We are not mentally weak

gordondaviesmoustache said:
How do you explain their appalling record against other top four sides in recent years?
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They do not have the quality in DM and up front to win as many of their games as you'd think they could with what appears to be a quality side at first glance. They are not good enough in DM and CF and get found out against the better sides more often than not.
 
KippaxCitizen said:
They do not have the quality in DM and up front to win as many of their games as you'd think they could with what appears to be a quality side at first glance. They are not good enough in DM and CF and get found out against the better sides more often than not.
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Every team has some inherent weakness. We posses some that Arsenal do not share. It doesn't prevent us from being regular title challengers. They contain enough overall quality to at least sustain a title challenge imo. That they perennially fail to is down to a lack of mental strength, rather than an absence of general ability.
 
For me what is more to the point is intelligence.

United have by all accounts been poor in most games and in some for the whole 90 minutes. We meanwhile played very well during the first 5 fixtures and should have beaten West Ham too. However we are now second.

For me it is naivety. An inability to read the different stages of a match. As many have said a goal up away from home should have seen a more pragmatic performance against Spurs.

The Juve game was informative. We went one up with quite a lot of time left. Juve did not panic, bomb forward and end up 2 down. They bided their time and when the chances arose took them. It was a lesson we have not learnt yet. While we are at a much higher level now this reminds me of Keegan´s time in charge. Not much attention or indeed respect paid to opposition teams especially defensively. The belief that we are good enough to beat anyone, which of course we are, but not if we don´t show a bit more savvy at times.
 
mancity1 said:
You can put any name you wish to a side that when its behind gets nothing from a game and lacks the ability to dig out a result.

When we have been behind at half time in our past 12 games our record is 0-1-11.

This season we have blown leads against very average sides in Juventus and Spurs.

I do agree the massive injury list ( what resources are we putting into player management FFS ) has unbalanced us and Saturday was one big cock up starting from the management team down after we took the lead but overall our management team and the playing group lack steel and this combined with the injuries will derail this season unless we get smarter on match days and lift our intensity over 90 minutes.
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I take it that this is just league games? We were 2-1 down to Bayern Munich at ht in our last CL group game last season and came back to win 3-2.
 
gordondaviesmoustache said:
*awaiting the mentally weak pontificating about the mentally weak*
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I'll have a go, GDM!!!! I think we have a lot of 'artists' in the team and if they can't get the right shade to light up the canvas something pretty near enough just won't do. Sergio seems to be after a goal that could be hanged on the wall of the Argentina National Art Gallery, whereas MANUre will be happy for one to be floating in Pomona Dock!

To the players: I have seen your artistry. I applaud it. It has rocked we FOCs in CBL3! Could we possibly have half a dozen scuffers and scabbers on Wednesday. Yes, I know that the press will focus on them being scuffers and scabbers but a resounding win à la MCWFC is all we're asking for. Can't be too much to ask for. Just give both linos a fuckin' eye test before kick off!
 
When vinny is not there and we are behind u look around the team for someone to pick the players up of the floor! That player doesn't seem to be there or he's just not showing? Hopefully with zabba coming back he will be the player to get the others going when the chips are down!
 
uwe rosler 28 said:
When vinny is not there and we are behind u look around the team for someone to pick the players up of the floor! That player doesn't seem to be there or he's just not showing? Hopefully with zabba coming back he will be the player to get the others going when the chips are down!
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Precisely, the really strong characters and leaders in the squad are Zaba, Kompany,Silva, Yaya and Aguero. They're the players who got us to our first trophies in this era and nobody would question their mental toughness. At the start of the 2nd half on Saturday we had just a half-fit Yaya who was soon to go off and an out of sorts Aguero who can't sort his own game out let alone anyone elses. But that's when the rest of the squad have to step up and I felt they failed dismally, and yes I do think that was down to a collective lack of resolve and leadership and I would call that mental weakness.
 
lancs blue said:
Precisely, the really strong characters and leaders in the squad are Zaba, Kompany,Silva, Yaya and Aguero. They're the players who got us to our first trophies in this era and nobody would question their mental toughness. At the start of the 2nd half on Saturday we had just a half-fit Yaya who was soon to go off and an out of sorts Aguero who can't sort his own game out let alone anyone elses. But that's when the rest of the squad have to step up and I felt they failed dismally, and yes I do think that was down to a collective lack of resolve and leadership and I would call that mental weakness.
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Aguero, Yaya, Silva aren't leaders. They'll go out and do something fantastic which will lift the team, but not like Hart or Zaba or Kompany who will shout and yell and pump them up, and get them going with a loud word and demand the best from the team.

