leighton said:
He has let a number of creative players go but hasnt replaced them. Look at the squad apart from Silva today we had no creative flair. Keep your tinted glasses on if you want. We have too many workman like midfielders and we lack a balance of flair to workman like players from the midfield.
Look at the players that played in the midfield Barry , Milner and Vieira they are hardly a creative force. Just ahead of them is Yaya who wasnt at it today. It says it all when Richards was our best attacking player during the game. Yet I have an agenda.
I like Mancini, but I'm in total agreement with this, its not just creative play either, some of these players don't understand the club, and are just here for the money, and in games like today it shows. It wasn't until Silva came on that we really started to make any space to play football, we passed it lots, but all square and backwards, never any penetration unless Richards provided it.
We should play our first team against lower league sides, and get them beat, an extra game was the last thing we needed, make changes once the game is won.
Barry and Milner were woeful, and I know Jo isn't good enough, but he was no worse than either of these two. Lescott wasn't great either. Others which I do like were off form Yaya, and Zaba will play far better. I thought Vieira did pretty well, but against this level he should. Dzeko went from good to bad to average, but he's new to the team, and I do like the look of him, so not going to criticise him.
My marks
Hart - 6
Zaba - 6
Boateng - 7
Lescott - 5
Richards - 8
Yaya - 6
Vieira - 7
Barry - 4
Milner - 4
Jo - 4
Dzeko - 6
Silva - 7
Kompany, and Kolorov not worth marking.