Many have called this England side the best in a generation and to a degree it is but in many respects it also isn't. We have a few good inside forwards and a decent striker, that's it. Everything else is not better than the other teams in the competition. The city lads like Stones and Walker have been there and done it but they look lost in this side.
Every decent team at this level is decided by its midfield and ours is really poor. Where's the Rodri winning the ball, controlling play and pinging the ball about? There's nothing but a sea of empty between defence and attack. The biggest thing that Pep has done at city is he's melted those two together.
You only have to look at that first 20 minutes. The fullbacks and centre backs get the ball and they have nowhere to go. There is no midfield coming to collect, there's no Rodri holding the ball whilst everyone pivots around him. We're just forced wide and it's so predictable unless we're prepared to take risks and move it quicker but we aren't.
We'll see who we get next but I think the only chance we have is if the team gets a kick up the arse and starts to respond to its critics instead of sulking about it. Tonight should of been about a response and a show of mental strength but instead it was a slow game against a tricky team which was ready for us, did we even have a shot??
