Don’t worry too much - We’ll be back

[richards30]

Leaders!!! Exactly we need someone to drive them on when they need picking up or shouting at

Dias

 

[urban genie]

In a nutshell, we lack a leader on and off the pitch

seems the slump this season has come as Mr dependable Ferdy has now gone from both the team and background

 

[pavelsrnicek]

Not necessarily so. At the time I wrote to David Davies, big red and head of the FA. I was writing an article on the subject and I asked him outright, who had approached who first. His first response was that it was a mutual decision. When I, then, pointed out that he hadn't answered the question, I got a brush-off letter. My conclusion was that united had dictated to the FA that they wouldn't play in the FA Cup and the rest was just the usual media pr exercise

Money, money, money or a guaranteed first team spot

A drop off was almost inevitable this season. Going full pelt for all trophies over the course of a year really takes it out of a team. Even just winning the league can lead to a drop off the following year, due to decreased motivation, which can make it feel like suddenly you’re miles off where you were.

It’s why the league has only be retained twice since 2009 - both by Pep’s City. Just look at the performances from our rivals the year after winning the league or even them going full pelt just to come second by a point. There’s a huge drop off across the board. I’ve got to admit, Liverpool looked great at times last season but this season they’re an absolute shambles.

Now imagine going for 3 consecutive league titles. This drop off is why it has only been done by 4 teams in the history of English men’s football. Huddersfield & Arsenal in the 30’s, Liverpool in the 80’s & United in the 90’s and 00’s. Today, the competition is much greater with most of the top teams splashing the cash to chase the top prizes. That means going for 3 in a row is an even more difficult challenge than before.

We’ve seen this before in the 19/20 season where we were absolutely miles behind Liverpool by January. The league was already over for us 3 years ago. There were also massive drop offs 12/13, 14/15 and most notably in 1938! If anything, we’ve actually done brilliantly to get back to back titles in this modern era and keep our name in the hat for a third. Seeing how difficult it is to achieve, I would probably see it as Pep’s greatest achievement, by far, if we were to somehow go on to top the table at the end of the season.

This form has obviously impacted us in the league cup last night as well, although I’m willing to put that down to the mish-mash side as Pep tried to keep us as fresh as possible for the derby. Obviously this back fired but I can see the thinking behind what he was trying to do.

There has also been a World Cup mid season where we had more players competing than any other club in the world. There’s no doubt this will have impacted us physically and mentally.

If we don’t turn our form around, don’t worry too much and don’t panic about what’s going on right now. History clearly shows that this is all following a familiar pattern and that we’ll be back to our best soon enough, and who knows, maybe we’ll finally get that bit of luck in the Champions League. Our worst team of the last 12 years ended up in the semi final in 2016 so I’ve no doubts this team of today could pull off something even better.

Pretty much spot on. I still wouldn’t rule us out retaining the league. I have a suspicion that City will have conditioned players to peak later in the season, hoping we’re still in the race.

We are well placed but misfiring and inconsistent. Cancelo and Foden are not quite at it. Philips and Walker aren’t fully fit. Gomez is struggling with the step up. Stones, Laporte and Dias have missed a number of matches with injuries. We haven’t fully figured out how to play with Haaland. Despite all that we’re 5 points behind an Arsenal side that has been flying. If we hit our straps we’ll win the league.

 

[Kippaxpete]

 

[ancoats]

I keep saying it this season, the world cup break has put back the season by 6 or 7 games, we are not even half way and only 5 points behind the leaders' arsenal, For me the Premier League will be a 20 game season this time around, It will be who's got the fresher legs later on will win the league,

also, the fixture list from now until the end of the season is packed, so again losing last night does give us a little break not having to play 2 hard semi-finals vs Newcastle or United,

like pep's time at Manchester city, it's we go again to the next game

 

[BrianW]

It's times like this when I realise I know **** all about football.
Only two games ago, the commentators on TV were saying what a great player Gomez was!
Cancelo was called by some the best left-back in Europe last season. His form has nose-dived.
Foden has lost form, for whatever reason, and looks like a shadow of himself.
Cole Palmer has not progressed as we all hoped/expected - but what is his best position and does he get to play there?
Jack is a likeable lad, but he doesn't look anything like a 100 million-pound player.
Several of our best defenders, including Walker, have been plagued by injury.
Gundog looks like the years have caught up, and that he needs to be a cameo player.
KDB looks fucked, jaded and in need of a rest.
Haaland only works if you give him the right service.

