LAWRO / CITY fragile and easy to beat

[jimharri]

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RAG

Yeah, Iknow. But keep it to yourself, eh? I'm working undercover here, on a mission to bring down this den of iniquity!

 

[bluesmiff]

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RAG

Yeah, Iknow. But keep it to yourself, eh? I'm working undercover here, on a mission to bring down this den of iniquity!

RAG

 

[dom]

To be honest you beat me to a similar thought I had, just reading the OP. Our main problem isn't defence OR attack, it's the middle. Believe it or not(and believe me I can't believe I'm saying this, but...) we could do with a *choke!* Joey Barton type player willing to drive through midfields and take the battle to teams, rather than keep playing possession sideways to right backs or left backs that tend to pass it inside to CBs who then either pass it to the keeper or pump it forward themselves!! What's the fooking point of that happening all the time??

Kompany, De Jong and, to some degree Zabaleta, are all SIMILAR type players in the middle of the park. It's frustrating to watch. It's only Zabs, of late, that has made the effort to cross in the opposition's last third. That's not good enough.

If Hughes WANTS his two def mids, then he'll have go 3 at the back and allow a creative mid in front of the def mids, cos he HAS to get more creative up front, in my eyes. Ireland or Elano for that position.

Agreed ..... i do like Kompany , he was argueably our best player last night , and is excellent at breaking up play , and he plays a mean pass too on occasion .

Zabaletas move to midfield has been a revelation ..... he gave Copenhagen problems all night with his moves into their territory , and he's given us an extra dimension when we go forward ........ although , as with kompany , some of his passing can be wayward at times.

It's all about creating the right combination in midfied , and we really need to be going to places like Anfield with a midfield trio that both compliment each other , and are totally comfortable with each other ...... and most of all that they have the confidence to actually DO what they are good at ...... because that's all that Brazilian midfield did in that great 1970 side , and it's all that the rags do now ....... players like Carrick and Scholes just do the simple things well , but most of all they rarely waste a ball!

Too many sideways or backwards passes at a place like Anfield will eventually land up with you getting caught out ....... City need to move the ball forward with precision and pace before Liverpool manage to break up our play , or snap into the tackle ........ and with the players that liverpool have , and the way they play , we're gonna really need our midfield on song ....... they'll most likely be needed to both provide the odd chances that may fall our way , and also to protect what's likely to be a very busy City back line!

This

I am totally fed up with the lack of forward penetration from City in attack , as well as the lack of IN YER FACE defending.
Cut down their thinking time, get forward and force them to react.

In short

GET STUCK IN !

 

[mr t]

I think Lawro's spot on - our team is fragile and other teams know it. We can't win away from home and opposition teams immediately have a phsycological advantage over us. They know that if they batter our overworked defence it will cave in.

3 nil seems slightly insulting but after getting dicked yet again in injury time last night our defenders will struggle to pick themselves up mentally if we conceed early.

 

[Bigga]

I think Lawro's spot on - our team is fragile and other teams know it. We can't win away from home and opposition teams immediately have a phsycological advantage over us. They know that if they batter our overworked defence it will cave in.

3 nil seems slightly insulting but after getting dicked yet again in injury time last night our defenders will struggle to pick themselves up mentally if we conceed early.

The team isn't 'fragile' at all. Not as a team of players, but in confidence only. Similar to what Dom said(or what I said earlier), we have to have a midfielder that takes the ball forward and give them something to think about. At the moment Hughes has the mids too scared to think about crossing the centre line on a regular basis.

And, for me, while the defenders are sat as deep as they are, it also forces our DMs back also and in such a position that they don't bridge that important counter attack too well.

 

[Anonymous]

The current squad of players we have is the best I can ever remember at City.We have some superb young players the likes of which I never thought I'd see in a Blue shirt my lifetime.

What they lack is organisation,leadership and a self-belief that they can go on and beat the opposition.
They aren't "crap," they aren't "lazy" they just don't look equipped with a cohesive "plan" or positions and seem to be constantly relying on a piece of individual brilliance from the likes of Robby or Ireland to cover the costly defensive lapses.
There is often a huge hole between midfield and the forwards-as if they're too scared to push forward in case they make a mistake.
My heart says we can get a result on Sunday but my head says heaviest defeat of the season.

 

[mr t]

The current squad of players we have is the best I can ever remember at City.We have some superb young players the likes of which I never thought I'd see in a Blue shirt my lifetime.

What they lack is organisation,leadership and a self-belief that they can go on and beat the opposition.
They aren't "crap," they aren't "lazy" they just don't look equipped with a cohesive "plan" or positions and seem to be constantly relying on a piece of individual brilliance from the likes of Robby or Ireland to cover the costly defensive lapses.
There is often a huge hole between midfield and the forwards-as if they're too scared to push forward in case they make a mistake.
My heart says we can get a result on Sunday but my head says heaviest defeat of the season.

Really good post.

What happened to the team that pushed Liverpool to the limit at Eastlands in October? The team that was playing like world beaters and held the upper hand until Zabaletta was sent off? Where have we gone wrong?

 

[Anonymous]

The current squad of players we have is the best I can ever remember at City.We have some superb young players the likes of which I never thought I'd see in a Blue shirt my lifetime.

What they lack is organisation,leadership and a self-belief that they can go on and beat the opposition.
They aren't "crap," they aren't "lazy" they just don't look equipped with a cohesive "plan" or positions and seem to be constantly relying on a piece of individual brilliance from the likes of Robby or Ireland to cover the costly defensive lapses.
There is often a huge hole between midfield and the forwards-as if they're too scared to push forward in case they make a mistake.
My heart says we can get a result on Sunday but my head says heaviest defeat of the season.

Really good post.

What happened to the team that pushed Liverpool to the limit at Eastlands in October? The team that was playing like world beaters and held the upper hand until Zabaletta was sent off? Where have we gone wrong?

I don't want this to become a "Hughes out" thread but after the initial euphoria of the takeover and the signing of Robinho I think the "better" players sussed him out pretty sharpish.A couple of decent results apart,we've been pretty much average at best since then...can he get them playing like that again?
I doubt it.I think he'll limp to the inevitable,if I'm being honest.
Although I still have this gut "feeling" about the UEFA cup.....
;-)

 

[Mr Ed (The Stables)]

true but no games are easy to win

and that we are mid table and not in the bottom 3 like stoke to took points of them


he just a prick

He is a prick, but on this occasion I genuinely think he's right. However I hope both him and me are proved wrong, I will be watching it whatever happens, in a nice local pub somewhere in Greater Manchester.

 

[blue1969]

Shay Given came to us cause of the 5-1 against the Zebras.I think that could be a good score!