Forget Recriminations, how do we sort this mess out?

[Nelly's Left Foot]

He had the defence sorted at one point but we've gone back to Mark Hughes standard in the last few weeks. To me, it's largely down to two things. The full-backs who just aren't able to shut out the opposition wide-man and stop crosses coming in. Teams know this and players like Jarvis, Bentley and even that lad at Blackpool are ripping us to pieces down the flanks. Nani will destroy us at the swamp. It's clear that their runs forward are meant to compensate for a lack of width in midfield but that's not really working well yet and they have to be able to defend and the midfield need ot give them cover.

Then there's the zonal marking system. Nothing wrong with that per se but players actually have to do something more than cover their zone. Tracking opponents and attacking the ball would be a decent start. We are the softest of soft touches from set pieces.

Finally there's the slowness in which we turn defence into attack, which used to be our strength. This is where we miss Bellamy & Robinho.

Too often the midfield players turn inside and play the ball square or even backwards when we have a potential numerical advantage. In fact, we now seem to be able to turn attack into defence, rather than the other way round.

Nice to read a constructive post where the likes of Jo, Vieira and Lescott are not being singled out for personal criticism. Maybe the training regime needs to be thought through rather than the squad members themselves. Man for man, we are still arguably the strongest 25 in the league.

Sorry but I don't think we are the strongest 25. Certainly at the moment with one or 2 injuries our team is almsost picking itself as the back up ( apart from defence) are not good enough , and there arent many anyway.

 

[Blue Tooth]

For the opening 15 mins last night I actually thought we looked ok and showed more attacking intent than normal..I remember thinking to myself this could be another Fulham if we kick on.As the game developed we gave away possession cheaply and silly free kicks, one of which led to the equaliser, which by anyone's standards was a joke goal to give away. Heads did not go down though and we managed to get ourselves deservedly in front again. We looked lightweight in the middle of the park at times particularly when Brum had possession...going forward I thought there were times when we moved the ball very well but again lacked the final pass...for all that though Brum created very little and at 2-1 we looked pretty much in control and I thought the most likely to go on and win it..Carlos had a good chance set up wonderfully by Siva but Foster saved well.
The passing moving forward has gone to pot over the last few games and this is key to the way Mancini sets us up...too many unforced errors which turn attack into defence putting us under sudden pressure.
Boateng's passing worries me...it's poor and he hoofed a few clearnaces last night instead of looking for the pass...not a confident player at the moment and I think we look worse for hm being in the side. I think Milner is stuggling for form too and needs leaving out.I would play Zaba at right back and Micah or Kolo alonside Vinny in the centre.Koloarov is starting to play well. We badly missed yaya last night and I think our stongest midefield is de jong. barry, yaya and silva.
Tevez and Dzeko look like strangers right now and I can only hope that they get a chance to click again home to the Baggies. It's a definite blip in form and it happens...Not the best time to have one I admit but we have a home game to try and put things right and our confidence really needs a boost prior to our trip to the swamp.

 

[Danamy]

Sorry but I don't think we are the strongest 25. Certainly at the moment with one or 2 injuries our team is almsost picking itself as the back up ( apart from defence) are not good enough , and there arent many anyway.

Here lies the problem..................

Man for man we have the best squad in the league but we lack the mental strength and edge that other squads have and that needs sorting.

We're not playing as a team at the moment and i don't think the players are on board with what's expected of them..............it's a problem!

I'm not sure some people realise how important top 4 is this season?

 

[Greenjob]

To win the Premiership, we need a great team full of good players. At the moment we have great players that are not performing like a good team. If we looked at the past few games and taken Mancini's words into context he invariably starts by saying that "we didn't play well". I think the problem may be more mental than physiological. They have to be arrogant in their play and deserve the right to dominate. Arsenal do it regularly even the Rags and to a lesser degree, Chelsea.

Formations may be part of the problem but I still maintain that it is the mdfield that links everything together and we are severely lacking in that department. I'm not looking forward to the derby bacause the past three have been dire at best and having read Mancini's comments on the MUEN, it looks like he's ready to go back to trying to win 1 - 0. Therefore the slow, negative and unattrative - but effective football looks likey to return, starting Saturday.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Sorry but I don't think we are the strongest 25. Certainly at the moment with one or 2 injuries our team is almsost picking itself as the back up ( apart from defence) are not good enough , and there arent many anyway.

Here lies the problem..................

Man for man we have the best squad in the league but we lack the mental strength and edge that other squads have and that needs sorting.

We're not playing as a team at the moment and i don't think the players are on board with what's expected of them..............it's a problem!

I'm not sure some people realise how important top 4 is this season?

People should have a good long think about what the implications of that statement are...in truth we've had that problem for three years.

