A breakdown of what has gone wrong (and why we’ll be back)

[oldhamblue]

Is your username short for Bus Wrecking Tossers...?

I thought the same in the thread where he/she is criticising our spending. Joined very recently after the schools broke up for Christmas

 

[GRB]

I thought the same in the thread where he/she is criticising our spending. Joined very recently after the schools broke up for Christmas

yes - they have been very pro dipper on various threads since joining on Friday... hmm.

I’m no PI but something is afoot.

 

[eastmanc]

There are several reasons as to why we’ve dropped off this season and I shall cover them here.

- We lost Laporte and Kompany

Laporte and Kompany were probably the 2nd and 3rd best centre backs in the Premier League. Losing both first choice centre backs would be a huge blow to any side in world football.

- The knock on effect of these losses

Apart from the first half of the 17/18 season, Stones and Otamendi have only ever really shown their best form when playing alongside a superior centre half.

This means that as well as not having the quality of Laporte and Kompany in the side, we also see a drop in quality from Stones and Otamendi as well.

Laporte would also cover for Mendy at times when he would be caught out of position. When we defended well and drew 0-0 at Anfield last season, Laporte was extremely quick to snuff out any danger on the left hand side when Mendy would be further up field. Unfortunately the current centre backs aren’t able to do this to the same degree.

- Fernandinho/Rodri

Another knock on effect of the centre back situation has seen us lose Fernandinho as a midfield option as he covers in at centre back instead. In effect we’ve lost Laporte, Kompany and Fernandinho from the team we had last season. That triangle 3 of those players was one of the best in Europe and it now doesn’t exist.

Rodri, Fernandinho’s replacement, is taking time to settle in as well and we probably won’t see the best of him until next season. If Fernandinho wasn’t needed at centre back then we probably would have seen Rodri gradually placed into the side as Bernardo was last season.

Rodri is also having to cover for a defence which can’t defend to a great standard due to the losses it has suffered. Something tells me that if Rodri was playing in front of Kompany and Laporte that we’d already be seeing Rodri playing to a higher level.

Even Fernandinho struggled in Pellegrini’s last season when the defence behind him wasn’t up to scratch as he was often desperately trying to cover the full backs who could no longer get up and down the line.

- Silva isn’t the force he once was

Silva used to dictate games from start to finish similar to how De Bruyne does now. He’d control the tempo, retain possession and help break defensive lines with his incisive passing.

Now that he’s older he’s not able to do this for long stretches of play. It means we can’t control games as well and it leaves us with less energy in the middle of the pitch. He’s now more of a Gundogan type player where he will pop up with a nice pass now and then, but will also drift out of the game for periods as well.

Apart from last night, when we played most of the game with 10 men, there has been a positive difference with Silva out of the side and with the energy of players like Bernardo and Foden in the team instead.

- Bernardo lost form

Bernardo was arguably the best player of his type in the world last season but this season he’s dropped off form. This could be down to playing a huge amount of games last season, playing international games in the summer, having a small holiday and then coming straight back to playing high level football again.

He’s also had to deal with the fall out from the tweet he sent to Mendy which would have had a huge impact on him psychologically.

Honestly, don’t expect to see Bernardo back to his best until the CL knock out matches start. He’ll be back and he’ll be as good as ever and I think we’re already beginning to see that improvement in his recent performances in the middle of the pitch.

- Injury to Sane

While he wasn’t always first choice last season, Sane is still a fantastic option to have. He scores big goals in key moments (Liverpool h, United a) and is a nightmare for any defender to play against when he’s on top form.

- Winning three titles in a row is hard / Motivation

Winning three titles in a row is hard, it’s probably next to impossible when you’re up against a side as good as Liverpool.

There’s a reason the title hasn’t been retained for a decade and it was because of greater competition within the division.

Winning those 14 games in a row and breaking that decade long spell last season would have taken absolutely everything from the players.

Just a small drop off from that form would see Liverpool win the title the following year as they’d be extra motivated after losing out by just a point.

