Get a grip!

[Exeter Blue I am here]

I don't think many City fans thinking is motivated by what they thought about Mancini's sacking, it's purely a reaction to the current form.

6 points out of 9 not bad. It's the performances. The football in thehome win against Hull was disjointed, and possibly the worst home performance I have seen for 3 seasons and that was on the back of a lazy display at Cardiff.

Why?

Tactics? Well we thrashed Newcastle with a similar set up.

Injuries: We've lost Kompany before

It's hard to understand.

Can we go to Stoke and get a point? We just need to show the world including the fans that the old City is still alive and I think we'll get back on track

It's not the set up that's the issue, it's the fact that Newcastle let us play, whereas both Cardiff and Hull made sure they had 9 men behind the ball whenever we had possession. The high defensive line stuffed full of terminally slow defenders hasn't helped, but it's the lack of pace, width, dribbling ability, whatever, to get in behind a parked bus that is still one of our biggest problems

 

[Lucky Toma]

Mourinho and Ancelotti did the double in their first seasons with Chelsea. We are the deposed champions so the essence of our Championship winning squad still remains.

We fucked up royally last summer by not sufficiently backing Mancini and I still think that inspite of spendin £90m this summer, that we're still paying the cost for last summers transfer fuck-ups.

The isn't an anti Pellegrini post as I've supported every Manchester City manager we've ever had and only ever wanted Ball, Keegan and Pearce sacked when it was obvious their times were up, but Pellers has got to get a grip of this squad very very soon otherwise our season will be over before it's started.

I know we've only played three matches so far, but on the evidence of what I've seen so far, top four qualification will be a struggle unless we rapidly turn our performances around. Teams used to fear us and park the bus to our frustration. We all used to wish the opposition would come at us more to make the matches more open.

Sunderland were the first team to find an antidote to our possession play, but now other teams have sussed us out and are attacking us with pace on the break and matching us man-for man in midfield and out fighting us.

Worried? You're fuckin dead right I'm worried........

Excellent post.

 

[Chippy_boy]

I don't think many City fans thinking is motivated by what they thought about Mancini's sacking, it's purely a reaction to the current form.

6 points out of 9 not bad. It's the performances. The football in thehome win against Hull was disjointed, and possibly the worst home performance I have seen for 3 seasons and that was on the back of a lazy display at Cardiff.

Why?

Tactics? Well we thrashed Newcastle with a similar set up.

Injuries: We've lost Kompany before

It's hard to understand.

Can we go to Stoke and get a point? We just need to show the world including the fans that the old City is still alive and I think we'll get back on track

It's not the set up that's the issue, it's the fact that Newcastle let us play, whereas both Cardiff and Hull made sure they had 9 men behind the ball whenever we had possession. The high defensive line stuffed full of terminally slow defenders hasn't helped, but it's the lack of pace, width, dribbling ability, whatever, to get in behind a parked bus that is still one of our biggest problems

I don't disagree with your last sentence. But I am kindof used to that. Yes I had hoped it would be instantly fixed with the arrival of Navas, but obviously that was naive. And anyway, I do think Jovetic will help a lot.

But I am actually more concerned about the fact that for much of the Cardiff and Hull games, the two newly promoted teams looked like the better side! Not for the whole game, but for large parts of both games, they passed it around better, retained possession better, had decent movement, were quicker and looked threatening. And we laboured away, giving the ball away and looked slow and lethargic. I am oversimplifying, but at times that's how it looked.

In our performances over the past 2 season, I think we pretty much always dominated the lower teams, even when we couldn't break them down and maybe even when we lost, we always looked like the better side by a country mile. At Cardiff we didn't and against Hull in the first half we didn't either.

 

[Dodgemeister]

I don't think many City fans thinking is motivated by what they thought about Mancini's sacking, it's purely a reaction to the current form.

6 points out of 9 not bad. It's the performances. The football in thehome win against Hull was disjointed, and possibly the worst home performance I have seen for 3 seasons and that was on the back of a lazy display at Cardiff.

Why?

Tactics? Well we thrashed Newcastle with a similar set up.

Injuries: We've lost Kompany before

It's hard to understand.

Can we go to Stoke and get a point? We just need to show the world including the fans that the old City is still alive and I think we'll get back on track

It's not the set up that's the issue, it's the fact that Newcastle let us play, whereas both Cardiff and Hull made sure they had 9 men behind the ball whenever we had possession. The high defensive line stuffed full of terminally slow defenders hasn't helped, but it's the lack of pace, width, dribbling ability, whatever, to get in behind a parked bus that is still one of our biggest problems

I don't disagree with your last sentence. But I am kindof used to that. Yes I had hoped it would be instantly fixed with the arrival of Navas, but obviously that was naive. And anyway, I do think Jovetic will help a lot.

