This is the kind of post that makes me feel, at times, that we have the strangest fanbase in football.If opponents were given choice among Grealish or Doku they would happily choose Grealish bcoz they know he won’t do shit. Will keep all the ball outside box win free kicks outside the box hit first man while attempting cross.Teams are okay with us HAVING CONTROL and do fuckall with that CONTROL. We are probably the only team that prioritises CONTROL and WINNING FREE KICKS over Goals assists
But we did manage to do something with control in the Treble year - didn't we? - and in those incredible performances v Madrid, Bayern, Liverpool etc. Where control and tempo were our weapon, Grealish on or not.If opponents were given choice among Grealish or Doku they would happily choose Grealish bcoz they know he won’t do shit. Will keep all the ball outside box win free kicks outside the box hit first man while attempting cross.Teams are okay with us HAVING CONTROL and do fuckall with that CONTROL. We are probably the only team that prioritises CONTROL and WINNING FREE KICKS over Goals assists
I think there are two types of control…This is the kind of post that makes me feel, at times, that we have the strangest fanbase in football.
You do realise that our style of play comes from the manager, and that style of play has delivered the most successful team of the decade?
There is a place for control, and a place for chaos. A top-class squad has players with a blend of strengths and abilities.
We are porous because we are missing in defensive midfield and central defence. When we have a fully fit squad, that level of possession has been the fulcrum of our success.I think there are two types of control…
One is the control of the ball to create goal scoring opportunities and put the opposition on the defensive in an “attack vs defence” type situation.
The other is a “we have the ball, so you can’t score” type of control that is currently the pervasive type…yet we are leaking goals like a sieve as soon as we turn it over!!
Possession for possessions stake is where we appear to be, because we are pedestrian in our attacks and 70% possession isn’t making any difference to the REAL STAT of Goals For va Goals Against!! We are +4, which is a joke compared to where we usually are.
We have always had a section of fans who scapegoat players. It remains the only thing that I dislike about being a City fan and has been the case through the dark days and the bright ones.Hmm so Grealish is being blamed for this poor run of form, is he?
Or is he being blamed for not turning games around when we're not winning?
Because last time I checked, there were 9 other outfield players who haven't exactly been playing well. Why is it "expected" of Grealish to turn defeats into wins when none of his teammates seem capable either and haven't for the past couple of months. Last time I saw Grealish put in a good performance was when he was being played in the middle, the position he prefers and excels in, and we commanded a fine 3-0 victory against a very strong Nottingham Forest side, in which Grealish was instrumental.
But no, it's the "He cost £100m, so he should have scored 100 million goals!" crowd. He does exactly what is expected of him to do out on the left, and I don't recall many times he didn't do precisely what he's being told to do. He creates chances for others, who then fluff their lines and it's Jack's fault. He tries a shot himself and misses and Jack is "useless in front of goal". Some people just love to hate the guy when he is no worse than quite a number at the club, yet he gets it in the neck all the time.
I think a lot of people will be very sad to see Grealish leave the club; they'll have lost their scapegoat.
His four seasons with us read 39, 50, 36, and 18 appearances. His fitness has been decent.What’s up with him this time? Turning into a bigger sicknote than Stones.
I don’t think it’s too much to ask for our record signing and 3rd highest paid player at the club to turn games around for us. After all kdb, mahrez, aguero, David silva, Gundo, yaya, sterling etc had games where they did just thatHmm so Grealish is being blamed for this poor run of form, is he?
Or is he being blamed for not turning games around when we're not winning?
Because last time I checked, there were 9 other outfield players who haven't exactly been playing well. Why is it "expected" of Grealish to turn defeats into wins when none of his teammates seem capable either and haven't for the past couple of months. Last time I saw Grealish put in a good performance was when he was being played in the middle, the position he prefers and excels in, and we commanded a fine 3-0 victory against a very strong Nottingham Forest side, in which Grealish was instrumental.
But no, it's the "He cost £100m, so he should have scored 100 million goals!" crowd. He does exactly what is expected of him to do out on the left, and I don't recall many times he didn't do precisely what he's being told to do. He creates chances for others, who then fluff their lines and it's Jack's fault. He tries a shot himself and misses and Jack is "useless in front of goal". Some people just love to hate the guy when he is no worse than quite a number at the club, yet he gets it in the neck all the time.
I think a lot of people will be very sad to see Grealish leave the club; they'll have lost their scapegoat.
I think the issue is he's done a complete disappearing act since the treble winning season. Did he contribute? Of course. But take away those six months and his City career has been very underwhelming; he hasn't scored in over a year. That's not good enough for a player in his position.Hmm so Grealish is being blamed for this poor run of form, is he?
