Defeat I can accept but a lack of effort not.

[bluethunder]

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.

perhaps mancini did have a point...

very fine point you make there.

pellegrini must identify these players with lack of balls and get rid of them before the window closes. we should'nt be signing players who are only interested in money or to be passengers.

 

[paulandrewjames]

I've just read everything you all have written - how many of you think Utd and Chelsea will lose at Cardiff??

 

[East Level 2]

I've just read everything you all have written - how many of you think Utd and Chelsea will lose at Cardiff??

It could happen; it's a sport and would be pretty boring if all results were a foregone conclusion.
However if the rags and Chelsea fail to win there I suspect the Cardiff goalie will be forced to make far more saves than we forced on Sunday, and they won't concede three from amateur defending.

 

[ElanJo]

Same old hysteria...

We lost because we defended 2 set pieces poorly and Cardiff parked the bus and did it well. Effort was not a problem. All top teams lose to much lesser sides, the trick is to limit the amount of times it occurs during a season.

 

[Anonymous]

I've just read everything either . you all have written - how many of you think Utd and Chelsea will lose at Cardiff??

I doubt either will lose there .....

and it's possible that Liverpool , Spurs or Arsenal won't either.


After a few defeats i doubt Cardiff will be displaying quite the same enthusiasm.

 

[chesterblue]

Somebody mentioned early the subject of leadership and the captains armband. The simple answer on Sunday was that we did not have any leaders on the pitch. There was not one City player urging the others on or remonstrating at bad defending. They were all looking at each other when their goals went in but I did not see any positive reaction. We need a Bellamy (or even Joey Barton) type who will show some fighting spirit and get the others moving. Ya Ya is certainly not that type and is ill suited to the role of Captain. As for the perceived lack of effort, there were at least 3 City in the left back position for the first goal but the cross still came in. If players are going to drop back as cover then they must either tackle the player in possession or at least make it difficult for them not just stand and watch.

 

[fablue]

I don't think it is a lack of effort.
I just think our team still lacks a plan B in case our opponents park the bus.
Unfortunately this has happened many times before, and hasn't been solved. I would even say it is getting worse.

how many of you think Utd and Chelsea will lose at Cardiff??

They can loose, but unfortunately they have more chances to win than we do because they are also used to make quick counterattacks if they need to.
The only way we know to go forward is by means of a very slow build up play, with lots of horizontal and back passes, leaving plenty of time for any other team to park the bus and build a very strong defence. Our possesion can be great, but it is useless.

There is no way we can win the PL if we have no plan B. We will draw or loose many games against weaker teams that park the bus, and loose too many points.

 

[Mr. Aguia]

The bigger picture issue, brought up by others, is that we couldn't seem to unlock a team that put ten behind the ball.

This was a constant problem last season -- our failure being attributed to our lack of width among other things -- but I don't understand why we would play a possession-oriented, dink-around-the-box kind of football in these circumstances.

Knowing exactly what the stadium would be like, the momentum Cardiff would get from their fans from the get-go, the priority perhaps should have been killing off the crowd early by attacking immediately.

Why wouldn't we run out Negredo instead of Aguero -- a guy who loves to shoot anytime, anywhere, and loves to get in the box? Then fire balls into the box like artillery shells? We aren't talking a world-class keeper here. We could get a deflection, or win corners. Firing in from outside the box makes the defense unpack to come to you to defend against the shot, in theory.

It wasn't much of a surprise that our first came on a 25-yard strike. We all laugh how supporters scream "SHOOT!!!" anytime anyone has possession uncontested from 30 yards or less out in front of goal but to me this is what I'd like to see against squads who fill the penalty area. Cardiff certainly executed well, and I realize tactics like this may open us up and perhaps we wanted to protect our second string CBs. But, again, if we can't figure out how to unlock this simple park-the-bus defence, every side poorer on paper than Swans is going to employ it.

But we did unlock it.....this should have then led to a 2 or 3 nil win.....

Instead it led to the worst 30 minutes of defending for years.

Hart, zab, clichy all guilty as charged.

I'm not defending the defending, believe me. We unlocked it in the 52nd minute. I'm talking about unlocking it in tenth or twentieth minute. Sting the crowd early. Don't allow Cardiff to grow in confidence. Don't rely on a war of attrition where they tire. Overwhelm them. Be impatient to score. I know we lost because of the defending, but I'm questioning the attack tactics because I can at least believe with Komps and Nastasic returning we will be much better at the back. We ran our top class attack out and were stifled for far too long, in my view.

Anyway, it's one match, it's early, Cardiff played well, it was an exceedingly meaningful match for them . . . I'm not panicking or even that surprised we struggled there (would have expected at least a draw, though). Just don't want to see park-the-bus be successful so often against us again this year, like last, is all.

To me this is one of our biggest problems. The team folds under the pressure if we don't score an early goal. Like they expect to score easy. To just show up and make everyone look stupid. When we dominate the ball and don't creat much or hit the woodwork they get deflated. Start over passing, getting too intricate and over patiant. I thought Cardiff was starting to tire and instead up turning up the pressure after we scored they seemed to take thier foot off the gas assuming the game was over. Played very slow and allowed them to get their second wind. Once they scored they stole all the momentum and once you get it into your head the game is over it's nearly impossible to regain that winning mentality.

I think we are really short on leadership. Yes we have Vinnie and he is great but he's not enough on his own especially when he's out. Silva, ClLichy, dinho, Nasri, Aguero, Yaya etc.. aren't leaders. They are very quiet and laid back individuals. We need a couple more hard nosed individuals in the squad that can keep the boys foucus on the task.

 

[kismet]

Oh for a Gow, Doyle or a Morrison in the team. They would not accept a lack of effort from any team member !!!!

 

[Ducado]

It's like a post season inquest this thread

Calm down, we have only played two games!