Is it Mancini's brand of football that gets fans backs up?

[mrt4919]

Were we not at our best with Tevez on his own up top,Silva in a free role and Yaya attacking strongly from the middle? Mario and Dzeko have come in and it seems Mancini is trying to accomodate 1 if not both of them and the system is different and failing.

Nail on head, this is where our system has fallen apart, tevez is our most lethal striker & he`s being forced to go further & further back to accomodate dzecko or balotelli, its failed & makes me think that we are preparing for life without tevez,a huge mistake.

I dont have a crystal ball but certain that Tevez is off in the summer, the outburst at the start of the year by him was smothered by the club shortly afterwards and all Love and Peace to the media. Just call me a cynic but my feeling is that a deal was done to keep him playing untill the end of this season and a gamble to secure a Chumps League Place.

 

[remoh]

Good point, with Utd's away record, Chelsea's half season crisis, Liverpool slumming in the bottom half til Xmas and Arsenal having endured injuries to Fabregas/RVP/Vermalean and without a decent keeper/CB...

...How is it we're only third in the league?

Spot on. The standard at the top this season is lower than it has been in previous seasons (and thank fuck for us that it has been!). United have been poor away from OT (phenomenal at home though,and that is why they sit at the top), Chelsea were piss poor during late autumn/early winter, Arsenal have caught our affliction (inconsistency) and the scousers were held back by Hodgson's inability to manage a ''top team''. It is infuriating when you look at our squad; there aren't many stronger collection of players in the PL. Which begs the question as to why can't RM get them to perform to their undoubted potential. I don't think anyone can argue that it isn't ''his squad'' any more, yet since the new year we have been no better than average. As I have already said, the standard overall hasn't been that high this season and we had the chance to do something really special in the league. But our painfully pedestrian style of play seems to be holding us back. Mancini seems almost afraid to let them off the leash and really have a go at teams. Wonder what he'll do next thursday when we surely have to get after Kiev from the off? Hmm.

He certainly does appear to be frightened. He seems to believe that we will leak goals all day unless we have six or seven defensive players in our outfield. He is probably right, too, since ball-watching and bad marking are endemic among our defenders. It might be good if he concentrated on this weakness in training so that he could then have the confidence to release more than three or four men in attack!

 

[Balti]

sideways sideways tippy tappy softlysoftly catchee monkee

good sometimes but not all the time

 

[remoh]

sideways sideways tippy tappy softlysoftly catchee monkee

good sometimes but not all the time

But we no catchee many monkees! (Look at stats)

 

[2sheikhs]

What's the first thing players from foreign leagues say about the premier league when they get here? The game is a lot quicker and you don't get time on the ball. So how the fuck can possesion for the sake of possesion,sideways passing and trying to slow the game down get you anywhere? If everybody KNOWS that this style of play just invites pressure and encourages the opposition why persist with it?

 

[Marvin]

System has not fallen apart. Even in defeat at Kiev we were still the better team. all that was missing was a bit of understanding between forwards who hardly know each other, and a proper pitch for Silva to do his stuff

We're also missing AJ as another way of bursting through a massed defence

I don't like to see mancini picking the same 11 players (largely) each week.

So my criticism would be the other way, we are too reliant on too few players, and this will burn us out. Arsenal, Utd, Liverpool change their teams all the time. They are experienced at competing in the Premiership, and Europe. Management of resources is the biggest criticism you could make of Mancini.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

System has not fallen apart. Even in defeat at Kiev we were still the better team.

I simply can't believe that anyone as seemingly intelligent as you could possibly believe that. On what basis were we the better team? We had more possession but did very little with it. Most of that possession was Kompany to Lescott to Yaya to Kompany to Lescott to Barry to Yaya to Lescott etc.

 

[kenzie115]

I hope this thread gets dragged up at the end of the season when we're celebrating champions league football an FA Cup success.

 

[blueinsa]

I hope this thread gets dragged up at the end of the season when we're celebrating champions league football an FA Cup success.

So do i and i don't rate Bobby one bit!

Thats because those of us who don't rate him all want success for City, despite the wrongly held belief that we don't.

Should it be enough to save him? Even i would say yes.

 

[Bluemoon115]

RE: Adam Johnson.

5 months ago he wasn't getting games, and the Mancini defenders said this was because he didn't offer enough, and wasn't good enough to start.

Now he's injured, and we are playing badly, he's currently the answer to our prayers, and his absence is the only reason we're not playing at our best.

Top-Down thinking indeed.