But I am actually more concerned about the fact that for much of the Cardiff and Hull games, the two newly promoted teams looked like the better side! Not for the whole game, but for large parts of both games, they passed it around better, retained possession better, had decent movement, were quicker and looked threatening. And we laboured away, giving the ball away and looked slow and lethargic. I am oversimplifying, but at times that's how it looked.

In our performances over the past 2 season, I think we pretty much always dominated the lower teams, even when we couldn't break them down and maybe even when we lost, we always looked like the better side by a country mile. At Cardiff we didn't and at Hull in the first half we didn't either.

Good post, this is my thoughts exactly. I'm not going in for supporting this or that manager, or calling for their heads. I've just been disappointed at the way we have played. Navas gives us width down the right, but Silva keeps coming inside from his position on the left wing, so no width left and no protection for the left back., Barry used to cover the protection before, but now not being played. Nasri gives us better width but at the expense of dropping Silva?? Up front I too am hoping Jovetic can come in and give us more control and passing down the channels to bring Aguero back into the game and play more to his strength. This I don't see with Dzeko and Negredo, whilst both good players, they do not play to the strength of our best forward, whereas Tevez did more so.

Yep we are only 3 games in, but I'm a little concerned as well, I was expecting more, expecting a fast attacking style to our game, more like the beginning of 2011 season, we still have the bulk of that squad and have only improved on it, haven't we???

 

[vmsuhail]

I don't think many City fans thinking is motivated by what they thought about Mancini's sacking, it's purely a reaction to the current form.

6 points out of 9 not bad. It's the performances. The football in thehome win against Hull was disjointed, and possibly the worst home performance I have seen for 3 seasons and that was on the back of a lazy display at Cardiff.

Why?

Tactics? Well we thrashed Newcastle with a similar set up.

Injuries: We've lost Kompany before

It's hard to understand.

Can we go to Stoke and get a point? We just need to show the world including the fans that the old City is still alive and I think we'll get back on track

It's not the set up that's the issue, it's the fact that Newcastle let us play, whereas both Cardiff and Hull made sure they had 9 men behind the ball whenever we had possession. The high defensive line stuffed full of terminally slow defenders hasn't helped, but it's the lack of pace, width, dribbling ability, whatever, to get in behind a parked bus that is still one of our biggest problems

I don't disagree with your last sentence. But I am kindof used to that. Yes I had hoped it would be instantly fixed with the arrival of Navas, but obviously that was naive. And anyway, I do think Jovetic will help a lot.

But I am actually more concerned about the fact that for much of the Cardiff and Hull games, the two newly promoted teams looked like the better side! Not for the whole game, but for large parts of both games, they passed it around better, retained possession better, had decent movement, were quicker and looked threatening. And we laboured away, giving the ball away and looked slow and lethargic. I am oversimplifying, but at times that's how it looked.

In our performances over the past 2 season, I think we pretty much always dominated the lower teams, even when we couldn't break them down and maybe even when we lost, we always looked like the better side by a country mile. At Cardiff we didn't and against Hull in the first half we didn't either.

Exactly. Can anyone deny Hull and Cardiff were quicker than City ?

 

[keneke1234]

We're only 3 games in for fuck sake..
We played shite,scored 2 goals and got 3 points..
United played shite,dropped 2 points and didn't score..
I don't understand the concern.....

.....but they played Chelsea. We played Hull. There's a huge difference.

Perhaps we should reserve judgment until we've played a top side?

Just a thought.

this

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

It's not the set up that's the issue, it's the fact that Newcastle let us play, whereas both Cardiff and Hull made sure they had 9 men behind the ball whenever we had possession. The high defensive line stuffed full of terminally slow defenders hasn't helped, but it's the lack of pace, width, dribbling ability, whatever, to get in behind a parked bus that is still one of our biggest problems

I don't disagree with your last sentence. But I am kindof used to that. Yes I had hoped it would be instantly fixed with the arrival of Navas, but obviously that was naive. And anyway, I do think Jovetic will help a lot.

But I am actually more concerned about the fact that for much of the Cardiff and Hull games, the two newly promoted teams looked like the better side! Not for the whole game, but for large parts of both games, they passed it around better, retained possession better, had decent movement, were quicker and looked threatening. And we laboured away, giving the ball away and looked slow and lethargic. I am oversimplifying, but at times that's how it looked.

