Fernandinho

[totalfootball]

I'm a fan and he has been steadily improving, but I thought he had an average game at best on Sun.

well, it was an efficient performance nevertheless.

he did nothing wrong.

i would've liked him to drive the team forward but it's difficult when overrun.

Not so - he didn't protect our back 4 adequately in the first half. Way too much room for the Swansea midfield/offence.

I'll put it down to an aberration as he has been very good over the past few matches and he did improve in the second half.

as usual, teams exploit the space on the flanks. fernandinho can't do anything about it. nasri and navas need to do more on the flanks. then aguero or negredo must be marking the oppositions regista.

the back 4 don't get enough protection, but the truth is that the two defensive midfielders don't get protection either.

 

[lasereyes]

Problem is it wasn't the flanks in the first half. They were coming through the middle. It was hard to understand what Fernandinho was doing. He was kind of floating without being in the game at all. Was surprising as he has been very sharp of late. Maybe they were complacent, but MP must have said something sharp at half time, as they looked a different team in the second half.

 

[totalfootball]

Problem is it wasn't the flanks in the first half. They were coming through the middle. It was hard to understand what Fernandinho was doing. He was kind of floating without being in the game at all. Was surprising as he has been very sharp of late. Maybe they were complacent, but MP must have said something sharp at half time, as they looked a different team in the second half.

that's what happens when you concede space. the opposition is going to get men forward. swansea took advantage of the space on the flanks. their fullbacks advanced. which gives the swansea midfielders options. they can pass it sideways, backwards, forwards.

fernandinho can't do anything but sit deep. you can't chase shadows.

 

[lasereyes]

He wasn't sitting deep in the first half.

 

[totalfootball]

He wasn't sitting deep in the first half.

he certainly wasn't in an advanced position.

 

[lasereyes]

that's my point. He was neither deep nor advanced. He was floating around without any purpose. Trotting around watching the play happen. Was weird.

Again, this coming from someone who is a fan of his and am loving the way he plays hard and passes thoughtfully. So judging him in this game by the standards he is setting for himself and us as a whole.

 

[totalfootball]

that's my point. He was neither deep nor advanced. He was floating around without any purpose. Trotting around watching the play happen. Was weird.

Again, this coming from someone who is a fan of his and am loving the way he plays hard and passes thoughtfully. So judging him in this game by the standards he is setting for himself and us as a whole.

he wasn't floating around with no purpose. he was reading the game and covering his area. sometimes that's all you can do.

the first half tactics didn't help him. second half was much better.

i don't understand why pellegrini keeps playing a 2 man midfield against a 3 midfield. it forces the team to contain and counter attack. swansea had so much of the ball in the first half it was embarrassing.

 

[lasereyes]

Well what we seem to agree on is that he was much better in the second half. In the first half, I felt the back 4 needed more protection from him. He looked a little behind the pace to me.

Anyway, I respect that you have a different view. We're both fans of Fernandinho at the end of the day.

 

[totalfootball]

And I stress that he was better in the second half because tactics were changed. Samir Nasri was playing more in the centre. In the first half he was mostly on the left.

 

[greasedupdeafguy]

world class