Their form and the gap they’ve opened up has probably seen us lose a little bit more motivation as deep down we all know they can’t be caught.

When you’ve won 7 trophies in 2 years you’re suddenly not as desperate to win as you once were and it can take a good slap to wake you up again.

For an example of this see how some countries with amazing players perform at their next World Cup after winning it. France (2002) and Germany (2018) were brilliant sides but just a small drop off in motivation is everything in top level sport and without being fully focused they suffered the consequences.

Next season, expect City to be extra motivated to win the league and Liverpool to drop off slightly after finally breaking that 30 year duck. Remember the 12/13 season, it was like a year long hangover from 93:20 and United were desperate to get one over us for it.

- We’ll be back

Expect City to identify the issues in the team this season and to rectify them in the summer. Similar to what happened after the 16/17 season when with just a couple of key replacements, we looked like a completely different side going into 17/18.

We’ll buy a top class centre back and a left back as well to solve our major issues.

As this season progressives and going into next season we’ll also have:

- Laporte back (making everyone else better)
- Foden getting more experienced
- Bernardo getting over his tweet saga
- Sane will return (and perhaps be replaced in the summer)
- Rodri will become more settled in the side

If we play our cards right and the pieces fall into place then we can make sure we win a cup or two this season before going on to regain our title next season as well.

Just to add, Real Madrid will be a tough tie to negotiate but if we get though it then we’ll have a great chance at the CL. The worst City side of this decade bizarrely got the furthest any City side has before or since and history shows that sides like Liverpool (2005) and Chelsea (2012) have won the competition after going through very disappointing league campaigns.

Who knows what will happen there but I do know that we’ll be back and with a bang going into next season. Stay strong because the future is only going to bring great things.

I feel better now after reading that.

 

[Kinkladze 1]

Van Doik had his heart set for for liverpool though.

How do we know this?.

 

[SilverFox2]

I think the original comment possibly overstated Kompany's defensive ability in his final season but I agreed with everything else. Good post.

I think some blues are writing this season off and looking to the next but it could yet be a great season. League Cup semi-final could be awkward though.

I think the players have done the same.
I hope their dip in form is not to adjust their bonuses to ensure a top 4 place, they are far better than that.

 

[Semper aggressus]

Not paying the extra 15m for Van dijk looks criminal now , we would have dominated for the next 5 years and Liverpool would still be a level below us.

Sums it up in one for me.

All the op's point are very good, but if we'd signed vD we would be above the scousers despite all that even now. They'd be far worse too.

Just hope it's a lesson the club has learned. Spend what it takes, or someone else will.

 

[mrtwiceaseason]

I think the original comment possibly overstated Kompany's defensive ability in his final season but I agreed with everything else. Good post.

I think some blues are writing this season off and looking to the next but it could yet be a great season. League Cup semi-final could be awkward though.

Agree with you regarding kompanys football ability but what needs stating is the 100% loss in leadership we are rudderless at the moment.
Pep has to shoulder a lot of the blame playing fern at the back, I get it when we are short but when all the others plus walker are fit beyond ridiculous, if he dosnt trust them clear them out the club.
Rodri and gundog shouldn't be allowed on the same team bus let alone the same pitch, both decent at what they do individually but willing to guess they have been together on the pitch for every crap performance. Even when coming on as a sub we usually fuck it up, see wolves

 

[SilverFox2]

Van Doik had his heart set for for liverpool though.

Certainly his heart followed the rest of body when his financial decision to join Pool occured.
Cannot blame him for that though, we publicise our maximum and leave the way clear for others to exploit.

 

[Busser]

How do we know this?.

The second liverpool showed interest, it was obvious. That's why Southampton lodged a report against liverpool and not anyone else. If you were following the news, it was all over, that's why no other club was even interested to bid even when Southampton made it obvious they would rather sell him to anyone else but not to liverpool.

 

[Busser]

Certainly his heart followed the rest of body when his financial decision to join Pool occured.
Cannot blame him for that though, we publicise our maximum and leave the way clear for others to exploit.

True.