In our performances over the past 2 season, I think we pretty much always dominated the lower teams, even when we couldn't break them down and maybe even when we lost, we always looked like the better side by a country mile. At Cardiff we didn't and against Hull in the first half we didn't either.

Exactly. Can anyone deny Hull and Cardiff were quicker than City ?

Lack of pace, particularly in the attacking third, has been an issue for a long time now. The theory that you can compensate by moving the ball quickly, is fine up to a point, but once teams compress the space for you to play in, either via a parked bus or a high press, then it becomes very difficult.
City seem to have taken an almost perverse delight these last 2/3 years in buying players with very little pace - Nasri, Garcia, Kolarov, Milner, Dzeko, Nastasic, Negredo, Jovetic, are all one paced at best, and even those that you might think are quick by the way they dart around, such as Silva and Aguero, actually aren't when it comes to a straight foot race with a defender. Add them all to previously installed incumbents such as Zab, Lescott, and Barry, and it adds up to one of the slowest squads in the league, and is probably why we have been found wanting on a regular basis against sides with athletic midfields intent on pressing us (Swansea, Liverpool, Everton, Dortmund, Madrid, Southampton, Wigan, etc), with the lack of an out ball over the top to keep such sides wary having also been a key feature. This lack of pace doesn't make any of those individual players crap of course, far from it, but it does reduce our ability to field teams with the ability to counter such stifling tactics.
Of those that we have with a genuine turn of speed, Richards and Kompany are both defenders and both habitual crocks, as is Rodwell, and none is currently playing. Clichy is quick, but never utilises that pace going forward, preferring to check back all the time, Ya Ya has the wrong kind of pace for the role he's currently being deployed in (ie he's devastating storming downfield over 20 or 30 yards, but just not built for the kind of 4 or 5 yard shuttle running required to close opponents down), Dinho is just finding his feet and Navas has the whiff of a Lennon about him, ie absolutely searing pace, but not a lot of trickery, and consequently relatively easy to subdue if you double up on him, as both Cardiff and Hull have.
One of the enduring reasons for success at the swamp was Taggart's insistence on buying wide men and forwards with pace as a pre-requisite. You would occasionally get a Van Persie or a Beckham or a Sheringham, but for the most part his attacking players have all been extremely quick, and targeted for that reason. Giggs, Kanchelskis, Ronaldo, Yorke, Cole, Shrek, Nani, Valencia, Young, Hernandez, Wellshite, Zaha etc etc.
Unfortunately for City, an increasing number of sides have gotten wise in terms of how to stop us, and unless Pellegrini can find a way to counter that, then a long hard season lies ahead

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Didn't see anything to inspire confidence that top 4 is nailed on or that top 4 isn't nailed on. Very hard to gauge what will happen on just 3 games but if making a judgment now we will drop well short of winning the league. I must admit that I thought we'd be performing better than we currently are; and it is disappointing that another season of medicrity will slip by unless Pellegrini really can be El Ingeniero at a higher level and more competitive league than he's used to.

Last year some commented on the Mancini personality factor being detrimental to the performances on the pitch; well now thay have got their way and a shiny new manager who won't shout at them and it's not looking much better.

If someone had told me that Kolorov and Dzecko would still be in our starting line up at the end of last season I'd have thought they were mad - unfortunately the inadequacies they both have are all too present.

 

[dancity19]

I don't think many City fans thinking is motivated by what they thought about Mancini's sacking, it's purely a reaction to the current form.

6 points out of 9 not bad. It's the performances. The football in thehome win against Hull was disjointed, and possibly the worst home performance I have seen for 3 seasons and that was on the back of a lazy display at Cardiff.

Why?

Tactics? Well we thrashed Newcastle with a similar set up.

Injuries: We've lost Kompany before

It's hard to understand.

Can we go to Stoke and get a point? We just need to show the world including the fans that the old City is still alive and I think we'll get back on track

It's not the set up that's the issue, it's the fact that Newcastle let us play, whereas both Cardiff and Hull made sure they had 9 men behind the ball whenever we had possession. The high defensive line stuffed full of terminally slow defenders hasn't helped, but it's the lack of pace, width, dribbling ability, whatever, to get in behind a parked bus that is still one of our biggest problems

I don't disagree with your last sentence. But I am kindof used to that. Yes I had hoped it would be instantly fixed with the arrival of Navas, but obviously that was naive. And anyway, I do think Jovetic will help a lot.

But I am actually more concerned about the fact that for much of the Cardiff and Hull games, the two newly promoted teams looked like the better side! Not for the whole game, but for large parts of both games, they passed it around better, retained possession better, had decent movement, were quicker and looked threatening. And we laboured away, giving the ball away and looked slow and lethargic. I am oversimplifying, but at times that's how it looked.