Or is he being blamed for not turning games around when we're not winning?
Because last time I checked, there were 9 other outfield players who haven't exactly been playing well. Why is it "expected" of Grealish to turn defeats into wins when none of his teammates seem capable either and haven't for the past couple of months. Last time I saw Grealish put in a good performance was when he was being played in the middle, the position he prefers and excels in, and we commanded a fine 3-0 victory against a very strong Nottingham Forest side, in which Grealish was instrumental.
But no, it's the "He cost £100m, so he should have scored 100 million goals!" crowd. He does exactly what is expected of him to do out on the left, and I don't recall many times he didn't do precisely what he's being told to do. He creates chances for others, who then fluff their lines and it's Jack's fault. He tries a shot himself and misses and Jack is "useless in front of goal". Some people just love to hate the guy when he is no worse than quite a number at the club, yet he gets it in the neck all the time.
I think a lot of people will be very sad to see Grealish leave the club; they'll have lost their scapegoat.
And then we played Grealish in the middle against Juventus and were comfortably beaten.Hmm so Grealish is being blamed for this poor run of form, is he?
Or is he being blamed for not turning games around when we're not winning?
Because last time I checked, there were 9 other outfield players who haven't exactly been playing well. Why is it "expected" of Grealish to turn defeats into wins when none of his teammates seem capable either and haven't for the past couple of months. Last time I saw Grealish put in a good performance was when he was being played in the middle, the position he prefers and excels in, and we commanded a fine 3-0 victory against a very strong Nottingham Forest side, in which Grealish was instrumental.
But no, it's the "He cost £100m, so he should have scored 100 million goals!" crowd. He does exactly what is expected of him to do out on the left, and I don't recall many times he didn't do precisely what he's being told to do. He creates chances for others, who then fluff their lines and it's Jack's fault. He tries a shot himself and misses and Jack is "useless in front of goal". Some people just love to hate the guy when he is no worse than quite a number at the club, yet he gets it in the neck all the time.
I think a lot of people will be very sad to see Grealish leave the club; they'll have lost their scapegoat.
If you read the posts you will read that he was single handedly responsible for City winning treble despite there being 9 other outfield players. works both ways isn’t it? Why shouldn’t a top player be expected to win games or turn things around on his own merit ? Or he is good only when others are at peak? If he needs a fit Rodri and a KdB and Haaland and Foden to do his basic job then we have a problemHmm so Grealish is being blamed for this poor run of form, is he?
Or is he being blamed for not turning games around when we're not winning?
Because last time I checked, there were 9 other outfield players who haven't exactly been playing well. Why is it "expected" of Grealish to turn defeats into wins when none of his teammates seem capable either and haven't for the past couple of months. Last time I saw Grealish put in a good performance was when he was being played in the middle, the position he prefers and excels in, and we commanded a fine 3-0 victory against a very strong Nottingham Forest side, in which Grealish was instrumental.
But no, it's the "He cost £100m, so he should have scored 100 million goals!" crowd. He does exactly what is expected of him to do out on the left, and I don't recall many times he didn't do precisely what he's being told to do. He creates chances for others, who then fluff their lines and it's Jack's fault. He tries a shot himself and misses and Jack is "useless in front of goal". Some people just love to hate the guy when he is no worse than quite a number at the club, yet he gets it in the neck all the time.
I think a lot of people will be very sad to see Grealish leave the club; they'll have lost their scapegoat.
(Emphasis added in your words above to show you the key phrase)We are porous because we are missing in defensive midfield and central defence. When we have a fully fit squad, that level of possession has been the fulcrum of our success.
Great post.(Emphasis added in your words above to show you the key phrase)
If you cannot see that as the squad has dramatically aged, sometimes as a result of progressive injuries and workload, and as the tactics have received more study and scrutiny, we have found it increasingly more difficult to penetrate the opposition, while they have found it increasingly easier for them to absorb the pressure and break on us, then we are unable to have a discussion, because we are watching different football…or at least seeing different things from the game.
As time has marched on, we have been increasingly fortunate to not only scrape victories, but also have to rely on others tripping themselves over, to win the League. It has happened that way REPEATEDLY, and it has only been a fantastic run in of games that has salvaged the season and the titles.
2012 was a prime example, with United dropping points, not the least of which were the 2 they dropped against Everton at home in a 4-4 draw. The difference that season was literally the 6-1 at their place! That 10 GD swing and the “six-pointer” nature of the game won the League, even though it required Vinny’s header and the craziness of injury time against QPR!