Yet we are still second in the best league in the world, still in the FA Cup, and still in the Champs League. And we are quite capable of going to OT and smashing the rags out of sight. (Not saying we will, but we are certainly capable of it. Ask Chelsea.)

 

[Didsbury Dave]

A drop off was almost inevitable this season. Going full pelt for all trophies over the course of a year really takes it out of a team. Even just winning the league can lead to a drop off the following year, due to decreased motivation, which can make it feel like suddenly you’re miles off where you were.

It’s why the league has only be retained twice since 2009 - both by Pep’s City. Just look at the performances from our rivals the year after winning the league or even them going full pelt just to come second by a point. There’s a huge drop off across the board. I’ve got to admit, Liverpool looked great at times last season but this season they’re an absolute shambles.

Now imagine going for 3 consecutive league titles. This drop off is why it has only been done by 4 teams in the history of English men’s football. Huddersfield & Arsenal in the 30’s, Liverpool in the 80’s & United in the 90’s and 00’s. Today, the competition is much greater with most of the top teams splashing the cash to chase the top prizes. That means going for 3 in a row is an even more difficult challenge than before.

We’ve seen this before in the 19/20 season where we were absolutely miles behind Liverpool by January. The league was already over for us 3 years ago. There were also massive drop offs 12/13, 14/15 and most notably in 1938! If anything, we’ve actually done brilliantly to get back to back titles in this modern era and keep our name in the hat for a third. Seeing how difficult it is to achieve, I would probably see it as Pep’s greatest achievement, by far, if we were to somehow go on to top the table at the end of the season.

This form has obviously impacted us in the league cup last night as well, although I’m willing to put that down to the mish-mash side as Pep tried to keep us as fresh as possible for the derby. Obviously this back fired but I can see the thinking behind what he was trying to do.

There has also been a World Cup mid season where we had more players competing than any other club in the world. There’s no doubt this will have impacted us physically and mentally.

If we don’t turn our form around, don’t worry too much and don’t panic about what’s going on right now. History clearly shows that this is all following a familiar pattern and that we’ll be back to our best soon enough, and who knows, maybe we’ll finally get that bit of luck in the Champions League. Our worst team of the last 12 years ended up in the semi final in 2016 so I’ve no doubts this team of today could pull off something even better.

I'm not worried. We will be fine.

 

[yankblue]

I agree we'll be fine in the end.

There is something missing lately in the squad lately, and I think Pep's comments about body language were telling. He jokes around a bit but those comments I believe were sincere and targeted. And you can just tell by watching us play something is off.

Pep's gotten quite a bit of (valid) criticism of late for for changing up tactics and formations. I mentioned this in another thread, but I'm not sure if that's a cause of or symptom of what's going on. Considering his track record and unique knowledge of the side, I lean towards the latter.

Two things stick out to me - the first is we had tons of turnover this summer. Fern, Raz, Gabby, Zinchenko out, Haaland, Alvarez, Gomez, Phillips, Ortega, Akanji in. That's nearly a 1/4 of the team, and you never know who how friendships and morale will he impacted. The other is leadership. We're missing that Vinnie/Fern type. Of the senior players, Gundo and KDB are more the quiet leaders/lead by example types. Ditto with Rodri. Walker/Mahrez/Stones/Cancelo/Eddie are just not leaders and thats fine. We really just have Dias, and he's been injured and out of the squad.

 

[eastmanc]

Think Pep has done ok for us so far.

He has been the best coach this club has ever had, no question. But this season for whatever reason his formations and tactics seemed to have put a handbrake on the way we play, apart from Ushited at home. Let hope he has a light bulb moment and everything goes back to being great again.

 

[Manc123]

He has been the best coach this club has ever had, no question. But this season for whatever reason his formations and tactics seemed to have put a handbrake on the way we play, apart from Ushited at home. Let hope he has a light bulb moment and everything goes back to being great again.

i dont think its a coincidence that walker got injured in that derby the handbrake went on a little and then our best performance since that was chelsea in cup with walker back in the team?