they have a point, but it's exaggerated.
last year we never really gelled, but we did look much more of a coherent unit in the second half of the season. The problem for me is that we had a lot of SWP's, Bellamys and Adebayors, a lot of explosive players who can beat players and finish.... but not enough Barrys, not enough players who are moving the ball around reliably. One obvious symptom of this was that Tevez and Adebayor never quite clicked. I think Silva and Yaya, maybe Boateng, are good passing players who will help us keep the ball and dictate our own patterns.
today, definitely, we looked rusty and in the first half, pretty clueless. but that was against an extremely capable, settled outfit. We were lucky to ride the storm but by the end we had shut out Bale and Lennon, and dominated the midfield. rightly, it wasn't enough to erase the first half from people's memories, but it was a glimpse of the potential we have, if we develop a real passing game. My hope is they will be drooling over our team work by January.
Listening to Mancini he knows that the preseason work was not completed. you can partly blame the the world cup and the friendlies for way the players have arrived in dribs and drabs. But it is true that the players have barely managed half a dozen sessions together, the squad is still taking shape, which is far from ideal. A big factor has been that the transfers have dragged on and will continue to do so right until the final day of the window. It's certainly not what Mancini talked about in June, but I don't think it's entirely down to him.
The bosses won't be rushed into signing players. They are playing the long game, fighting stubbornly to get some respect from selling clubs and agents. It's working because the prices are not nearly as excessive as in previous years. Ditto with outgoings, they will simply not be rushed or bullied into anything. The outcome right now is that we are a long way from having a settled 25, but maybe it will be worth it in years to come.
Mancini himself appears to be pretty sanguine about it, he too is playing the long game. He wants the best players possible, and he wants everything done his way, to get the right situation in the dressing room for the season ahead, and beyond. if that means these issues drag on for a couple more weeks, so be it.
It's a marathon, not a sprint. All that matters is that when we are finished, we have the best 25 players possible, we have them settled and in the right frame of mind. If it takes a few weeks to sort out, if we scrape through a couple of games and get some bad press along the way, that's better than compromising on who we get, and leaving issues that fester for the whole season.
It is scary that we have just two weeks to sort out the squad, and that we have still to get the players properly settled and up to speed....but cups and league positions are not won and lost in August.
