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

[blueparrot]

Good o/p the only thing I’d add is we miss Laporte long diagonal switches of play that turned defence into attack instantly and helped break down teams before they get set back up. A huge help against parked buses. The importance of Laporte has made all the difference alongside the other stuff. Hope I’m wrong but I doubt we’ll see the best of him until next season. I would expect a few niggly injuries when he comes back this season similar to KDB last season.

 

[Rolee]

Just to add on the defensive issues, both Stones and Zinchenko have missed half the season so far through injury.

 

[bugsyblue]

Here’s 3 problems that I haven’t seen mentioned.

1. Many of our fans have forgotten how to support the team / “be the 12th man”. Yes the corporate expansion within the Etihad hasn’t helped but the atmosphere is shite at most home games. Everyone knows it.

2. We lack power in the air. Some snowflakes will say that’s not the Pep way but Liverpool have VVD throughout most games and Origi and Wynaldum when they need them - and they pose the opposition different threats.

3. Friday night re-emphasised that we can’t hold the ball up. Again some people will say that’s not the Pep way but I reckon we would have got at least a point if we were able to hold the ball up better, albeit Wolves would have still made it tough. It’s not just about Wolves, In a nutshell we need a wider range of abilities to get at then opposition, who analyse our play and set up teams to stop us.

What a load of crock.

1) The atmosphere hasn’t changed over the last three seasons. It’s always been average. We secured 198 points over the last two seasons so this has zero impact on our current season.

2) As with the above point. We won 198 points over two seasons by not being great in the air. We’ve added Rodri who is decent too.

3) We hold the ball up very well. If you look at possession charts over the last 3 seasons you’ll see us on top. I’d bet we are probably highest still this season but I did read we’ve had the lowest possession this season since Pep took over. We defo don’t dictate play as well as we used to. The other night we ran out of steam playing with 10 men against a well organised high pressing side.

overall you’ve made half a decent point.

 

[urban genie]

If we win only.the leagues cup we will have won 50% of major trophies available in the last 3 seasons, 6 out of 12, if we won a cup treble (still doable) we will have won 2/3 of all major trophies.


Even if we win fuck all this season we will have won been centurians and treble winners in recent years.


Though dissapointing if we lose some of the titles and cups we are holders of it really isn't so bad, all good teams have off seasons, we have had factors that have stunted our progression, but results like the derby, wolves at home and others really we have no excuse.

We are going nowhere when it comes to competing, but not winning anything isn't the end of the world.

 

[MCBlueFan]

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

- 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

Rodri isn't meant to be a midfield destroyer as Fernandinho was - instead he's a metronome with good, but not excellent, defensive skill. Given the proper side around him, Rodri has world-class written all over him.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

What a load of crock.

1) The atmosphere hasn’t changed over the last three seasons. It’s always been average. We secured 198 points over the last two seasons so this has zero impact on our current season.

2) As with the above point. We won 198 points over two seasons by not being great in the air. We’ve added Rodri who is decent too.

3) We hold the ball up very well. If you look at possession charts over the last 3 seasons you’ll see us on top. I’d bet we are probably highest still this season but I did read we’ve had the lowest possession this season since Pep took over. We defo don’t dictate play as well as we used to. The other night we ran out of steam playing with 10 men against a well organised high pressing side.

overall you’ve made half a decent point.

Nice try mate lol

1. Some of us can compare the last 43 years and not just the past 3 seasons.

2. We’ve lost Kompany and Laporte (for most of the season) who were strong in the air. Rodri is big but he isn’t great in the air. The opposition know we have a weakness and getting a corner isn’t even seen as an opportunity to create a chance these days.

3. our possession stats reflect that we are great at knocking the ball about with 11 players. I missed the sub category about keeping hold of the ball with 10 players against a powerful side. Our possession stats were at the lowest under Pep (on Friday) according to reports.

 

[Busser]

Don’t be fucking stupid. They sold to Liverpool because they were offering £15m more than us. You think they have a shit where he went? Definitely not.

I don't think you were aware of the liverpool-Southampton rivalry. Every saint hated them because they keep buying their best players, Clyne, lalana, lovren, mane and now VVD. They had to sell to liverpool because of 2 reasons VVD had his heart set and liverpool was the highest bidder. If anyone else matched the bid, they would rather sell to someone else. Don't be mad man, I was hoping that we would pip to the sale, hence why I was following the saga and I know abit of what happened.

 

[Rolee]

I don't think you were aware of the liverpool-Southampton rivalry. Every saint hated them because they keep buying their best players, Clyne, lalana, lovren, mane and now VVD. They had to sell to liverpool because of 2 reasons VVD had his heart set and liverpool was the highest bidder. If anyone else matched the bid, they would rather sell to someone else. Don't be mad man, I was hoping that we would pip to the sale, hence why I was following the saga and I know abit of what happened.

lol

 

[Bob Smiles]

I don't think you were aware of the liverpool-Southampton rivalry. Every saint hated them because they keep buying their best players, Clyne, lalana, lovren, mane and now VVD. They had to sell to liverpool because of 2 reasons VVD had his heart set and liverpool was the highest bidder. If anyone else matched the bid, they would rather sell to someone else. Don't be mad man, I was hoping that we would pip to the sale, hence why I was following the saga and I know abit of what happened.

When the player only wants to go to Liverpool, Southampton can’t force him to come to city, even if we offer a lot more money.

 

[Marvin]

What a load of crock.

1) The atmosphere hasn’t changed over the last three seasons. It’s always been average. We secured 198 points over the last two seasons so this has zero impact on our current season.

2) As with the above point. We won 198 points over two seasons by not being great in the air. We’ve added Rodri who is decent too.

3) We hold the ball up very well. If you look at possession charts over the last 3 seasons you’ll see us on top. I’d bet we are probably highest still this season but I did read we’ve had the lowest possession this season since Pep took over. We defo don’t dictate play as well as we used to. The other night we ran out of steam playing with 10 men against a well organised high pressing side.

overall you’ve made half a decent point.

Half a decent point is better than none.