Thought I’d got the wrong midweek & we were playing Brentford in the LC, after I heard the team news! May be rest 2 or 3 & give some game time but not 10 changes. Don’t know how many chances we need to give Lewis & Savinho - both not good enough for the level we want to be. Same with Trafford for me but no chance with either goal!
Jury’s out on Ait Nouri, Reijnders, Bobb & Marmoush - all looked poor though could be rustiness! Along with Ake & Kusanov looking rusty.
Nico was left with far too much ground to cover, though not sure he is top drawer - starting to depress myself with this analysis!
At least Jonny Stones played decent apart from the odd mistake first half!
First team virtually picks itself now!
Somebody should make a compilation of Nico Gonzalez running back towards his own goal in the first half tonight. I’ve never seen a player run so slowly. He also plods around flat footed like I would when I played Sunday league football cos I was fat and unfit as fuck. For his sake I hope he is injured cos if that is how he moves fully fit then he’s got an issue.
He is one of a couple of players that we have been so desperate to succeed that we have become blind to the fact that he probably just isn’t good enough. I think Khusanov is another, we are desperate for him to succeed but how many more times is he gonna give the ball away, be skipped past cos he dives in, or be at the scene of the crime when we concede.
Those two weren’t even the worst performers. Savinho, fuck me get rid of him. I’ve been saying it for a year now he is awful. Oscar Bobb, another I’m so desperate to see succeed but it’s getting to the point that he does nothing. He cannot physically kick the ball with his right foot. Same as Savinho funnily enough.
Then there is Reijnders, he is the new Mangala. We thought we’d signed a world beater but now what does he offer?!
Marmoush is another. His only defence is that he hasn’t had much game time but what does he actually do?! He might score a screamer and it looks great but if everything else you contribute is dog shit what is the point.
All of last season all anyone spoke about was how physical modern football was and that it is becoming more and more about athletes and working hard off the ball. We have then gone and put a side out with two players only just slightly over 5 foot tall who get leaned off the ball everytime they receive it. Savinho, Reijnders, and Marmoush who all lose the ball and fall over as soon as they feel the breath of an opponent let alone any physical contact. In fact Savinho was going down when no one was within 15 yards of him tonight.
How have we still got the same problem of being horrendous when a game is physical with and without the ball a full year on and after £500m spent on new players?!
Surely Pep who has managed the greatest players in the history of football can look at a player and see that they cannot play for a team that wants to challenge for the PL and CL. Maybe the club don’t see themselves at that level anymore.