And I totally agree about the importance of top 4. I'd say top 3.

The whole "project" will flounder in so many ways if we don't get in the champions league. It is the be all and end all of the season.

 

[the blue panther]

As this thread is about moving forward, I'm hoping that Mancini will make a few changes. he hasn't shied away from tough calls in the past both before and during games, and he seemed as peed off as the rest of us when he was interviewed last night.
it was a brave decision to put Hart in for game 1, and the right decision to stick with him. he now needs to come out - can't keep making the same mistakes and expect to continue with the manager's faith, and i believe that his removal now is fully justified and will give some more confidence to a shaky back four.
back four? it was great when it was unchanged at the start of the season. it needs to be stabilised but injuries have been key here. Kompany and Zaba stay in. if lescott goes back in, he must stay there for a while - he more than anyone suffers from lack of match fitness, always looking sluggish and off the pace. as kolo is in posession, i'd be inclined to leave him there - he needs match sharpness too, having been in and out for the last 3 months with various knocks. if he can recover his early season form, problem solved. Kolarov - great left foot, but i worry what nani and even rooney/raphael might do against him in the derby. i think Mancini paid too much for him to be left out because of defensive weakness, and he'll want him for his goal/attacking threat anyway.
front 3 pick themselves. as does NDJ if fit - hopefully. barry, milner and yaya are all good enough against even the best opposition, but, if the set up is wrong/we are exposed for lack of pace in certain areas, that's our main downfall.
i think mancini will change little on saturday. the main change should be Vieira out of the equation - forever - but with Given in goal. he will revert to a tighter defensive set up at OT in the derby i believe - unless he plays his joker...... Balotelli, with whom anything is possible - we just don't know how good he can be/ how fit he is.
i posted at length on deadline day about reliance on Vieira/Jo/SWP and the need for more cover. we're stuck with what we've got till the next window now, and we'll need a lot of luck to keep the 1st 13/14 fit so that we don't have to rely on that pretty useless bunch. Vieira in particular being a liability.
the most annoying thing about last night ? we draw at Brum, and spurs go to blackburn with a badly depleted team and get 3 points. until we start winning against the dross, it's hard to take us any more seriously than last season, despite all that we've spent.
no recriminations - just a few predictions, observations, and a little moan.

 

[mancity1]

By increasing our work rate when we don't have possession by closing down opposition players when they have the ball out wide.

By defending set pieces with more verve and aggression ( their first goal from a dribble of a free kick from that distance went past three defenders without a touch before Hart who was semi blindsided let in fall under his body without so much as a deflection when it shouldn't have even been allowed to get into the penalty area before being hoofed away in Dunney style ).

By not giving away needless fouls whether they are fouls or not in set piece positions.

We will create enough chances to win the games we should win if we tighten up in the final third and we have the team currently to do it.

Of course we know are weaknesses going forward when we build up slowly from the back but that can be addressed in the summer.

We are 13 -7 -5 and while there are some games we got a win from when perhaps we should have got a draw there are conversely some games we should have won we got less points wise from.

Interestingly Arsenal at home aside their hasn't been a single game where we have looked like getting battered for the majority of the game and shown as a result on the scoreline this season.

The other four losses have been by the odd goal in... and in every match we could have and perhaps should have got a point from the game.

How would 13-10-2 look for example , remember Sunderland , Villa (away) and Everton at home for example.

The only games I feel we really didn't do enough to get something out which we lost was Wolves away and Arsenal at home.

Don't get me wrong we didn't play near our maximum in any of the losses and we were a bit fortunate in a few or our wins but its not as bad as it seems result wise to date at least this season if you analyze match by match and we all know there is further upside in this squad if all fit and firing than what has been shown to date.

Our back four has never been settled , Balotelli scores for fun against Brom and then gets sent off and again against Villa and does his dodgy near again.

Silly mistakes and a lack of discipline and communication rather than a lack of quality and ability are costing us and these things are easier to address than the latter.

Lack of killer instinct and knowing when to shut up shop is at a lower level than it needs to be for serious title contention as well but this again can be addressed.

The back four has never been settled due to injury to every member VK aside ( touch wood ) at each and every critical juncture of the season , Johno gives is impact off the bench ( perhaps should have been given a bit more game time and gets injured ).

Added to that our goal every second game striker Ade is not played for non footballing reasons or at least reasons that go beyond what he can do and has done for us since he joined us.

No doubt this season could end up as one of missed opportunity but we are better managed as a whole including the head manager if you include Leslies assistants that go wherever he goes at club level at least.

A few transfers in the summer strategically managed without altering the guts of our quality players we already have and next season should be better thatn this season points wise.

Its not a mess by any means at least not yet and its up to the players to get that mental awareness and strength of character that is required in this league week in week out that Manure for example have to push us forward.