Then, Liverpool…Steve Gerrard slipped on his arse and they gave away 3 goals, after being up 3-0, at Palace to hand us the advantage.
And so on and so forth!
We DOMINATED once, as did Liverpool in the COVID season, but the others were all down to the other team blinking and us managing not to lose any more points than they did in the run in.
That is clearly not happening this season, and we look to be nowhere near it, as Liverpool continue to pull away. They are where we were about 2 years ago…players in the prime of their careers, with all systems firing and the squad feeling interchangeable without losing a step. We are two years away from that with this squad, and it was not fixed on the fly, so it’s going to be painful trying to play catch up by bringing in new talent to return us to the top.
All I’m saying is that there has been an increase in the ability to nullify our possession AS our possession-based game has become increasingly stale and our defence has become more porous.
Yes, of course injuries have exacerbated that, but that would be just a result here and a result there, not this relative freefall, such that we would be BOTTOM OF THE LEAGUE if it started two months ago!
The two things have combined to make us a soft touch…even when we do have 60+% possession. Therein lies the problem…or one of them, at least!
If we are light on personnel, then let’s address that by tightening up and making us harder to beat, not play a bunch of patched old players, who can no longer press or perform as they have, in the exact same system…which had already been sussed and overcome repeatedly, often by teams nowhere near our supposed standard!
Eloquently and accurately put forward and you are CB any further discussion on these points and in relation to our current squad and our current status in the game has to take into account the realization that the two points you raise are more than observations they are the reality of the situation we find ourselves in.(Emphasis added in your words above to show you the key phrase)
If you cannot see that as the squad has dramatically aged, sometimes as a result of progressive injuries and workload, and as the tactics have received more study and scrutiny, we have found it increasingly more difficult to penetrate the opposition, while they have found it increasingly easier for them to absorb the pressure and break on us, then we are unable to have a discussion, because we are watching different football…or at least seeing different things from the game.
As time has marched on, we have been increasingly fortunate to not only scrape victories, but also have to rely on others tripping themselves over, to win the League. It has happened that way REPEATEDLY, and it has only been a fantastic run in of games that has salvaged the season and the titles.
2012 was a prime example, with United dropping points, not the least of which were the 2 they dropped against Everton at home in a 4-4 draw. The difference that season was literally the 6-1 at their place! That 10 GD swing and the “six-pointer” nature of the game won the League, even though it required Vinny’s header and the craziness of injury time against QPR!
Then, Liverpool…Steve Gerrard slipped on his arse and they gave away 3 goals, after being up 3-0, at Palace to hand us the advantage.
And so on and so forth!
We DOMINATED once, as did Liverpool in the COVID season, but the others were all down to the other team blinking and us managing not to lose any more points than they did in the run in.
That is clearly not happening this season, and we look to be nowhere near it, as Liverpool continue to pull away. They are where we were about 2 years ago…players in the prime of their careers, with all systems firing and the squad feeling interchangeable without losing a step. We are two years away from that with this squad, and it was not fixed on the fly, so it’s going to be painful trying to play catch up by bringing in new talent to return us to the top.
All I’m saying is that there has been an increase in the ability to nullify our possession AS our possession-based game has become increasingly stale and our defence has become more porous.
Yes, of course injuries have exacerbated that, but that would be just a result here and a result there, not this relative freefall, such that we would be BOTTOM OF THE LEAGUE if it started two months ago!
The two things have combined to make us a soft touch…even when we do have 60+% possession. Therein lies the problem…or one of them, at least!
If we are light on personnel, then let’s address that by tightening up and making us harder to beat, not play a bunch of patched old players, who can no longer press or perform as they have, in the exact same system…which had already been sussed and overcome repeatedly, often by teams nowhere near our supposed standard!
As this is the Jack Grealish thread, I’ll simply state that while he does often retain possession, when needed, he’s not bringing anything else to the party at a time when we need goals and assists for others to score. He’s never been that good at either thing and when thinking of him as a £100M player (even though not his fault), it only adds to the lack of good stewardship in recycling and renewing the squad over the last few years.
And, in furtherance of the @Metal Biker and @dhruvblue discussion above, he is neither to blame for what ails us, nor the savior for what ails us, but he is indicative of what ails us! High priced talent that isn’t making a difference to results!!!
“Difference makers” are what big teams pay big money for. KDB, Haaland, Salah, Son, Rodri, Rice, Ødegaard, Fernandez and even Fernandes…these are players that were bought and spent big money wages on BECAUSE they are difference makers and they change every team they are in for the better by having impact on results.
