Defeat I can accept but a lack of effort not.

[fredmont]

Can anyone tell me why Navas is able to put the ball in the box from the right but Clichy refuses to put the ball in from the left? It is an improvement on last year when nobody put the ball in the box at all. It's the most frustrating part of our game for me, after all defenders can make mistakes
in the box leading to goals, as ours demonstrated so well yesterday.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

Tactics are the problem imo
we have far too much possession.
the opposition have no choice but to sit deep and defend as they have no opportunity to get forward.

Instead of keeping possession at all costs we should be taking more risks by putting balls into the box, be that over the top or from the wings. Giving the opposition more possession let's them push up, leaving space between the lines for Silva and space in behind for navas and aguero.

This really is a case of there being too much of a good thing.

Mrmcfc, this is an interesting theory & one that i think is correct, we need to find a way of drawing teams out so we can counter attack with the excellant players we have. we need to take chances whereas the opposition think they have a fair chance & attack us. you are right too much possesion is causing us problems. i expect the manager to see this & put it right.

This was EXACTLY my point made earlier in the thread.

 

[ballinio]

Tactics are the problem imo
we have far too much possession.
the opposition have no choice but to sit deep and defend as they have no opportunity to get forward.

Instead of keeping possession at all costs we should be taking more risks by putting balls into the box, be that over the top or from the wings. Giving the opposition more possession let's them push up, leaving space between the lines for Silva and space in behind for navas and aguero.

This really is a case of there being too much of a good thing.

Mrmcfc, this is an interesting theory & one that i think is correct, we need to find a way of drawing teams out so we can counter attack with the excellant players we have. we need to take chances whereas the opposition think they have a fair chance & attack us. you are right too much possesion is causing us problems. i expect the manager to see this & put it right.

This was EXACTLY my point made earlier in the thread.

This is going to be hard for our players to get a grip of though.

 

[Mrmcfc]

Tactics are the problem imo
we have far too much possession.
the opposition have no choice but to sit deep and defend as they have no opportunity to get forward.

Instead of keeping possession at all costs we should be taking more risks by putting balls into the box, be that over the top or from the wings. Giving the opposition more possession let's them push up, leaving space between the lines for Silva and space in behind for navas and aguero.

This really is a case of there being too much of a good thing.

Mrmcfc, this is an interesting theory & one that i think is correct, we need to find a way of drawing teams out so we can counter attack with the excellant players we have. we need to take chances whereas the opposition think they have a fair chance & attack us. you are right too much possesion is causing us problems. i expect the manager to see this & put it right.

Pellegrini's approach is based on controlling the ball. He won't bring in tactics designed to give the ball to our opponents; nor should he: no such thing as too much possession as far as I am concerned. We don't need less possession but we need to do more with the possession that we have.

I do agree that we should take more risks in the final third but not to give the ball away and if we lose it, we should press hard to recover it quickly.

It's not about just giving the ball away pointlessly. The amount of Times our players have the chance to whip in a ball but choose to play it backwards is frankly ludicrous. Our players seem crippled by fear of losing the ball.
Putting the ball in the box will give the opposition more to think about also.

Less possession = more space = more goals imo

 

[Manc in London]

Can anyone tell me why Navas is able to put the ball in the box from the right but Clichy refuses to put the ball in from the left? It is an improvement on last year when nobody put the ball in the box at all. It's the most frustrating part of our game for me, after all defenders can make mistakes
in the box leading to goals, as ours demonstrated so well yesterday.

It's just as well that Clichy doesn't cross the ball. He's terrible at it. Bar the cross/through ball against Wolves in 2012.

It is more frustrating that Nasri does not cross the ball in the same positions as he can produce decent crosses.

 

[bluethunder]

if there was real competition the players would put in effort every time.

the truth is that navas, silva, toure and fernandinho aren't under any pressure. any player that shows a lack effort should lose his place in the first team. these players wont lose their place because there's nobody to replace them.

we should get a natural winger, 2 CM's and one attacking midfielder while the window is open. forget about this nonsense about having "the best team in the league".

 

[fredmont]

Can anyone tell me why Navas is able to put the ball in the box from the right but Clichy refuses to put the ball in from the left? It is an improvement on last year when nobody put the ball in the box at all. It's the most frustrating part of our game for me, after all defenders can make mistakes
in the box leading to goals, as ours demonstrated so well yesterday.

It's just as well that Clichy doesn't cross the ball. He's terrible at it. Bar the cross/through ball against Wolves in 2012.

It is more frustrating that Nasri does not cross the ball in the same positions as he can produce decent crosses.

Goals don't only come from perfect crosses, just get it in there and put pressure on the defence. Lat season no crosses and no shots from outside the box. I hope it's not going to be the same this year ( one from Dzeko isn't enough) He took Navas off at a point when Cardiff had to come at us which would have left him the space he hadn't previously had in the match. Strange move after telling us what an attack minded manager we now have.

 

[BL2blue]

I remember the days when people said "only being interested in winning trophies is what makes united fans the scum they are". We used to discuss how the important thing was to support the club and accept what failures may come along the way. Now everyone is saying that it's disgusting that we might not win the league for a second year running.

Curious.

That was before we became the richest club in the World. Keep up!

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

Can anyone tell me why Navas is able to put the ball in the box from the right but Clichy refuses to put the ball in from the left? It is an improvement on last year when nobody put the ball in the box at all. It's the most frustrating part of our game for me, after all defenders can make mistakes
in the box leading to goals, as ours demonstrated so well yesterday.

It's just as well that Clichy doesn't cross the ball. He's terrible at it. Bar the cross/through ball against Wolves in 2012.

It is more frustrating that Nasri does not cross the ball in the same positions as he can produce decent crosses.

Goals don't only come from perfect crosses, just get it in there and put pressure on the defence. Lat season no crosses and no shots from outside the box. I hope it's not going to be the same this year ( one from Dzeko isn't enough) He took Navas off at a point when Cardiff had to come at us which would have left him the space he hadn't previously had in the match. Strange move after telling us what an attack minded manager we now have.

37% of our goals came from outside the box, but that was the 3rd lowest percentage in the PL last season. I think we were forced to take outside shots after penetration play against packed defences didn't work (ala Swans at home last year, as an example). But whether we score or not, if we're on target enough, shooting early and often should help open these parked buses up earlier in matches. Make them come out of the area to defend shots and crosses, then utilise the space they leave later in the match -- the inverse of how we often appear to operate.

 

[Bentheblue]

We need to get players who have balls and take a pride in their performance and themselves. Our squad do not seem to give a shit and think it acceptable to display a level of passing and endeavour that would not be tolerated in the Conference let alone the premiership.
To witness the Cardiff performance so soon after the Wembley debacle leaves a very bad taste in the mouth and shows the squad have learnt nothing from the Wembley disgrace.
Our players have been tagged mercenaries by fans of other clubs and the way they have performed in the past twelve months it is difficult to dispute this opinion.
It seems as though the club has given in to player power and got rid of a manager, who bollocked them and those above him for not performing. Perhaps the previous manager had a point!
Before Dismal Dave and Billy Sneers raise their heads I was not an Mancini "inner" but I do think we should get behind whoever the incumbent manager is, all the intense decisiveness is not good for the club.