Can it be done ?

Yes ?

Will it?

Lets see but lets be realistic another bunch of changes at management level come seasons end will certainly not guarantee it will next season Jose or not Jose I know that for sure.

 

[fbloke]

In late December I took a little time to re-evaluate what City were likely to do in the transfer market in Jan'

It was very easy to say we would buy 3,4,5 or 6 players and buy talent for each weakness.

But I fell down on the side of very little being done and posted as such.

I have the same feeling now, very little will change in terms of the board making changes (unless absolutely necessary), and by that I mean non-European qualification.

None of us know for sure the depth of the problems that Mancini has had to work amongst, but I know a little of why he was brought in and why he was never going to be moved aside for another manager last season or this.

If I were to be asked for a strategy to get City into the top 4 this season and/or next I would have to say it would mean Mancini stays and he gets another season as long as City play in Europe.

I suspect that the Board might be of the same opinion.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

In late December I took a little time to re-evaluate what City were likely to do in the transfer market in Jan'

It was very easy to say we would buy 3,4,5 or 6 players and buy talent for each weakness.

But I fell down on the side of very little being done and posted as such.

I have the same feeling now, very little will change in terms of the board making changes (unless absolutely necessary), and by that I mean non-European qualification.

None of us know for sure the depth of the problems that Mancini has had to work amongst, but I know a little of why he was brought in and why he was never going to be moved aside for another manager last season or this.

If I were to be asked for a strategy to get City into the top 4 this season and/or next I would have to say it would mean Mancini stays and he gets another season as long as City play in Europe.

I suspect that the Board might be of the same opinion.

Strongly disagree. Our board hung onto Hughes for far too long and to make the same mistake again, throwing more money and time down the toilet, would be a disaster. Our "project" relies on momentum. Last season was a disappointment but another bad season would set us back badly.

My only concern is that the key decision makers do not know a lot about football and could have the wool pulled over their eyes.

But I don't believe it will come to that. We are way too good to not finish in the top 3 or 4.

 

[Happy Feet]

Roberto read this post by joemercers way

Mancini is one-dimensional, won't mix it up, won't work on two different formations that the players are familiar with.

4-3-3(4-5-1) is used just because it is safe, it is steady, but it isn't working. Other teams shouldn't be able to break through our midfield but they can. Going forward Silva and Tevez play between themselves, Dzeko already doesn't seem to fit. We have no pace, no depth and no alternatives. It's called squad rotation Mancini, that's what keeps players happy, but to do that you have to make sacrifices and also really work hard to make sure every player knows their role.

Our keeper has cost us game after game recently, and has probably cost us the title. Has to be dropped, should have been 3 weeks ago. Don't buy the "he's a young lad", he's dropped several bollocks and should be man enough to accept he deserves it and work harder to get back in. If Mancini has no faith in Given to replace him why keep him? Sell him and buy a replacement.

We have 1 very good CB(Kompany). Boateng looks good in that role so they should be the partnership, but Mancini decides to bring on the inconsistent Kolo instead of Zaba, and then again Vieira instead of Zaba in midfield yesterday, absolutely ridiculous. Kolo is for me on his last season of usefulness, Lescott should go, and we need another LB now Bridge has gone. 2 players for every position is a necessity.

We have no back-up Central midfielders WHATSOEVER, Mancini has failed on this. If De Jong, Barry or Yaya get injured it's Milner who's been frankly useless. Barry isn't good enough long term so we need at least 2 new centre midfielders, 1 ballwinner, 1 creative in the summer. Mancini refuses to use out and out wingers so we're 1 dimensional, we need 2 imo for flexibility, Mancini has to flexible, all the top managers will have a plan B, Mancini doesn't.

Up front he needs a formation to fit Tevez, Silva and Dzeko in and for them to work together. Balotelli, well nobody knows how he'll turn out and Mancini's stubborness means we've lost Adebayor, and Jo HAS to go, he has to. If Mancini doesn't get rid of him and Vieira I'm just going to lose all faith in him. So another striker.

Mancini needs to work on formations, tactics and set pieces. Zonal isn't working, players need to match up man for man so defenders can't pick who they get a run on, because otherwise guys like Bamba will pick the small lad and easily outjump him. De Jong and Zaba aren't tall enough for the posts.

COMMUNICATION-Kolo and Hart are all over the place and they DON'T communicate. They are always uncertain over who's ball it is and they are fucking up, and it can't go on. It's costing us points.

Mancini has let things go. After november that had to be our only blip, now we're in another one, and he's let problems carry on and now we're struggling. Ever since Blackpool I've been worrying because it's just looked unconfident, edgy and a distinct lack of concentration and awareness.

Not confident.

100 % correct.