Jack is many things, but he’s not THAT!
Word.Eloquently and accurately put forward and you are CB any further discussion on these points and in relation to our current squad and our current status in the game has to take into account the realization that the two points you raise are more than observations they are the reality of the situation we find ourselves in.
How we got to this situation and more importantly what the club intends to do about it is another matter for discussion and debate altogether but one thing for certain is you cannot change and change for the better what you do not acknowledge.
The sooner we realize the likes of Grealish and many others need to go and be replaced by younger , fitter , game changers as you describe them the better.
Grealish was fine when we pressed better , retained possession in the opposition half upon losing it and were rarely put under pressure often enough to give the opposition a chance to outscore us.
When its nose to the grind stone stuff , needing some workload and ability to change the game for the better when behind or level pegging he offers very little and in fact makes us more vulnerable when he loses the ball.
He doesn't score enough goals nor make enough goals and doesn't have much shooting power and too often after possession places us in a worse position to attack the opposition goal.
Until we find them he will stay and its unlikely we will receive anywhere near for him than what we paid for him as a 26 year old and given he should now be in his prime after three years under Pep IMO he has actually regressed from his Villa days.
Good players should get better under someone like Pep and Jack IMO has failed in that regard.
Agree with the majority of this apart from we only won the league because other teams fucked up. We went out and won those titles on merit, maybe other teams couldn't handle the pressure but that isn't our fault,(Emphasis added in your words above to show you the key phrase)
If you cannot see that as the squad has dramatically aged, sometimes as a result of progressive injuries and workload, and as the tactics have received more study and scrutiny, we have found it increasingly more difficult to penetrate the opposition, while they have found it increasingly easier for them to absorb the pressure and break on us, then we are unable to have a discussion, because we are watching different football…or at least seeing different things from the game.
As time has marched on, we have been increasingly fortunate to not only scrape victories, but also have to rely on others tripping themselves over, to win the League. It has happened that way REPEATEDLY, and it has only been a fantastic run in of games that has salvaged the season and the titles.
2012 was a prime example, with United dropping points, not the least of which were the 2 they dropped against Everton at home in a 4-4 draw. The difference that season was literally the 6-1 at their place! That 10 GD swing and the “six-pointer” nature of the game won the League, even though it required Vinny’s header and the craziness of injury time against QPR!
Then, Liverpool…Steve Gerrard slipped on his arse and they gave away 3 goals, after being up 3-0, at Palace to hand us the advantage.
And so on and so forth!
We DOMINATED once, as did Liverpool in the COVID season, but the others were all down to the other team blinking and us managing not to lose any more points than they did in the run in.
That is clearly not happening this season, and we look to be nowhere near it, as Liverpool continue to pull away. They are where we were about 2 years ago…players in the prime of their careers, with all systems firing and the squad feeling interchangeable without losing a step. We are two years away from that with this squad, and it was not fixed on the fly, so it’s going to be painful trying to play catch up by bringing in new talent to return us to the top.
All I’m saying is that there has been an increase in the ability to nullify our possession AS our possession-based game has become increasingly stale and our defence has become more porous.
Yes, of course injuries have exacerbated that, but that would be just a result here and a result there, not this relative freefall, such that we would be BOTTOM OF THE LEAGUE if it started two months ago!
The two things have combined to make us a soft touch…even when we do have 60+% possession. Therein lies the problem…or one of them, at least!
If we are light on personnel, then let’s address that by tightening up and making us harder to beat, not play a bunch of patched old players, who can no longer press or perform as they have, in the exact same system…which had already been sussed and overcome repeatedly, often by teams nowhere near our supposed standard!
As this is the Jack Grealish thread, I’ll simply state that while he does often retain possession, when needed, he’s not bringing anything else to the party at a time when we need goals and assists for others to score. He’s never been that good at either thing and when thinking of him as a £100M player (even though not his fault), it only adds to the lack of good stewardship in recycling and renewing the squad over the last few years.
And, in furtherance of the @Metal Biker and @dhruvblue discussion above, he is neither to blame for what ails us, nor the savior for what ails us, but he is indicative of what ails us! High priced talent that isn’t making a difference to results!!!
“Difference makers” are what big teams pay big money for. KDB, Haaland, Salah, Son, Rodri, Rice, Ødegaard, Fernandez and even Fernandes…these are players that were bought and spent big money wages on BECAUSE they are difference makers and they change every team they are in for the better by having impact on results.
Jack is many things, but he’s not THAT!