consecutive league titles. This drop off is why it has only been done by 4 teams in the history of English men’s football. Huddersfield & Arsenal in the 30’s, Liverpool in the 80’s & United in the 90’s and 00’s. Today, the competition is much greater with most of the top teams splashing the cash to chase the top prizes. That means going for 3 in a row is an even more difficult challenge than before.

We’ve seen this before in the 19/20 season where we were absolutely miles behind Liverpool by January. The league was already over for us 3 years ago. There were also massive drop offs 12/13, 14/15 and most notably in 1938! If anything, we’ve actually done brilliantly to get back to back titles in this modern era and keep our name in the hat for a third. Seeing how difficult it is to achieve, I would probably see it as Pep’s greatest achievement, by far, if we were to somehow go on to top the table at the end of the season.

This form has obviously impacted us in the league cup last night as well, although I’m willing to put that down to the mish-mash side as Pep tried to keep us as fresh as possible for the derby. Obviously this back fired but I can see the thinking behind what he was trying to do.

There has also been a World Cup mid season where we had more players competing than any other club in the world. There’s no doubt this will have impacted us physically and mentally.

If we don’t turn our form around, don’t worry too much and don’t panic about what’s going on right now. History clearly shows that this is all following a familiar pattern and that we’ll be back to our best soon enough, and who knows, maybe we’ll finally get that bit of luck in the Champions League. Our worst team of the last 12 years ended up in the semi final in 2016 so I’ve no doubts this team of today could pull off something even better.
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Great post. If somebody had told me at the start of the season that at the halfway stage Arsenal would be top, Newcastle would be third, Liverpool (Liverpool!) and Chelsea would be 9th and 10th and West Ham (not long ago with European aspirations) would be in the relegation zone, I'd have told them to give their head a wobble.

My point is that this is an unpredictable league so anything could happen in the next few months. I've decided to sit back and enjoy the ride.
 
Keeper! said:
Foden needs putting in his place and a major attitude change before he gets back in the 11, get him back to basics and enjoying playing the game with a smile on his face.

Cut out the drip, haircuts and hanging about like a scally, get back to work, your a million miles off the top level whatever you think and whatever crazy contract you were given.
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It’s an interesting point you make about contracts, we must of renewed half a dozen in the last 12 months, are some of them getting complacent lazy content ? Same could be said elsewhere I suppose, with Salah & Son on fat contracts
 
Jesus H Gabz said:
It’s an interesting point you make about contracts, we must of renewed half a dozen in the last 12 months, are some of them getting complacent lazy content ? Same could be said elsewhere I suppose, with Salah & Son on fat contracts
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I also think a lot of this could be pressure as there is so much gossip around wages and deals now.

I know it sounds absurd to say for an average Joe like me but it can’t be easy being on £200k a week with it plastered all over the papers and social media.

I think with City this season and Liverpool almost look bored, they look fed up with the demands and some of the moves Pep is pulling this season is pissing me off let alone the players but I also think in time we’ll get back to where we need to be.
 
Jesus H Gabz said:
It’s an interesting point you make about contracts, we must of renewed half a dozen in the last 12 months, are some of them getting complacent lazy content ? Same could be said elsewhere I suppose, with Salah & Son on fat contracts
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Some were strange decisions, Mahrez, KDB both getting older and in KDB case who was ever going to offer the sort of wages we do?
Was that extension given for his past efforts or for the future?
Foden's huge contract has seen a huge drop off, hopefully coincidence, if not, have we another Deli Ali situation?
 
Still so much to play for. If we win our next 5 (unlikely I know) and arsenal drop 1 of the games before us the gap could be 2 or 3 points by February 16th. Even if not as people have said, you can't win them all and if there was a season to be off it you'd rather it was a year arsenal were on it rather than certain other teams. On top of that, on our day we're capable of beating anyone and we're more than capable of still winning the European Cup which would still make this season immense. Important that we don't lose touch with reality and become entitled. An 80+ point season trophy less following back to back titles really isn't actually a bad thing.
 
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