They're doers, not leaders.

I think Otamendi will be a leader in time, but he's the new guy for now.
 
domalino said:
Aguero, Yaya, Silva aren't leaders. They'll go out and do something fantastic which will lift the team, but not like Hart or Zaba or Kompany who will shout and yell and pump them up, and get them going with a loud word and demand the best from the team.

They're doers, not leaders.

I think Otamendi will be a leader in time, but he's the new guy for now.
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I strongly disagree with you on Silva, he may not be vocal but he is definitely a leader, he pulls the strings in that team.
 
You can have all the pace, vision, and skill in the world, but just occasionally, when you've been in control, but you sense the game starting to slide, you need a bully, who isn't afraid to lay into his team mates, regardless of their talent or reputation.
We lacked that type of player at Tottenham on Saturday, and also at the Swamp last season. It's also those games when our Manager appears clueless.

However, the games in between weren't that bad.
 
I think when we're missing Silva and Kompany certain players confidence suffer. Our over reliance on those two tells me we've got players who are indeed suffering with a weak mentality. I don't need the press to tell me, I can see it for myself when we fall behind and the panic sets in.
Maybe there's a better way of phrasing it, maybe weak mentality is a bit simplistic, but there's something that gets in the players heads that causes us to go from world beaters to a team lacking cohesion when getting beat and its a worry.
 
Nope. I don't think it's that straight-forward to class the players as mentally weak. Sometimes things don't go your way, shots, decisions, injuries, tactics etc. etc., but that's football. It's exactly why we see unusual results in football week in week out.

We're 2 points better off at this stage than when we won the title in 2013/14. Our rival teams this season had the potential to be 6 points clear of us at this stage, but none are. If we're mentally weak then so are they. You can't judge being mentally tough as 'perfection', you've set the standard too high if you're doing that.

A player can be physically strong, gee the team regularly and be the guy that everyone looks up to, but that doesn't suggest he's always mentally strong. The same player can have a run of bad form and be unable to get his head round it, which ultimately prevents him offering much usefulness to the team/squad. Mental strength is often fluid, just like confidence.
 
gordondaviesmoustache said:
*awaiting the mentally weak pontificating about the mentally weak*
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Haha ... so true. I think the rush to need to blame/castigate/belittle after any and every defeat speaks to an underlying weakness in certain segments of the forum based support. A weak mentality which leads to an inability to see things rationally or to have any sensible perspective on things. It's been one long cringe reading the individual player threads and the match day thread since Saturday afternoon because of this. Hopefully as the week passes the weak will find other things to distract them.
 
BillyShears said:
Haha ... so true. I think the rush to need to blame/castigate/belittle after any and every defeat speaks to an underlying weakness in certain segments of the forum based support. A weak mentality which leads to an inability to see things rationally or to have any sensible perspective on things. It's been one long cringe reading the individual player threads and the match day thread since Saturday afternoon because of this. Hopefully as the week passes the weak will find other things to distract them.
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Find it hard not to disagree with that
 
Glad the really intelligent members of the fanbase have put us right. There's no problems. Let's all move on.
 
Ducado said:
Find it hard not to disagree with that
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I think it's become very prominent in recent years - especially as the size of the forum has grown. Doesn't help that you have a number of trolls who only post after we lose and tend to highlight the negative whilst yelling at anyone who dares to posit some of the positives which can be taken even from a defeat. It's all in the name of 'discussion' though and I for one think everyone should be entitled to post their opinion no matter how stupid it is or not matter how pathetic and insecure it makes them look.
 
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