In our performances over the past 2 season, I think we pretty much always dominated the lower teams, even when we couldn't break them down and maybe even when we lost, we always looked like the better side by a country mile. At Cardiff we didn't and against Hull in the first half we didn't either.

Yep- I think it's too simplistic and an easy excuse to say they put everyone behind the ball- they didn't. In reality, they were the better team in the first half and looked very comfortable, and, could easily have been 2 up.

Defensively we looked a shambles, and lescott now appears to have a couple of major errors in him a game. We attacked slowly, and, I can't remember the last time silva had a run of 3 good games, though it is blasphemy to criticise him on here, and I do back him to regain form.

Critically, we need to sort out our midfield. In our title winning season our midfield brushed teams aside, notably united, with this being a key reason as to why we won the league. The 1-0 at home was like men against boys in the middle. Now we look poor there. Fernandinho looks good, but will take a few games, and Yaya isn't a central midfielder. It would make sense to add another body in there, but to drop another attacking player, considering how many we currently have on the bench would be difficult.

To be poor against Cardiff I can half understand, their first home game etc, but at home to hull- there is no excuse.

I do trust Pellegrini to sort it, but we need to, and fast. And whilst everyone talks about the defence, central midfield is also a serious issue at the moment.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

It's not the set up that's the issue, it's the fact that Newcastle let us play, whereas both Cardiff and Hull made sure they had 9 men behind the ball whenever we had possession. The high defensive line stuffed full of terminally slow defenders hasn't helped, but it's the lack of pace, width, dribbling ability, whatever, to get in behind a parked bus that is still one of our biggest problems

I don't disagree with your last sentence. But I am kindof used to that. Yes I had hoped it would be instantly fixed with the arrival of Navas, but obviously that was naive. And anyway, I do think Jovetic will help a lot.

But I am actually more concerned about the fact that for much of the Cardiff and Hull games, the two newly promoted teams looked like the better side! Not for the whole game, but for large parts of both games, they passed it around better, retained possession better, had decent movement, were quicker and looked threatening. And we laboured away, giving the ball away and looked slow and lethargic. I am oversimplifying, but at times that's how it looked.

In our performances over the past 2 season, I think we pretty much always dominated the lower teams, even when we couldn't break them down and maybe even when we lost, we always looked like the better side by a country mile. At Cardiff we didn't and against Hull in the first half we didn't either.

Yep- I think it's too simplistic and an easy excuse to say they put everyone behind the ball- they didn't. In reality, they were the better team in the first half and looked very comfortable, and, could easily have been 2 up.

Defensively we looked a shambles, and lescott now appears to have a couple of major errors in him a game. We attacked slowly, and, I can't remember the last time silva had a run of 3 good games, though it is blasphemy to criticise him on here, and I do back him to regain form.

Critically, we need to sort out our midfield. In our title winning season our midfield brushed teams aside, notably united, with this being a key reason as to why we won the league. The 1-0 at home was like men against boys in the middle. Now we look poor there. Fernandinho looks good, but will take a few games, and Yaya isn't a central midfielder. It would make sense to add another body in there, but to drop another attacking player, considering how many we currently have on the bench would be difficult.

To be poor against Cardiff I can half understand, their first home game etc, but at home to hull- there is no excuse.

I do trust Pellegrini to sort it, but we need to, and fast. And whilst everyone talks about the defence, central midfield is also a serious issue at the moment.

I know you PMed me about this last night, Dan, and as usual our thinking is similar. The problem at the moment is central midfield. Ya Ya is not a holding player and is even less effective without Barry alongside him. This is markedly worse at the moment because we don't have Vinny bringing the ball from defence: the centre halves are just giving it to Ya Ya. And we ended up on ~Saturday with a massive gap between the holding players and the attacking players, which stymied all of our link play. The other problem we have got with this Pellegrini style 4222 is Zabaleta. I'm not even going to mention the ridiculous decision to play Kolorov because I don't think we'll make that mistake again. Pellegrini's 4222 has two "wide men" who are supposed to cut inside to create little passing triangles in what is effectively a 4 man midfield. This is supposed to leave full backs to bomb on and provide width and crossing. That's a perfect system for Richards but it's a real problem when Zab is the man overlapping. He's effectively taking up the space where Navas is more effective.

Certainly this isn't panic time. I'm still absolutely confident that we will get it right as the manager gets to know the players and the players get to know the system. We really needed Vinny as the main man at the back to drive through this change and drag everyone with him and without him it's not happening.